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Utah Supreme Court
| Utah Supreme Court |
|---|
|
| Court Information |
| Justices: 5 |
| Founded: 1894 |
| Location: Salt Lake City |
| Salary |
| Associates: $235,300[1] |
| Judicial Selection |
| Method: Assisted appointment (governor-controlled commission) |
| Term: 10 years |
| Active justices |
| Matthew Durrant, Diana Hagen, John A. Pearce, Paige Petersen, Jill Pohlman |
Founded in 1894, the Utah Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has five judgeships. The current chief of the court is Matthew Durrant. In 2018, the court decided 212 cases.
As of September 2022, all five judges on the court were appointed by a Republican governor.
The Utah Supreme Court is located in Salt Lake City, Utah.
In Utah, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a governor-controlled judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission with a majority of members selected by the governor. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
Jurisdiction
The Utah Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over matters of state law that were certified from federal courts, and can also issue extraordinary writs. The court has appellate jurisdiction for cases of first degree and capital felony convictions from the district court. Appellate jurisdiction also extends to civil judgments besides domestic cases. The court reviews the administrative proceedings of the Public Service Commission, the Tax Commission, the School and Institutional Trust Lands Board of Trustees, the Board of Oil, Gas, and Mining, and the State Engineer. Additionally, the supreme court also has jurisdiction over the rulings of the Utah Court of Appeals by writ of certiorari and both constitutional and election questions. The court makes final rulings of interpretation of the Utah Constitution, as well as adopting rules for civil and criminal procedure and rules of evidence for use in the state courts. The court has administrative power over the Judicial Conduct Commission and the practice of law in the state, including admission, conduct, and discipline of attorneys.[2]
The following text from Article VIII, Section 3 of the Utah Constitution covers the organization and jurisdiction of the court:
| “ | Jurisdiction of Supreme Court
The Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction to issue all extraordinary writs and to answer questions of state law certified by a court of the United States. The Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction over all other matters to be exercised as provided by statute, and power to issue all writs and orders necessary for the exercise of the Supreme Court's jurisdiction or the complete determination of any cause.[3][4] |
” |
| —Utah Constitution, Article VIII, Section 3 | ||
Justices
The table below lists the current justices of the Utah Supreme Court, their political party, when they assumed office, and the appointing governor (if applicable).
| Office | Name | Party | Date assumed office | Appointed by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utah Supreme Court | Matthew Durrant | Nonpartisan | 2000 | Michael O. Leavitt (R) |
| Utah Supreme Court | Diana Hagen | Nonpartisan | May 18, 2022 | Spencer Cox (R) |
| Utah Supreme Court | John A. Pearce | Nonpartisan | January 29, 2016 | Gary Herbert (R) |
| Utah Supreme Court | Paige Petersen | Nonpartisan | January 19, 2018 | Gary Herbert (R) |
| Utah Supreme Court | Jill Pohlman | Nonpartisan | August 17, 2022 | Spencer Cox (R) |
Judicial selection
- See also: Judicial selection in Utah
The five justices of the supreme court are selected through assisted appointment. The governor selects a nominee from a list of recommended candidates from a judicial nominating commission. The nominee then must attain approval from the Utah Senate.
New appointees serve for at least three years, after which they must run in a yes-no retention election. If retained, supreme court justices serve subsequent terms of ten years.[5]
Qualifications
To serve on the Utah Supreme Court, a judge must be:
- a citizen of the United States;
- a state resident for at least five years;
- admitted to practice law in the state;
- at least 30 years old; and
- no more than 75 years old.[5]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the supreme court is selected by peer vote. The chief justice of the supreme court serves in that capacity for four years.[5]
Vacancies
When a vacancy occurs on the court, the governor appoints a replacement from a list of seven names recommended by a nominating commission. The nominee then must attain approval from the Utah Senate. New appointees serve for at least three years, after which they must run in a yes-no retention election. If retained, supreme court justices serve subsequent terms of ten years.[5]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
- Utah Courts, "Supreme Court Justices"
- Official website of the Utah Supreme Court
- History of the Utah Supreme Court
- Utah Courts, "Opinions of the court"
Footnotes
- ↑ The salary of the chief justice may be higher than an associate justice.
- ↑ Utah Courts, "Supreme Court," accessed August 20, 2021
- ↑ Utah.gov, "Utah Constitution," accessed March 30, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection," accessed August 20, 2021
- ↑ Utah State Bar, "Associate Chief Justice John A. Pearce Announces Departure from Utah Supreme Court," June 3, 2025
- ↑ The Salt Lake Tribune, "Utah Supreme Court Justice Deno Himonas retires, plans return to private sector," accessed March 1, 2022
- ↑ 2KUTV, "Gov. Cox announces appointee to Utah Supreme Court," March 29, 2022
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection," accessed August 20, 2021
- ↑ KSL.com, "Thomas Lee retires from Utah's Supreme Court, but still has big plans," July 3, 2022
- ↑ Office of Gov. Spencer J. Cox, "WATCH: GOV. SPENCER J. COX APPOINTS JUDGE JILL M. POHLMAN TO UTAH SUPREME COURT," June 28, 2022
- ↑ Utah Courts, "Annual Reports," accessed September 22, 2019
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ The Court Balance Score is calculated by finding the average partisan Confidence Score of all justices on a state supreme court. For example, if a state has justices on the state supreme court with Confidence Scores of 4, -2, 2, 14, -2, 3, and 4, the Court Balance is the average of those scores: 3.3. Therefore, the Confidence Score on the court is Mild Republican. The use of positive and negative numbers in presenting both Confidence Scores and Court Balance Scores should not be understood to that either a Republican or Democratic score is positive or negative. The numerical values represent their distance from zero, not whether one score is better or worse than another.
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ , "Code of Judicial Conduct Annotated," accessed August 20, 2025
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Utah, Removal of Judges," accessed August 12, 2015
- ↑ Center for Public Integrity, "About The Center for Public Integrity," accessed March 2, 2018
- ↑ Center for Public Integrity, "State supreme court judges reveal scant financial information," December 5, 2013
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Utah Department of Administrative Services, Archives, "Agency Histories, Supreme Court, Agency History #868," accessed August 23, 2013
- ↑ The Salt Lake Tribune, "Durham to step down as chief justice of Utah Supreme Court," January 23, 2012, accessed August 22, 2012
Federal courts:
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Utah • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Utah
State courts:
Utah Supreme Court • Utah Court of Appeals • Utah District Courts • Utah Juvenile Courts • Utah Justice Courts
State resources:
Courts in Utah • Utah judicial elections • Judicial selection in Utah
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Current judges | Matthew Durrant, Diana Hagen, John A. Pearce, Paige Petersen, Jill Pohlman | ||
| Former judges | Christine Durham, Deno Himonas, Thomas Rex Lee, Ronald E. Nehring | ||
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