The Reign of the Judges: The Retention Votes on Your Ballot

King Mosiah's counsel was to "choose you by the voice of this people, judges." Utah runs on a version of that idea: judges are appointed, and then the voice of the people decides whether they keep the seat. Your ballot is already in your mailbox, and the section most voters guess on is the judges. Twelve of them stand for retention on the Utah County ballot this year. None of them campaign, and almost nobody knows their names. So here is the record on all twelve: who appointed them, how the state's own evaluators scored them, and the one retention fight worth knowing about. No endorsements, just the record. The candidate guide follows Monday.

Utah judges are appointed, not elected. When a seat opens, a nominating commission vets applicants and sends names to the governor, who chooses one; the Senate confirms. Voters then get one yes-or-no question in the nonpartisan section of the ballot: "Shall [name] be retained in the office of [office]?" A majority of yes votes keeps the judge. A loss opens the seat when the term ends, and the appointment process starts over. A judge first faces voters at the first general election more than three years after appointment, then every 10 years for Supreme Court justices and every 6 years for other judges. Before the vote, the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission, 13 members appointed by the governor, the Legislature, and the Supreme Court, scores each judge on legal ability, integrity, administration, and fairness, using surveys, courtroom observation, and disciplinary records. It does not grade rulings; appeals do that. Judges run against no one and do not campaign.

Justice Jill Pohlman is the only judge on the Utah County ballot facing an organized push to remove her. Gov. Spencer Cox appointed her to the Supreme Court in 2022; the Senate confirmed her 25-0, and she took office August 17, 2022. She had served six years on the Court of Appeals before that.

The push traces to redistricting. In League of Women Voters v. Utah Legislature (2024), the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that when voters use an initiative to reform government, the Legislature cannot freely rewrite the result; changes that impair the reform must pass strict scrutiny. Pohlman joined the opinion, which Justice Paige Petersen wrote. The ruling sent the fight over Proposition 4, the 2018 redistricting initiative, back to the trial court, where the Legislature's congressional map was later thrown out. Legislative leaders called the ruling "one of the worst outcomes we have ever seen from the Utah Supreme Court."

At the Republican state convention on April 25, 2026, party chair Rob Axson urged a no vote on Pohlman and Justice Diana Hagen: "Vote no. These two people who ignore the Constitution have zero business being in the robe." Hagen has since resigned and is not on the ballot. Gov. Cox, who appointed Pohlman, has said: "If people don't like decisions that are coming out of our Supreme Court, the appropriate way to deal with that is to vote against those judges in a retention election."

The Utah State Bar answered on April 28, 2026, urging voters to use the performance evaluations instead. "Disagreement with a specific ruling should not be the basis for removal," said Bar executive director Elizabeth Wright. "A fair court system depends on judges who apply the law consistently for all, without being swayed by public or political pressure." JPEC scored Pohlman 19.3 of 20, with 96 percent of respondents recommending retention, and voted 12-0 that she meets or exceeds standards. Pohlman has made no public response and runs no campaign, which is standard for Utah judges. No Utah Supreme Court justice has lost a retention vote in 17 elections going back to 1990.

Each card gives the JPEC cumulative score out of 20, the percent of survey respondents recommending retention, and the commission's recommendation. All twelve judges were found to meet or exceed standards, each by a 12-0 commission vote. Our research found no public disciplinary record for any of the twelve.

Jill M. Pohlman, Utah Supreme Court (currently serving as interim chief justice)

Appointed by: Gov. Spencer Cox, 2022 (took office August 17, 2022; Senate confirmed 25-0). On the bench since 2016, when Gov. Gary Herbert appointed her to the Court of Appeals.

JPEC 2026: 19.3 / 20. 96% recommend retention. Meets or exceeds standards, 12-0.

Record: Joined the unanimous 2024 redistricting ruling covered in the spotlight above, and now leads the court on an interim basis while it expands from five seats to seven under a 2026 law.

Michele M. Christiansen Forster, Utah Court of Appeals (Presiding Judge)

Appointed by: Gov. Gary Herbert, 2010. Sixteen years on the Court of Appeals; a judge since 2007, when she joined the 3rd District Court.

JPEC 2026: 18.8 / 20. 94% recommend retention. Meets or exceeds standards, 12-0.

Record: The Utah State Bar named her its Judge of the Year, announced at the Bar's 2026 Spring Convention, citing her leadership of the court and her work on issues affecting women and children.

Gregory K. Orme, Utah Court of Appeals

Appointed by: Gov. Norman H. Bangerter, January 1987. Thirty-nine years on the bench.

JPEC 2026: 19.4 / 20. 97% recommend retention. Meets or exceeds standards, 12-0.

Record: One of the seven original judges of the Court of Appeals when the court was created in 1987, and the last of that founding group still serving; he is the longest-serving appellate judge in Utah.

David N. Mortensen, Utah Court of Appeals

Appointed by: Gov. Gary Herbert, 2016 (Senate confirmed June 2016). Ten years on the Court of Appeals; twenty years on the bench in total.

JPEC 2026: 19.0 / 20. 98% recommend retention. Meets or exceeds standards, 12-0.

Record: Before moving up to the appeals court, he spent ten years as a 4th District Court trial judge, hearing Utah County cases; the Senate confirmation committee cited that decade when it recommended him unanimously.

John David Luthy, Utah Court of Appeals

Appointed by: Gov. Spencer Cox, 2022 (Senate confirmed October 19, 2022, 25-0). Four years on the court.

JPEC 2026: 18.5 / 20. 89% recommend retention. Meets or exceeds standards, 12-0.

Record: He was the Cache County Attorney, the county's elected prosecutor, when Gov. Cox appointed him; he had run unopposed for re-election to that office the same year.

Ryan M. Harris, Utah Court of Appeals

Appointed by: Gov. Gary Herbert, 2017 (Senate confirmed 23-0). Nine years on the court.

JPEC 2026: 18.8 / 20. 91% recommend retention. Meets or exceeds standards, 12-0.

Record: A 3rd District Court trial judge before his move to the appeals court; in 2022 he was among the finalists interviewed for a Utah Supreme Court vacancy.

Amy J. Oliver, Utah Court of Appeals

Appointed by: Gov. Spencer Cox, 2023 (appointed January 10, 2023; confirmed February 17, 2023). Three years on the court; a judge since 2021.

JPEC 2026: 18.2 / 20. 88% recommend retention. Meets or exceeds standards, 12-0.

Record: Before the bench she was an enforcement attorney with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, rising to assistant director of its Salt Lake regional office; Gov. Cox first appointed her to the 3rd District Court in 2021, then elevated her to the appeals court two years later.

Jared William Eldridge, 4th District Court (Associate Presiding Judge)

Appointed by: Gov. Gary Herbert, 2017. Nine years on the bench.

JPEC 2026: 18.2 / 20. 92% recommend retention. Meets or exceeds standards, 12-0.

Record: Serves as the district's associate presiding judge, the No. 2 administrative role for the courts that cover Utah County.

Kraig Powell, 4th District Court

Appointed by: Gov. Gary Herbert, 2016. Ten years on the bench.

JPEC 2026: 18.2 / 20. 91% recommend retention. Meets or exceeds standards, 12-0.

Record: A legislator turned judge: he represented Heber City and Wasatch County in the Utah House from 2009 to 2016 before Gov. Herbert appointed him to the bench. At his confirmation he promised to "apply the law as it is written" and avoid any partisan appearance.

Thomas Low, 4th District Court

Appointed by: Gov. Gary Herbert, 2010 (Senate confirmed January 5, 2010, 28-0). Sixteen years on the bench.

JPEC 2026: 18.3 / 20. 88% recommend retention. Meets or exceeds standards, 12-0.

Record: The longest-serving judge on this part of the ballot alongside Judge Christiansen Forster; the Senate confirmed him without a single no vote in 2010. (Senate records spell the name "Thomas L. Lowe"; the ballot and JPEC list him as Thomas Low.)

Anthony Leonard Howell, 4th District Court

Appointed by: Gov. Gary Herbert, 2016. Ten years on the bench.

JPEC 2026: 18.0 / 20. 88% recommend retention. Meets or exceeds standards, 12-0.

Record: A career defense lawyer on a court of former prosecutors: before his appointment he had served since 2003 as chief counsel for the public defender office in Utah County.

Douglas John Nielsen, 4th District Juvenile Court

Appointed by: Gov. Gary Herbert, 2016. Ten years on the juvenile bench.

JPEC 2026: 19.7 / 20. 100% recommend retention. Meets or exceeds standards, 12-0.

Record: His 19.7 is the highest JPEC score on the Utah County ballot, and his 100 percent recommend figure is the only perfect one among the twelve. He came up through the local justice courts, resigning as the Lehi and Highland/Alpine justice court judge in September 2016 to take the juvenile court seat.

For scale: the only judge in Utah whom JPEC recommends against retaining in 2026 is a Weber County justice court judge (13.5 / 20, 43% recommend, commission vote 0-13). He is not on the Utah County ballot, which tells you the evaluators do fail judges when the record warrants it.

Know someone with a ballot sitting on their counter? Forward it.

Harvey Scott

Founder, Utah Valley Insider

Sources: Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission, judges.utah.gov/s/know-your-judges; Utah Constitution, Article VIII; Utah Code 20A-12-201, 78A-12-103, 78A-12-203; vote.utah.gov; Ballotpedia News, Oct. 13, 2026; Utah State Bar, April 28, 2026; League of Women Voters v. Utah Legislature, 2024 UT 21; Utah governor's office and Senate confirmation records; Utah State Bar 2026 Spring Convention.