Committee hears compromise to let governor appoint Utah chief justice, delays vote until quorum

The Judiciary Interim Committee on Tuesday heard a presentation on draft legislation that would change selection of Utah's Supreme Court chief justice so the governor appoints the chief justice with advice and consent of the Senate and limits the officeholder to a single eight-year term.

The bill, described by sponsor Senator Wilson as a compromise negotiated with the governor after SB 296 was vetoed earlier in the year, would trigger the new appointment process when the chief justice's office becomes vacant, and would make the first change effective at the end of the current chief justice's term. "The bill provides that the chief justice will be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate," Senator Wilson said during his presentation.

The draft clarifies that the current chief justice, Matthew Durrant, who was appointed in 2024, will keep a four-year term that expires April 1, 2028, unless he retires or steps down, and that any chief justice appointed before the bill takes effect would likewise have a term ending…