Bethel was elected to the Georgia Senate in 2010 as a Republican and sworn in the following year.[4] Bethel was a three-term Senator[6] and sat on the Senate Government Oversight, Insurance and Labor, Judiciary, Judiciary Non-Civil, and Reapportionment and Redistricting committees.[4]
Judicial career
Georgia Court of Appeals
On November 9, 2016, the day after being elected to his fourth Senate term,[6] Bethel was appointed to be a Judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals by Governor Nathan Deal. He assumed the seat of Michael P. Boggs who was appointed to the Supreme Court of Georgia.[3] He took the bench on January 1, 2017, for a term that would have ended on December 31, 2018.
Georgia Supreme Court
On September 14, 2018, Governor Deal appointed Bethel to the Supreme Court of Georgia to fill the seat vacated by the retirement of Harris Hines.[6][7] He was sworn into office on October 2, 2018.[8]