Utah Senate confirms judge Robert W. Adkins and advances a package of bills amid voting-system outage

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah State Senate on Feb. 8 confirmed Robert W. Adkins as a judge for the Third Judicial District and advanced a slate of bills affecting taxes, consumer protections and court operations, while technical problems with the chamber’s voting system forced manual roll calls and slowed business.

The chamber unanimously confirmed Adkins after the Senate Judicial Confirmation Committee reported a favorable recommendation following several hours of testimony. Senator Chris Butters, who led the committee, called the nominee “the cream of the crop” after reviewing his decades-long record as a prosecutor and trial attorney. The roll call for the concurrence returned 28 yes votes, 0 nays and 1 absent. Shortly afterward the Senate resolved into a committee of the whole for Adkins to address members; Adkins thanked the governor and the committee and said he hoped “to be able to see things clearly and judge fairly,” pledging to use the authority entrusted to him wisely.

Beyond the confirmation, the Senate moved a number of measures to the House or passed them on the floor:

- First Substitute Senate Bill 31 (local government omnibus) passed and was referred to the House (27–0, with 2 absent). - Senate Bill 136 (justice court operations amendment) passed on the floor (16–12, 1 absent). - First…