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Utah Supreme Court justice vacancy (December 2025)
| Utah Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Pearce vacancy |
| Date: December 1, 2025 |
| Status: Nominee scheduled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: John Nielsen |
| Date: October 14, 2025 |
On October 14, 2025, Governor Spencer Cox (R) appointed District Court Judge John Nielsen to the Utah Supreme Court.[1] As of October 16, 2025, Nielsen had yet to be confirmed by the Utah State Senate.
Nielsen replaces Justice John A. Pearce, who is retiring on December 1, 2025.[2] Following the announcement of his retirement, Pearce stated he was going to return to private practice and continue teaching at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah.[3] Nielsen is Governor Cox's third nominee to the five-member supreme court.
In Utah, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a governor-controlled judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission with a majority of members selected by the governor. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
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, supreme court justices serve subsequent terms of ten years.[4]
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the Utah Supreme Court vacancy:
- An overview of the appointee.
- A list of finalists recommended to the governor.
- An overview of the selection process.
- An overview of the court following the vacancy.
- An overview of the justice who left office.
- A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2025.
The appointee
- See also: John Nielsen
On October 14, 2025, Governor Spencer Cox (R) appointed District Court Judge John Nielsen to the Utah Supreme Court. As of October 16, 2025, Nielsen had yet to be confirmed by the Utah State Senate.[1]
Appointee candidates and nominations
Ballotpedia will post information on candidates and prospective appointees as information becomes available. If you know of information that should be included here, please email us.
Finalists
On September 2, 2025, the Utah Appellate Judicial Nominating Commission released a list of seven applicants who qualified to succeed Justice Pearce. Following a period open to public comment, the Commission will send the list to Governor Spencer Cox (R), who has 30 days to make the final appointment. The nominees were:[5]
- District court judge Matthew Bell of Utah's Fifth Judicial District,
- District court judge James D. Gardner of Utah's Third Judicial District,
- Appellate court judge Ryan M. Harris,
- District court judge John Nielsen of Utah's Third Judicial District,
- District court judge Derek Pullan of Utah's Fourth Judicial District,
- Utah Solicitor General Stanford Purser,
- Appellate court judge Ryan Tenney[6]
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in Utah
In Utah, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a governor-controlled judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission with a majority of members selected by the governor. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
Makeup of the court
- See also: Utah Supreme Court
About the court
| Utah Supreme Court |
|---|
|
| Court Information |
| Justices: 5 |
| Founded: 1894 |
| Location: Salt Lake City |
| Salary |
| Associates: $241,200[7] |
| Judicial Selection |
| Method: Assisted appointment (governor-controlled commission) |
| Term: 10 years |
| Active justices |
| Matthew Durrant, Diana Hagen, John A. Pearce, Paige Petersen, Jill Pohlman |
Founded in 1894, the Utah Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has five judgeships. The current chief of the court is Matthew Durrant. In 2018, the court decided 212 cases.
As of September 2022, all five judges on the court were appointed by a Republican governor.
The Utah Supreme Court is located in Salt Lake City, Utah.
In Utah, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a governor-controlled judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission with a majority of members selected by the governor. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
Justices
Following Pearce's retirement, the Utah Supreme Court included the following members:
| ■ Matthew Durrant | Appointed by Gov. Michael Leavitt (R) in 2000 | |
| ■ Diana Hagen | Appointed by Gov. Spencer Cox (R) in 2022 | |
| ■ Paige Petersen | Appointed by Gov. Gary R. Herbert (R) in 2017 | |
| ■ Jill Pohlman | Appointed by Gov. Gary R. Herbert (R) in 2016 |
About Justice Pearce
- See also: John A. Pearce
Pearce earned a B.S. in economics from the University of Utah in 1992 and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1996.[8]
Other state supreme court appointments in 2025
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2025
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2025. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2024.
| 2025 State Supreme Court Vacancies |
|---|
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Governor of Utah - Spencer J. Cox, "Gov. Cox announces appointment of Judge John Nielsen to the Utah Supreme Court," October 14, 2025
- ↑ Supreme Court of the State of Utah, "Chambers of the Associate Chief Justice John A. Pearce," May 30, 2025
- ↑ Utah State Bar, "Associate Chief Justice John A. Pearce Announces Departure from Utah Supreme Court," June 3, 2025
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedUTgeneral - ↑ Note: Finalists are listed in alphabetical order by last name.
- ↑ Governor of Utah - Specer J. Cox, "Nominees announced for a Utah Supreme Court vacancy," September 2, 2025
- ↑ The salary of the chief justice may be higher than an associate justice.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedgov
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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
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