Utah bill creates new court to hear challenges to state law

Utah lawmakers are weighing a new court that would grab every lawsuit arguing a state law is unconstitutional—and keep those fights in one handpicked venue.

HB392, from Rep. Matt MacPherson, R–West Valley City, would set up a three‑judge “Constitutional Court” with exclusive jurisdiction over civil challenges to the constitutionality of Utah statutes. In practice: if you sue claiming a Utah law violates the state or U.S. Constitution, you go here. A single judge could handle routine proceedings but requires the full court for trials or motions for injunctions.

Hours after it dropped Tuesday, the bill is already slated for a House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee hearing Wednesday afternoon.

Starting Jan. 1, 2027, any pending constitutional challenge to a Utah statute must be transferred to the new court—including cases remanded from the Utah Supreme Court or Court of Appeals. Parties would be barred from hopping to another trial court unless the Constitutional Court truly lacks jurisdiction.

The bill also creates a seven‑member Constitutional Court Nominating Commission to screen judges “without any regard to partisan political consideration.” Every commissioner would be appointed by the governor, who then must pick one of the commission’s seven “most qualified” nominees within 30 days. The pick would face confirmation by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

On top of that, either the attorney general or the Legislature could yank “significant public importance” civil cases out of district court and ship them to the Constitutional Court. What counts as “significant”? The bill doesn’t say, beyond affecting “a significant number of the citizens of Utah.”