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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Supreme Court Justice Matthew Durrant will serve a third term at the helm of the state’s high court.
His fellow justices voted unanimously to keep him in that role, courts spokesman Geoffrey Fattah said Monday in a prepared statement.
Durrant will spend another four years presiding over the state Supreme Court and the court system’s administrative arm, the Utah Judicial Council. He was reelected in a Thursday vote.
Durrant recently has shepherded Utah’s court system through a series of changes amid the coronavirus outbreak, with a transition to online court proceedings, although courts remain open for some types of hearings. A virtual help center also aims to help those with legal questions get answers from afar.
We know that each of you is doing your best, and we cannot ask for more. The judicial branch of government is open for business thanks to your hard work.
–Utah Supreme Court Justice Matthew Durrant
Durrant praised his colleagues for adapting amid the pandemic, addressing them in a statement released Monday.
“The events of the last three weeks have been extraordinary and the work of our court employees and judges has also been extraordinary,” Durrant said in a statement. “We know that each of you is doing your best, and we cannot ask for more. The judicial branch of government is open for business thanks to your hard work.”
Former Gov. Mike Leavitt first appointed Durrant to the Utah Supreme Court in January 2000. He succeeded then-Chief Justice Christine Durham in 2012, and won reelection in 2016.
Durrant has a law degree from Harvard University and previously was a judge in Utah’s 3rd District Court.
