Utah Supreme Court Justice Diana Hagen resigns amid investigation into alleged affair

Utah Supreme Court Justice Diana Hagen resigned Friday amid a looming state investigation into allegations she carried on an improper relationship with an attorney who argued before the court, citing the toll further scrutiny would take on her family.

Justice Hagen submitted her resignation letter to Gov. Spencer Cox effective immediately, according to the governor’s office. She has served on the Utah Supreme Court since 2022.

“It is with deep sadness that I tender my immediate resignation as a justice of the Utah Supreme Court,” Justice Hagen wrote, adding that she regretted “the disruption my sudden departure will cause the court and the parties who come before it.”

The resignation follows a KSL report on a complaint lodged with the state’s Judicial Conduct Commission alleging she had an improper relationship with David Reymann, an attorney who represented plaintiffs in Utah’s high-profile redistricting case, which resulted in a new congressional map being adopted last November. Justice Hagen recused herself from that case last year, citing a renewed friendship with Mr. Reymann. Both Justice Hagen and Mr. Reymann denied any wrongdoing, with the attorney calling the allegations “false.”

The Judicial Conduct Commission had already conducted a preliminary investigation and dismissed the complaint, finding insufficient evidence to proceed. But Mr. Cox, Senate President Stuart Adams and House Speaker Mike Schultz had announced plans for an independent investigation, saying they were troubled the commission had not pursued the matter more fully.

The allegations originated with Justice Hagen’s ex-husband, who told another attorney he suspected the justice began an inappropriate relationship with Mr. Reymann around the time their marriage was deteriorating, referencing text messages he said he had seen. That attorney filed the formal complaint.

In her resignation letter, Justice Hagen said she understood that public officials “are rightly held to a higher standard and must accept a greater degree of public scrutiny and diminished privacy,” but said her family and friends “do not deserve to have intensely personal details surrounding the painful dissolution of my 30-year marriage subjected to public scrutiny.”

“I would love nothing more than to continue serving the people of Utah as a Supreme Court justice,” she wrote, “but I cannot do so without sacrificing the privacy and well-being of those I care about and the effective functioning and independence of Utah’s judiciary.”

With the resignation, the planned independent investigation appears moot. Mr. Cox, Mr. Adams, Mr. Schultz and Chief Justice Matthew Durrant issued a joint statement saying the branches would work together on potential reforms to the Judicial Conduct Commission. Mr. Adams and Mr. Schultz separately said they would not pursue the matter further.

“We appreciate Justice Hagen’s resignation and her willingness to step aside in the best interest of the institution,” they said. “We consider this matter related to Justice Hagen concluded.”

Justice Durrant called the departure a loss for the court. Before joining the bench, he noted, Justice Hagen had prosecuted the man responsible for kidnapping Elizabeth Smart. “Justice Hagen took every opportunity to meet with school groups, mentor young lawyers and connect with members of the public,” he said. “This is a loss for the judiciary.”

Kim Cordova, president of the Utah State Bar, said she was “very sad” to hear of the resignation and defended the Judicial Conduct Commission’s handling of the matter, calling the release of the original complaint “inappropriate.”

Justice Hagen had been slated for a retention election this fall. The Utah Legislature recently expanded the Supreme Court to seven justices, and the Appellate Judicial Nominating Commission announced 12 nominees for those new seats last month. It remains unclear whether Mr. Cox can fill Justice Hagen’s vacancy from that existing pool of nominees or whether the commission must make additional recommendations.