PROVIDENCE — Frank J. Williams, the retired chief justice of the state Supreme Court, whose constant presence has been cited as a cause in the divorce case of his former driver, announced Tuesday that he will no longer sit on the state’s highest court.

“The events surrounding the Family Court matter are personal in nature, but the media accounts are causing an unwarranted and unnecessary distraction for the court,” Williams said in a statement. “The welfare of the judiciary has always been extremely important to me. I do not want it adversely affected by personal and collateral matters.”

The latest development in the Williams saga is not completely unexpected. Last week, newly appointed Chief Justice Paul A. Suttell was in discussions with top court administrators about the retired justice’s future role with the court.

The discussion accelerated after The Journal published a front page story on Friday about how Williams hired his former driver’s mother, Patricia Calise, as a part-time cleaning woman for the high court and other courtrooms and offices in the Licht Judicial Complex.

Classified as an administrative aide, she would be paid up to $33,000 a year if she worked full-time. Working part-time, she earned $20,104 last year and, so far this year, she has made just under $17,000. She also gets health insurance and other benefits.

Suttell called Williams’ decision to step aside “best for the court.” He said he will not ask Williams to perform any further judicial duties, but that Williams will continue to deliberate and write decisions on cases heard by the court through Oct. 6. “There’s no question that this matter has become a distraction,” he said in a news release. “It is clearly in the best interests of the judiciary that the former Chief Justice be relieved of judicial responsibilities at this time.”

When the court reconvenes Oct. 27, it will operate with four justices until a new associate justice is appointed to make the high court complete, according to Craig Berke, spokesman for the state judiciary.

Williams, 69, abruptly stepped down from the most powerful position in the state court system last December, citing the failing health of his mother and mother-in-law, both now deceased, and the administrative demands of the position. He was two years short of qualifying for a 100 percent pension.

At the request of then-acting Chief Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg, he agreed to assist on an interim basis and continued to do so under Suttell. Williams has worked almost full-time since his retirement, collecting extra pay — $112.83 — for each day he worked, in addition to his annual pension of $138,306.28, which is 75 percent of his former salary.

The controversy surrounding Williams erupted two weeks ago at a divorce hearing involving Pamela DosReis, a deputy sheriff and former driver for Williams, and her estranged husband, Frank J. DosReis, a state corrections officer.

Over two days, Pamela and Frank DosReis testified that Williams, the godfather of their 6-year-old daughter, was paying her tuition at St. Mary Academy-Bay View in East Providence. Testimony also revealed that Williams had keys to the DosReis’ house in Johnston and he regularly slept there in his own bedroom.

Pamela DosReis, who denied having a romantic relationship with Williams, also testified that the judge bought the family a $1,000 television and tires for her husband’s truck.

Frank DosReis testifed that he was “intimidated” by Williams’ power and that he never confronted him about his constant presence with the family. He also testified that Williams watched his goddaughter while she bathed, accompanied the two of them to a “father-daughter dance” in West Warwick, and that the child referred to Williams as “Chiefy.”

Williams, through his spokesman, Michael M. Doyle, of RDW Group, a public relations firm, did not dispute any of the testimony. Doyle said that Williams and his wife, Virginia, took a deep interest in the well-being of the child and tried to help the DosReis family.

Williams and his wife do not have any children.

Last week, Chief Family Court Judge Jeremiah S. Jeremiah Jr. issued an order that bars Williams from having any contact with his goddaughter, pending the next hearing in the DosReis divorce proceedings on Oct. 27. Williams has indicated that he hopes the court will allow him to resume visitation with the child.

In his news release, Suttell praised Williams’ achievements as chief justice from 2001 through 2008. He said that he inherited a judiciary “that is on solid ground, thanks to Williams’ vision and leadership.”

But Suttell also emphasized that it was time for Williams to move on.

Williams left for Europe a few days ago to reunite with members of his Army squad who were stationed in Germany during the early 60s.

Asked whether Suttell would have ordered Williams not to continue judicial duties had he not offered to step aside, Berke said, “It didn’t come to that.”

Berke said that Williams and Suttell had been engaged in a series of discussions “before he left town and even as the retired chief justice was in Europe. They spoke [Monday] and they spoke [Tuesday] by phone,” Berke said.

tbreton@projo.com