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Utah judicial elections
Judges in Utah stand in retention elections that occur during the November general election. Judicial elections only take place in even-numbered years in the state.
Utah is one of six states that use retention elections to determine whether judges should remain on the bench without using another type of election as an initial selection method. To read more about how states use judicial elections to select judges across the country, click here.
| Supreme Court | Court of Appeals | District Court | Justice Courts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retention election - 10-year terms | Retention election - Six-year terms | Retention election - Six-year terms | Retention election - Six-year terms |
Elections
- Utah Supreme Court elections, 2024
- Utah intermediate appellate court elections, 2024
- Utah Supreme Court elections, 2022
- Utah Supreme Court elections, 2020
- Utah intermediate appellate court elections, 2020
- Utah Supreme Court elections, 2018
- Utah intermediate appellate court elections, 2018
- Utah local trial court judicial elections, 2018
- Utah judicial elections, 2016
- Utah judicial elections, 2014
- Utah judicial elections, 2012
- Utah judicial elections, 2010
Election rules
Retention election
In retention elections, judges do not compete against another candidate, but voters are given a "yes" or "no" choice whether to keep the justice in office for another term. If the candidate receives more yes votes than no votes, he or she is successfully retained. If not, the candidate is not retained, and there will be a vacancy in that court effective the first Monday in January following the general election.[1]
Filing deadline
Candidates must file their declarations of candidacy between the second Friday and the third Thursday in March of the election year.[2]
Judicial performance evaluation
In 2012, Utah had its first statewide judicial performance evaluation for judges standing for retention. These were conducted by the Utah Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission.
History
From the state's inception in 1896 until 1951, judges participated in partisan elections. In 1951, legislation changed the process for the judiciary to nonpartisan elections. Legislature created another change in 1967, so that if a candidate was unopposed the voters would answer whether the candidate should be retained or not, although opposed candidates still ran in nonpartisan elections. It was not until 1985 that Utah's judicial elections became unopposed retention elections.[3]
See also
External links
- Utah State Legislature, "Article VIII, Section 9.(Judicial retention elections)," accessed April 25, 2014
- Elections.utah.gov, accessed April 25, 2014
- American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Utah," accessed April 25, 2014
Footnotes
| |||||||
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
