St. George • Washington County has refused to adopt Utah’s new congressional district map — at least officially — in defiance of a court ruling.
The southwestern Utah county’s congressional district changed after a ruling by 3rd District Judge Dianna Gibson in November, but the all-Republican County Commission voted against amending its code to comply with the new map during a heated Dec. 15. meeting.
“I’d like to be out of compliance with the judge’s order and have her come down and enforce this,” said County Commissioner Victor Iverson. “I’d like to make a motion that we don’t approve this item.”
Adam Snow, the only other commissioner present that day, questioned how such a move may affect the county’s staff and whether there was a better place to “have that fight” but ultimately voted in support of Iverson’s motion.
“I am seriously, seriously angry about this situation,” Iverson said during the meeting. “I think it’s a constitutional crisis. I really do. I think it’s beyond simple politics. It’s a gross abuse of judicial power that has never been seen in this state. … I can’t vote for it.”
Iverson told The Tribune on Tuesday that this is a “principle fight.”
The county’s deputy clerk, Genna Goodwin, told commissioners that county ballots will still likely list candidates for the 3rd Congressional District, in line with the court’s newly approved map, and that she didn’t know if they’d have an option for the 2nd District, the county’s prior congressional district. The new district favors Republicans by as many as 43 percentage points.
“This decision will have no bearing on our ability to administer the election this year,” the lieutenant governor’s office, which oversees elections in Utah, wrote in a statement to The Tribune.
Washington County wants one of two things to happen before it adopts a new congressional district map, according to Iverson.
“We want the Legislature to vote for a map,” Iverson told The Tribune. “We will accept whatever map the Legislature votes for. And then the second thing, if that is not possible ... appeals should be allowed to go forward before the implementation of the map.”
Utah’s Republican lawmakers filed a notice Thursday of their intent to appeal Gibson’s ruling.
The Utah GOP is also collecting signatures to put an initiative on the 2026 ballot that would overturn Proposition 4, a 2018 ballot initiative passed by Utah voters that banned partisan gerrymandering.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) A paid signature gatherer, left, reaches out to Utah voters at the University of Utah Marriott Library in the ongoing effort to repeal Proposition 4, the 2018 voter-approved ballot initiative on redistricting, on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. An unpaid volunteer, center, was on hand to oppose the effort being put forth by the Utah Republican Party.
Commissioner Gil Almquist, who wasn’t present during the commission meeting in December, said on Tuesday that the judicial branch “plays a vital role in our government,” but he will always side with the legislature.
“I cannot support the judge when she has ignored the will of the people,” he said.
Legal issues
Judge Gibson’s rejection of Republican lawmakers’ congressional boundaries in November followed a nearly four-year legal battle over Proposition 4.
The Utah Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that the Legislature violated Utahns’ right to reform the government when it repealed the ballot initiative in 2020.
In the November ruling, Gibson wrote that the legislators’ map “does not comply with Proposition 4.”
Snow told The Tribune on Monday that he does not believe Gibson’s ruling applies to the county because it was not named in the lawsuit that individual voters, the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government brought against the Legislature, accusing it of partisan gerrymandering.
“We believe that she stepped outside her authority and can’t dictate to us what to do,” Snow said. “There are checks and balances built in, and the judge doesn’t have the ultimate authority to do whatever. The judicial branch interprets the law, but it doesn’t get to make the law. She can interpret it, and we have our role as well.”
Victoria Hales, the county’s deputy attorney, told commissioners during the meeting that the county would be out of compliance with state law if they do not adopt the new map by Jan. 1 and that she “would legally advise against that.”
“The judge’s order is state law at this moment,” she said. “The appellate court might overturn it, and then it would be different, or the Legislature might do a work-around, and then it would be different, but right now, that order is law.”
As the discussion during the commission meeting intensified, Snow clarified with Hales whether the county would be out of compliance with state statute or the judge’s order.
“The statute was altered based on a vote by the people under the constitution, and [Gibson] upheld that vote and then implemented the map,” said Hales, noting that Iverson was “rolling his eyes.”
“I’m not a commissioner,” she added “I’m just giving you legal advice.”
Iverson said he thought Gibson was guilty of “conspiring with Democratic socialists and with outside money to try to flip a district.” He added, “She can throw me in jail for contempt of whatever. I’m tired of it.”
Almquist echoed Iverson in an interview on Tuesday. “If they want to exercise some repercussions,” he said, “I’ll sit in a corner of a cell and know that I did the right thing.”
‘Political grandstanding’
Gibson has received a number of threats since her November ruling.
“Threats of violence against judges or court personnel are unacceptable, dangerous, and may violate state or federal law,” the Utah judiciary said in a November statement. “Any conduct aimed at causing fear for a ruling or undermining the safe operation of the justice system strikes at the heart of the rule of law. Such actions endanger not only the individuals targeted but the functioning of the justice system itself.”
Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson also chimed in. “I’m glad to see Utah State Courts speak strongly against threats toward members of the judiciary,” she wrote in a post on social media. “Lincoln warned that a ‘mobocratic spirit’ would destroy our country. Threatening and violent rhetoric encourages some people to take threatening and violent action. It’s never okay.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Judge Dianna Gibson listens to a hearing regarding congressional district maps in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025.
Geoff Allen, chair of the Washington County Democratic Party, called the commissioners’ vote and accusations against the judge “political grandstanding.”
“They don’t have the authority to do what they’re doing, and it puts the county at risk,” Allen said. “As their own staff told them, they are not going to be given the option because, at the end of the day, the lieutenant governor’s office controls the process.”
University of Utah political science professor Matthew Burbank said county commissioners clearly are stepping outside their lane on this issue.
“You can’t just say, ‘Well, we were in the 2nd District before so we are staying in the 2nd District, and there’s nothing you can do to make us change’” he said. “If you are voting in the wrong congressional district, then you are going to create problems for everyone else.”
Burbank said that county commissioners don’t get to choose which district their county is in. “I know they think they do, but they don’t.”
As for potential repercussions, Snow said he has consulted with the county attorney and others and is not “super concerned” about liability. If the judge or state wants to force the county to comply, Snow added, “I guess we’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.”
So far, the lieutenant governor’s office reached out to the county’s attorney office “just to ask about it,” Iverson said.
“I would say that most of the time, the lieutenant government’s office would say that Washington County is really easy to work with,” he added, ”so we’re kind of in uncharted territory."