Utah Supreme Court

Utah Supreme Court
Court information
Justices:	5
Founded:	1894
Judicial selection
Method:	Comm. select., Gov. appt.
Term:	10 years
Active justices
Christine Durham  •  Matthew Durrant  •  Jill Parrish  •  Ronald Nehring  •  Thomas Rex Lee  •
Former justices

The Utah Supreme Court is the court of last resort in Utah. It was established in 1894 when Utah became a state, partly growing out of an earlier territorial Supreme Court that was established by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1850. The court is composed of five members -- a Chief Justice, an Associate Chief Justice, and three Justices -- who serve renewable ten-year terms.

Justices

The current justices of the court are:

Judge	Term	Appointed by	Party
Justice Christine Durham	1982 - present	Scott Matheson	Democratic
Chief Justice Matthew Durrant	2000 - present	Mike Leavitt	Republican
Justice Jill Parrish	2003 - present	Mike Leavitt	Republican
Justice Ronald Nehring	2003 - present	Mike Leavitt	Republican
Justice Thomas Rex Lee	2010 - present	Gary R. Herbert	Republican

Chief justice

The justices vote amongst themselves for the Chief Justice and Associate Chief Justice positions, who each serve a term of four years. Since Utah achieved statehood, there have been 39 chief justices of the court. The first was Charles S. Zane, who served in this position on the court from 1896-1899, having previously been a chief justice of the preceding territorial supreme court.

Jurisdiction

The Utah Supreme Court has original jurisdiction to answer questions of state law certified from Federal Courts and to issue extraordinary writs. The Court has appellate jurisdiction to hear first degree and capital felony convictions from the District Court and civil judgments other than domestic cases. It also reviews formal 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. The Supreme Court also has jurisdiction over judgments of the Court of Appeals by writ of certiorari, proceedings of the Judicial Conduct Commission, and both constitutional and election questions. The court has final authority of interpretation of the Utah Constitution. It also adopts rules of civil and criminal procedure and rules of evidence for use in the state courts and manages the appellate process. The Court also governs the practice of law, including admission to practice law and the conduct and discipline of lawyers.

Judicial selection

Justices of the court are chosen using a gubernatorial commission process. The Utah appellate judicial nominating commission has eight members. Seven of the members are appointed by the governor. The eighth member of the commission is the state's chief justice or someone chosen by the chief justice. This member of the commission is a non-voting member. The appellate court nominating commission screens applicants for any vacancies that occur on the court. It is then required to submit a list of names with between five and seven nominees to the governor. The governor is required to appoint a nominee from the list to fill the vacancy within thirty days. If the governor fails to do so, the court's chief justice makes an appointment from the list. The Utah senate must then confirm or reject the appointment within sixty days.

The initial term of office is until the first general election is held more than three years after the appointment. Subsequent terms are ten years after which a retention election is held. The Utah Constitution says that "Selection of judges shall be based solely upon consideration of fitness for office without regard to any partisan political consideration.'"

Qualifications

To be considered a qualified candidate, a person must be a citizen of the United States and have been a resident of the state of Utah for no less than five years. Additionally, the candidate must be at least 30 years of age, and must be admitted to practice law in the state.

Caseloads

Fiscal year	Criminal appeals	Interlocutory appeals	Writ of certiorari	Civil appeals	Total filings	Total dispositions
2011	48	77	114	276	620	662
2010	53	85	120	262	593	679
2009	47	70	114	269	569	640

Salaries

As of 2010, the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court earn $145,350 annually and the Chief Justice earns $147,350.

History of the court

Before statehood, Utah was known as the State of Deseret. This territory provided for a three member Supreme Court. In 1850, Utah was admitted to the Union. Section 9 of the legislative act, the Organic Act, that created the state stated, "the judicial power of said territory shall be vested in a Supreme Court, District Court, and Justices of the Peace." According to the Organic Act, the Supreme Court of Utah was to act as an appellate court. Upon changing into a state Supreme Court, the jurisdiction changed. The original jurisdiction covered writs of mandamus, certiorari, prohibition, quo warranto, and habeas corpus. In all other cases, the court had appellate jurisdiction; it was not a trial court.

Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City

See also

• News: Matthew Durrant becomes head of Utah's judiciary, March 27, 2012

External links

• Official website of the Utah Supreme Court
• History of the Utah Supreme Court
• Opinions of the court from 1996 on
• Utah Courts: Caseload
• Utah Courts: Caseload stats

References