Utah governor signs bill expanding state Supreme Court as redistricting appeal looms

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill Saturday that expands the number of justices on the state Supreme Court from five to seven, as frustration mounts among Republican lawmakers following a series of defeats at the court.

Republican supporters of the change argued it would help improve the court’s efficiency. But legal experts said it could have the opposite effect and set a dangerous precedent at a time of tension between branches of government. The state’s judiciary has not requested more high court judges.

Democrats, united against the bill, called the timing suspect. Last week, Parliament asked the court to overturn a redistricting decision that gave Democrats a boost to win one of Utah’s four Republican congressional seats in the fall.

New justices could be in place when the court decides the fate of the congressional map.

Because the bill received approval from more than two-thirds of lawmakers, it took effect immediately after the governor signed it, allowing him to bypass a months-long waiting period to begin adding judges.

In Utah, judges are appointed by the governor and approved by the state Senate. Judges in many other states are elected.

Most states have five or seven Supreme Court justices, but a few have nine. Cox, a Republican, said the additions would put Utah on par with other states its size. He denied the policy was politically motivated, noting that Republican governors and senators made all the recent appointments.

Once he fills the new seats, Cox will have appointed five of the seven sitting justices.

Last month, Republican lawmakers took power from state Supreme Court justices to choose their own chief justice and gave that power to the governor.

“Better to have seven pairs of eyes looking at the most complex and difficult issues our state has ever faced than to have just five pairs of eyes,” said House Majority Leader Casey Snider, a Republican sponsor of the bill.

John Pearce, who recently retired as associate chief justice, said this month he doubted the change would make the court more efficient.

“The more rounds of feedback you have to consider, the longer the process takes,” Pearce said. “If the legislator hopes to speed up the work of the court, this will be counterproductive. »

Two states — Arizona and Georgia — have added judges in the past decade after making similar arguments about efficiency.

In the early years after Arizona expanded its court in 2016several judges past and present have stated that it does things less effective because more people had to review opinions before they could be published.

The Arizona court now issues slightly more decisions per year, while the Georgia court issues slightly fewer than before.

Utah Chief Justice Matthew Durrant told lawmakers on the opening day of the 2026 session that the court has “virtually no backlog” and urged them to add judges to lower courts, where the need is greater. The bill’s sponsors responded by adding lower court judges and clerks.

The Utah State Bar said it was concerned about the expansion and other proposals that it said would weaken the independence of the judiciary. Among them is a bill that would create a new trial court with exclusive jurisdiction to hear constitutional challenges. The proposal would limit the ability of other judges and courts to block potentially unconstitutional state laws through injunctions.

Republicans have also been collecting signatures to try to place an initiative on the November ballot that would allow them to restore their ability to draw voting districts deliberately favorable to one political party, a practice known as gerrymandering.

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Lee reported from Santa Fe, New Mexico.