Margaret Plane has served as Park City’s special counsel since March 2019. Governor Gary Herbert appointed her to the Utah Court of Appeals on Friday.
This won’t be Plane’s first time working in the state’s capital city. Before she worked with Park City, she worked in Salt Lake City’s legal department for 12 years. She started as a senior attorney there and later became the city attorney for Salt Lake City Corporation.
Plane will be replacing Judge Mary Kate Appleby. Appleby announced her plans to retire in January 2021. Plane was nominated for the position along with 4 candidates.
City Attorney Mark Harrington said the office is thrilled for Plane.
“She’s one of those rare attorney’s who can take complex part of a code and make it understandable for her clients,” Harrington said.
Although she has been appointed to the seat, the position is still contingent on confirmation from the Utah Senate.
Harrington said they’re waiting until confirmation before they look for new special counsel for Park City.
“We have full respect that this is a two step confirmation process,” he said. “So we look forward to eagerly supporting her in that process but we don’t take -as I’m sure she doesn’t- take that for granted.”
The Utah Senate Judicial Confirmation Committee is holding a public comment hearing on Dec. 2, before the senate vote.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected. In an earlier version of this article a quote was transcribed incorrectly; it has been updated with the correct transcription.