Gov. Spencer Cox signaled Tuesday he may support an expansion of the five-justice Utah Supreme Court, a move weighed — then abandoned — by a disgruntled Republican supermajority Legislature earlier this year.
At a news conference announcing his pick to fill a spot on the state’s high court, Cox pointed to the length of time it takes the court to consider a case rather than its ultimate decisions to justify contemplating such a move.
“I think it’s taking too long to make decisions, and that hurts our litigants,” Cox said, later adding, “I think it’s worth exploring how we get [justices] additional resources that they might need.”
Former House Majority Leader Jefferson Moss, who resigned from his seat in May to lead the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, opened a bill file to pursue expanding the court during the most recent general legislative session.
“Over the past decade, we have seen growing caseloads, delays and evolving legal complexities in Utah’s highest court,” Moss said at the time. “The Legislature has the ability to adjust the court’s size in response to these growing demands.”
Text of the bill was never published, and Moss ultimately abandoned the bill file, titled “Judicial Officer Modifications.”
House Speaker Mike Schultz said during a February news conference that although the proposal was coming late in the session, he hoped to continue discussing it.
“As issues before the Supreme Court become more complex, I think having more eyes on that is good,” Schultz told reporters.
Cox’s remarks come at a time of considerable tension between the Legislature and the Utah Supreme Court, which has repeatedly blocked key parts of GOP lawmakers’ agenda.
Justices upheld the pause on a law outlawing almost all abortions, limited the Legislature’s power to undo citizen-passed ballot initiatives and voided a proposed constitutional amendment that sought to undo the initiative ruling.
All five members of the Supreme Court were appointed by Republican governors and confirmed by a Utah Senate with a GOP majority.
The Legislature has responded by repeatedly proposing retaliatory measures to give it more power over the judiciary.
And while the governor, who is a lawyer, has so far vocally opposed most attempts by the Legislature to influence the courts’ operations, Cox has voiced disagreement with justices’ rulings, too.
On Tuesday, he said, “I’ve been very forthright about some disagreements that I’ve had with the court, but that’s OK. That’s certainly part of the process.”
In an interview after Tuesday’s news conference, Chief Justice Matthew Durrant refuted assertions that his court is not handing down timely decisions and said a larger court would likely slow justices down.
“We care about how quickly we get [a ruling] out very much,” Durrant said. “But more than anything else, we want to get it right under the law, under the Constitution.”
Other factors, he added, impact the amount of time it takes for a case to make its way through the court. Attorneys need time to adequately brief the court on issues at hand, and will often request extensions.
“It’s a multifaceted problem, this delay problem,” Durrant said, suggesting a portion of the issue is rooted in attorneys in front of the court working in understaffed offices.
“Seven can make it longer, more people to disagree. And we’re looking for more cases, as it is. As soon as the case is right for us, fully briefed, we jump on it,” Durrant said. He continued, “Five seems to be a sweet spot, at least for Utah, right now.”
Durrant previously urged lawmakers to resist retribution against the courts in his 2025 State of Judiciary address.
The Utah Supreme Court has had five seats for justices for over a century.
Although the court was initially made of three justices when Utah became a state, the newly ratified Constitution allowed lawmakers to grow the court to five justices in 1905, and they took the opportunity, according to the Utah Division of Archives and Records Service.
Now, the Constitution simply says the court “shall consist of at least five justices.”
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