- Utah GOP House leaders propose expanding the Supreme Court to seven justices.
- They aim to improve court efficiency and transparency amid government branch tensions.
- House Speaker Mike Schultz proposed electing judges in the future in light of recent rulings.
SALT LAKE CITY — Top Republicans in the Utah House are looking to expand the state's judiciary and add transparency measures to the court system in the upcoming legislative session.
The focus on the courts is part of an effort to improve the efficiency and accountability of the system, leaders say, but the proposals come amid a time of tension between the branches of government — particularly around the ongoing case on congressional redistricting — and House Speaker Mike Schultz floated the idea of electing judges in the future if things don't change.
"Our courts, and specifically the Supreme Court, has moved so far afield from where we expect them to be that it's actually undermining their credibility," said House Majority Leader Casey Snider, R-Paradise, during a KSL and Deseret News editorial board meeting this week to discuss the caucus' plans for the upcoming session. "People must trust institutions. They must trust the voice of the people in the House. They must have confidence in the governor's office, and they must have confidence in the impartiality of their court system.
"Justice must be fair and must be blind, and I don't think based on what we have seen, what they've been hiding, that we can say that with any degree of certainty."
Schultz, a Republican from Hooper, said lawmakers are "extremely concerned" with a recent ruling from 3rd District Judge Dianna Gibson, which reinstated the anti-gerrymandering ballot initiative known as Proposition 4 and threw out the congressional maps approved by the Legislature after the 2020 census. He and other Republicans have also condemned a unanimous 2024 Utah Supreme Court ruling that said the Legislature cannot change initiatives that reform government unless it satisfies a compelling state interest in the least restrictive way possible.
Many Republicans worry the ruling could elevate laws passed through initiative into "super laws" that can't easily be changed or repealed by lawmakers, and Snider said the ruling "will undermine what is happening in the state faster than anything."
"I've got a lot of respect for our judiciary," Schultz said. "But look, you've heard us talk about electing judges. That's not off the table, you know, especially our Supreme Court. If those are the types of decisions that are going to be made ... if we can't figure this out, then we need to have a serious discussion about electing judges."
Utah judges are currently nominated to the governor, who selects an appointee subject to approval by the Senate. Gov. Spencer Cox in 2024 said he opposed changing to an electoral system for judges, saying that risks injecting partisanship and division into the selection of independent judges.
"I get how hard that position is," Schultz said of judges. "Sometime it truly can be difficult. However, when judges start getting into legislating from the bench and creating policy, that is where that's the role of those that are elected by the people."
That may not be on the table for the upcoming session, but GOP lawmakers are looking at other reforms to the court system they say will help judges move through their caseload quicker. A proposal to expand the number of justices on the Supreme Court was floated last year, but after Cox recently endorsed an expanded court, the Legislature is poised to add two justices to the five-member panel.
It's also looking to increase the number of judges in the state's district and appellate courts.
Utah is one of only 17 states with five Supreme Court justices and hasn't changed the number of justices in more than a century. As the state grows, some lawmakers have argued it's better to have more justices weighing in on the increasingly complex issues that arrive before the Supreme Court.
"I would rather have a seven-member court ... making these decisions, versus a five-member court," Schultz said. "We think it's time. The governor's talked a lot about this, with the decisions, and as complicated as these decisions have been, having seven sets of eyes looking at them is much better than five sets of eyes."
The speaker called the judicial system in Utah "the least transparent branch of government that we have in the state" and suggested the courts improve their website to make it easier for residents to search for court records and judge's rulings.
After Utah Judge Don Torgerson faced criticism last year for comments made during the sentencing of a man who pleaded guilty to two felony charges of sexual exploitation of a minor, Schultz said he tried to request all of Torgerson's previous rulings but was told it was nearly impossible unless he had a specific case number to reference.
"Anybody can get on the Legislature's website ... and look at any comment I've ever made on the record, look at any vote I've ever taken on the record," he said. "We believe the judicial branch owes it to the public to have that type of transparency, because right now, go and try and find any information or decisions made by courts — it's almost impossible."
Schultz said he's proposing a bill to direct the court system to set up a website similar to the Legislature's to make it easier for Utahns to find and compare court records.
The 45-day legislative session kicks off Jan. 20.
