Chief Justice Matthew Durrant announced his retirement from the Utah Supreme Court Friday, the latest justice to step aside during unprecedented turnover on the court at a time when the judiciary is under intense pressure from Republican lawmakers.
The 69-year-old Durrant said his retirement would be effective August 31. He recently underwent a kidney transplant, according to an announcement at a recent Judicial Council meeting.
Gov. Spencer Cox is already in the process of interviewing a dozen finalists for two new seats created when the Legislature expanded the Supreme Court from five justices to seven during the past legislative session. A third vacancy was created earlier this month when Justice Diana Hagen stepped down amid an investigation by Republican lawmakers into allegations of an inappropriate relationship that the Judicial Conduct Commission had already dismissed as “misleading.”
In November, Justice John Nielsen was confirmed to the court to take the place of retiring Justice John Pearce, meaning Cox will be appointing five of the seven justices on the court in the span of less than a year.
All 12 of the finalists for the two new vacancies are men, as were the seven finalists for the seat that Nielsen filled.
Durrant’s departure also means that Cox will get to pick the next chief justice, under a law that took effect last year stripping the justices of the power to choose their own chief.
Read the full article by Robert Gehrke at sltrib.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.