Tasmania's Chief Magistrate to retire

Tasmania's chief magistrate is to retire after almost 30 years deliberating punishments for the state's criminals.

Chief Magistrate Michael Hill was appointed Tasmania's first small claims magistrate in 1985, before being appointed as a magistrate in 1987 and then chief magistrate in 2009.

He was instrumental in the introduction of the Contest Mention court in Tasmania in 1996, and in the establishment and piloting of the Mental Health Diversion List in the Hobart Magistrates Court in May 2007.

His final day will be October 21.