Utah Court of Appeals

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Judges of the Utah Court of Appeals

The Utah Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court in Utah. It was formed in 1987 and is one of two state appellate courts. The other state appellate court in Utah is the Utah Supreme Court.

The Court of Appeals hears all appeals from the juvenile and district courts, except cases coming from a district court's small claims department. It hears appeals involving domestic relations cases; these include divorce, annulment, division of property, child custody, child support, visitation, adoption and paternity, and some criminal matters (excepting first degree felonies and capital cases). The Court of Appeals also considers appeals coming from state agencies such as the Utah Industrial Commission and the Department of Employment Security Career Service Review Board. It also hears cases transferred to it by the Utah Supreme Court.

Procedure

During the third and fourth week of the month, three-judge panels hear oral arguments from cases. The judges then confer to discuss issues that were raised in the case. One of the judges on the panel is then assigned to write the opinion of the court. In addition to oral argument panels, three judges are designated by the court to the law and motion panel. This panel is responsible for reviewing and deciding procedural and substantive motions. It also hears cases on one day per month.

While the court sessions are usually held in Salt Lake City, the court also travels multiple times during the year and holds court in various regions of the state.

• Published opinions of the Utah Court of Appeals can be found here.

 

Utah Court of Appeals
Court information
Judges:	7
Founded:	1987
Salary:	Associates: $230,200
Judicial selection
Method:	Assisted appointment
Term:	6 years

Judges

Judge	Tenure	Appointed By
Michele Christiansen	2010 - Present	Gary Herbert
Ryan Tenney	August 18, 2021 - Present	Spencer Cox
Gregory Orme	January 18, 1987 - Present	Norman Bangerter
David N. Mortensen	July 14, 2016 - Present	Gary Herbert
Ryan M. Harris	2017 - Present	Gary Herbert
John Luthy	October 28, 2022 - Present	Spencer Cox
Amy Oliver	February 17, 2023 - Present	Spencer Cox

Salary

See also: Utah court salaries and budgets

In 2025, the associate judges of the court received a salary of $230,200, according to the National Center for State Courts.

Judicial selection

See also: Judicial selection in Utah

The seven judges on the Utah Court of Appeals 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, appeals court judges serve subsequent terms of six years.

Qualifications

To serve on the Utah Court of Appeals, a judge must be:

• a citizen of the United States;
• a state resident for at least three years;
• admitted to practice law in the state;
• at least 25 years old; and
• no more than 75 years old.

Presiding judge

The presiding judge of the appeals court is selected by peer vote. The judge serves in that capacity for two years.

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, appeals court judges serve subsequent terms of six years.

Elections

• 2030
• 2026
• 2024
• 2020
• 2018

See also: Utah intermediate appellate court elections, 2030

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: Utah intermediate appellate court elections, 2026

Gregory Orme's seat

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Michele Christiansen's seat

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

John Luthy's seat

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

David Mortensen's seat

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Amy Oliver's seat

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Ryan Harris' seat

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: Utah intermediate appellate court elections, 2024

Utah Court of Appeals

Ryan Tenney was retained to the Utah Court of Appeals on November 5, 2024 with 77.5% of the vote.

	Retention Vote	%	Votes
✔	Yes	77.5	945,138
	No	22.5	274,551
	Total Votes		1,219,689

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The results have been certified. Source

See also: Utah intermediate appellate court elections, 2020

Orme's seat

Utah Court of Appeals

Gregory Orme was retained to the Utah Court of Appeals on November 3, 2020 with 80.0% of the vote.

	Retention Vote	%	Votes
✔	Yes	80.0	994,542
	No	20.0	248,153
	Total Votes		1,242,695

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The results have been certified. Source

Pohlman's seat

Utah Court of Appeals

Jill Pohlman was retained to the Utah Court of Appeals on November 3, 2020 with 83.1% of the vote.

	Retention Vote	%	Votes
✔	Yes	83.1	1,036,007
	No	16.9	210,290
	Total Votes		1,246,297

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The results have been certified. Source

Christiansen's seat

Utah Court of Appeals

Michele Christiansen was retained to the Utah Court of Appeals on November 3, 2020 with 82.4% of the vote.

	Retention Vote	%	Votes
✔	Yes	82.4	1,023,082
	No	17.6	218,804
	Total Votes		1,241,886

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The results have been certified. Source

Harris's seat

Utah Court of Appeals

Ryan M. Harris was retained to the Utah Court of Appeals on November 3, 2020 with 75.0% of the vote.

	Retention Vote	%	Votes
✔	Yes	75.0	925,080
	No	25.0	308,015
	Total Votes		1,233,095

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The results have been certified. Source

Mortensen's seat

Utah Court of Appeals

David N. Mortensen was retained to the Utah Court of Appeals on November 3, 2020 with 77.7% of the vote.

	Retention Vote	%	Votes
✔	Yes	77.7	967,500
	No	22.3	277,924
	Total Votes		1,245,424

---

The results have been certified. Source

Hagen's seat

Utah Court of Appeals

Diana Hagen was retained to the Utah Court of Appeals on November 3, 2020 with 83.1% of the vote.

	Retention Vote	%	Votes
✔	Yes	83.1	1,038,612
	No	16.9	211,810
	Total Votes		1,250,422

---

The results have been certified. Source

See also: Utah intermediate appellate court elections, 2018

Utah Court of Appeals

Mary Kate Appleby was retained to the Utah Court of Appeals on November 6, 2018 with 80.7% of the vote.

	Retention Vote	%	Votes
✔	Yes	80.7	704,632
	No	19.3	168,732
	Total Votes		873,364

---

The results have been certified. Source

Previous election results

2014

Retention

Judge	Election Vote
OrmeGregory Orme	76.6% A
ChristiansenMichele Christiansen	77.0% A
RothStephen L. Roth	76.7% A
Voros, Jr.J. Frederic Voros Jr.	75.1% A
DavisJames Z. Davis	76.8% A

Ethics

The Utah Code of Judicial Conduct sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates in Utah. It is composed of four canons:

• Canon 1: "A Judge Shall Uphold and Promote the Independence, Integrity, and Impartiality of the Judiciary and Shall Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety."
• Canon 2: "A Judge Shall Perform the Duties of Judicial Office Impartially, Competently, and Diligently."
• Canon 3: "A Judge Shall Conduct the Judge’s Extrajudicial Activities to Minimize the Risk of Conflict with the Obligations of Judicial Office."
• Canon 4: "A Judge or Candidate for Judicial Office Shall not Engage in Political or Campaign Activity that is Inconsistent with the Independence , Integrity, or Impartiality of the Judiciary."

The full text of the Utah Code of Judicial Conduct can be found here.

Removal of judges

Judges in Utah may be removed in one of two ways:

• By the judicial conduct commission; the supreme court may review the commission's decisions
• By a two-thirds vote of the senate, upon impeachment by a two-thirds vote of the house of representatives

Noteworthy cases

• Convictions for sexual assault overturned (2015)

Click for summary→

David Deng Akok and John Atem Jok were accused of sexually assaulting a woman in her apartment in September 2012. The woman claimed that she spent a friendly evening with Jok and Akok. The three became intoxicated, and the woman fell asleep with both men still in her apartment. She claimed to awaken to find Jok fondling her. She asked him to stop, and he allegedly shoved his hand down her pants. She also claimed Akok raped her after Jok finished his assault. She went to a hospital where there was evidence corroborating her story, but doctors at the hospital were unable to affirmatively conclude the woman had been raped. Jok and Akok maintained throughout their arrest and trial that they engaged in a consensual sexual encounter with the woman. At trial, a prosecutor allegedly used emotion to appeal to the jury during closing arguments. The record in the case reflects that the prosecutor told the jury that the two men had already taken advantage of the woman once and, if the jury did not convict the men, she would be taken advantage of again. Because the statement was made during the rebuttal portion of closing statements, the defense did not have an opportunity to respond or let the jury know that the prosecutor's comments were inappropriate. When the defense objected to the statement outside the presence of the jury and requested that Judge Ann Boyden declare a mistrial, she refused. Boyden did, however, attempt to cure the prejudice to the defendants by calling the jury back from deliberations to inform them that they could not use the prosecutor's statements as substantive proof during their deliberations. The jury ultimately returned guilty verdicts for both men in the case. Akok was found guilty of rape, which is a first-degree felony in Utah. Jok was found guilty of two counts of forcible sex abuse, which is a second-degree felony. Both men were found guilty of the class C misdemeanor of intoxication. Attorneys for Jok and Akok appealed the convictions to the Utah Court of Appeals. They claimed that the prosecutor used emotion to distract the jury from their duty to make an impartial decision based on the law. Judge Gregory Orme wrote the opinion for the panel. He wrote that the curative instruction attempted by Boyden was ineffective as it lacked real substance and force. Further, the court found that there was a "reasonable likelihood that, in the absence of the prosecutor's improper statement, there would have been a more favorable result" for Jok and Akok. Akok's rape conviction was overturned, as was Jok's forcible sexual abuse conviction. Orme wrote that the Court of Appeals had no confidence in the verdict and sent it back to Judge Boyden for retrial. The opinion of the court also strongly encouraged separate trials for the two defendants to avoid prejudice. Articles: Deseret News, "Convictions of 2 in S.L. sex assault case overturned by appeals court," April 16, 2015 Findlaw.com, "State v. Akok," April 16, 2015

State profile

Demographic data for Utah
	Utah	U.S.
Total population:	2,990,632	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	82,170	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	87.6%	73.6%
Black/African American:	1.1%	12.6%
Asian:	2.2%	5.1%
Native American:	1.1%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.9%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.6%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	13.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	91.2%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	31.1%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$60,727	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	12.7%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Utah. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Utah

Utah voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

More Utah coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Utah
• United States congressional delegations from Utah
• Public policy in Utah
• Endorsers in Utah
• Utah fact checks
• More...

External links

• Utah Courts, "Court of Appeals Judges"

Footnotes

Utah courts

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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