Utah’s Supreme Court has reached seven justices for the first time after the state Senate confirmed Matthew Bell and Michael Menssen, completing a rapid expansion and turnover of the state’s highest court.
The Senate approved both nominees September 16 during an extraordinary session. KUER reported that their confirmations filled the vacancies created by former Chief Justice Matthew Durrant’s retirement and Justice Diana Hagen’s departure. The court now has all seven seats filled months after lawmakers expanded it from five members.
The appointments followed Utah’s merit-selection process. An appellate nominating commission assembled a list of candidates, Gov. Spencer Cox selected Bell and Menssen, and the Senate provided final confirmation. The governor’s August notice identified 12 finalists and set a public-comment period before the names were sent to Cox.
Who joined the court
Bell had served on Utah’s Fifth District Court since 2017 and previously worked as an assistant U.S. attorney and a Justice Department antitrust trial lawyer. Menssen was a Salt Lake City commercial litigator whose practice included employment and appellate matters. Their public confirmation process was listed in the Legislature’s committee agenda, which scheduled separate questioning of each nominee before Senate action.
Both men described their approach as grounded in originalism and textualism, meaning they emphasize constitutional and statutory text and its understood meaning when adopted. Their statements do not determine how either justice will vote in a particular case, and neither was asked during the confirmation hearings to commit to outcomes in pending disputes.
A new court structure
The seven-member court exists because Senate Bill 134 took effect immediately after receiving more than two-thirds support in both legislative chambers and Cox’s signature. The measure also added two Court of Appeals judges and one judge apiece in the Third, Fourth and Fifth district courts. Its total projected cost was just under $6.5 million, according to KUER’s account of the enacted bill.
Supporters said seven justices better fit Utah’s population and could improve review of complex cases. Critics questioned whether a larger panel would increase efficiency and objected to expanding the court amid disputes over abortion, redistricting and legislative power. The Associated Press reported that the judiciary had not requested the two additional seats and that Durrant told lawmakers the high court had essentially no backlog.
Cox has now appointed five of the seven sitting justices, and a majority of the court has served for less than a year. That does not itself establish how the court will rule, but it makes the personnel change unusually broad and increases attention on the justices’ first major opinions. The immediate institutional result is clear: Utah enters its next appellate term with a fully staffed seven-member Supreme Court and a substantially newer bench.
