This joint resolution of the Utah Legislature proposes to amend the Utah Constitution to modify provisions related to retention of judges.
This resolution:
Oppose
Good Government
AI-generated summary, not yet reviewed by Better Utah staff. Please consult the bill text.
This proposed amendment to the Utah Constitution would give the Legislature power to trigger a special "retention election" — an early up-or-down public vote — on a judge the Legislature determines is unfit, incompetent, persistently slow in deciding cases, or has acted improperly, created an appearance of impropriety, or violated their oath of office. Currently, judges face routine retention elections on a fixed schedule (every 10 years for Supreme Court justices, every 6 years for other judges), but this amendment would let the Legislature initiate an out-of-cycle vote instead, even if the same conduct could also lead to impeachment or judicial discipline proceedings. The Legislature would write the detailed rules in statute for how this special election process works and how to resolve conflicts if multiple removal processes happen at once, and a judge subject to a special election would still face regular retention elections on schedule, except that if both fall in the same year, the special election could substitute for the regular one. Utah voters would first decide whether to add this process to the state constitution, and if approved, it would take effect January 1, 2027.
Introduction
Jan 20
House Rules
House Committee
House Floor Vote
Senate Rules
Senate Committee
Senate 2nd Reading
Senate 3rd Reading
IntroductionJan 20
House Rules
House Committee
House Floor Vote
Senate Rules
Senate Committee
Senate 2nd Reading
Senate 3rd Reading
This joint resolution of the Utah Legislature proposes to amend the Utah Constitution to modify provisions related to retention of judges.
This resolution:
AI-generated summary, not yet reviewed by Better Utah staff. Please consult the bill text.
This proposed amendment to the Utah Constitution would give the Legislature power to trigger a special "retention election" — an early up-or-down public vote — on a judge the Legislature determines is unfit, incompetent, persistently slow in deciding cases, or has acted improperly, created an appearance of impropriety, or violated their oath of office. Currently, judges face routine retention elections on a fixed schedule (every 10 years for Supreme Court justices, every 6 years for other judges), but this amendment would let the Legislature initiate an out-of-cycle vote instead, even if the same conduct could also lead to impeachment or judicial discipline proceedings. The Legislature would write the detailed rules in statute for how this special election process works and how to resolve conflicts if multiple removal processes happen at once, and a judge subject to a special election would still face regular retention elections on schedule, except that if both fall in the same year, the special election could substitute for the regular one. Utah voters would first decide whether to add this process to the state constitution, and if approved, it would take effect January 1, 2027.
Oppose
Good Government
House/ filed
House file for bills not passed
House/ strike enacting clause
Clerk of the House
House/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst
House Rules Committee
LFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HJR013
Released
House/ 1st reading (Introduced)
House Rules Committee
Last updated Aug 29, 2026, 5:26 PM