Six judges, three prosecutors and three lawyers in private practice make up the dozen finalists — three of whom are women — that Gov. Spencer Cox will have to choose from to fill two vacancies on the Utah Supreme Court.
The vacancies were created by the resignation of Justice Diana Hagen, who left the court amid an ethics investigation spearheaded by the House of Representatives, and the retirement of Chief Justice Matthew Durrant, who stepped down due to health issues.
After the two spots are filled, Cox will have appointed six of the justices on the Supreme Court that Republican lawmakers expanded to seven seats after suffering a series of defeats in front of the high court.
The finalists for the positions are:
• Cherise Bacalski, founder and appellate attorney at Lotus Appellate Law and adjunct professor of writing at Brigham Young University’s law school;
• Christopher Ballard, general counsel and chief of staff at the Utah County Attorney’s Office;
• Christopher Bates, lawyer and shareholder at Kirton McConkie;
• Matthew Bates, Third District Court judge;
• Matthew Bell, Fifth District Court judge;
• Samuel Chiara, Eighth District Court judge;
• William Hains, deputy director of the criminal appeals division at the Utah Attorney General’s office;
• Michael Menssen, lawyer and partner at Mayer Brown LLP;
• Amy Oliver, Utah Court of Appeals judge;
• Stanford Purser, solicitor general at the Utah Attorney General’s office;
• Ryan Tenney, Utah Court of Appeals judge.
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.