Before present-day Utah became a state, it was organized into a provisional state, called the
State of Deseret. Its constitution established a three-member supreme court. In 1850, the United States Congress passed "An Act to Establish a Territorial Government for Utah", Section 9 of which provided that "the judicial power of said territory shall be vested in a Supreme Court, District Court, and Justices of the Peace". This act converted Deseret's supreme court into a territorial supreme court with expanded jurisdiction. Prior to that, the court met in the
Utah State Capitol.
2026 Expansion After a series of rulings against the
state legislature by the court on
gerrymandering,
abortion, and other issues, Republican legislators introduced a bill in the 2026 session to expand the court from 5 to 7 members. While Republicans claimed that the bill was intended to speed up rulings, it was widely viewed as an attempt to "pack the court" in order to get more favorable rulings and was opposed by Democrats and the
Forward Party senator, along with a few Republicans. A poll commissioned by Better Boundaries found that two-thirds of Republicans, 69% of unaffiliated voters, and nearly three-fourths of Democrats believe that the expansion of the court was driven by politics instead of efficiency. The
Utah State Bar also opposed the addition of seats to the Supreme Court. The bill passed the Utah Senate 21–8 On January 26 and the Utah House of Representatives 57–18 on January 30. Republican Governor
Spencer Cox signed the bill on January 31. The Utah Legislature had previously stripped the Utah Supreme Court of the power to select its own Chief Justice in 2025 in response to these rulings, giving that power to the Governor instead. ==Supreme Court justices==