AI-generated summary, reviewed by Better Utah staff.

A proposed constitutional amendment placed before Utah voters, this resolution would overhaul how judges are appointed to fill court vacancies. Under current Utah law, the Governor must choose from a list of at least three candidates vetted and certified by a Judicial Nominating Commission, must make that appointment within 30 days, and if the Governor fails to act, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court steps in to fill the vacancy. This resolution removes all of those constraints: the Governor could still ask the Nominating Commission for a list of candidates, but would be free to appoint any constitutionally qualified person regardless of whether they appeared on that list, with no deadline to act and no fallback authority for the Chief Justice. Any appointment would then require approval by a majority of the full State Senate within 60 days. If voters approve this change, it significantly shifts power over who sits on Utah's courts away from the independent nominating commission and toward the Governor and Senate, reducing the role of the merit-based screening process that currently filters judicial candidates before the Governor ever sees them.