Utah and a Review of the Size of State Supreme Courts
Utah joins the majority of states with seven justices on their court of last resort
Last week Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed a bill expanding the state’s Supreme Court from five to seven justices.
The move, characterized by some critics as ‘court packing’ and a partisan or ideological response to the Court’s recent rulings on redistricting and social policy legislation, reduces the number of states across the country with five justices on their highest court from 16 to 15.
However, the signing does bring Utah into the slight majority of states with seven justices on their respective court of last resort – now at 29:
- Nine in the Midwest: Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Wisconsin
- Seven in the Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania
- Seven in the West: Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah
- Six in the South: Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Virginia
No state has fewer than five Supreme Court justices with:
- Five of these in the West: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, Wyoming
- Four in the Northeast: Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
- Three in the Midwest: Indiana, North Dakota, South Dakota
- Three in the South: South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia
[Note: Oklahoma’s Court of Criminal Appeals – the state’s highest court for criminal cases – also has five justices].
Five of the six states with nine Supreme Court Justices are located in the South: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. Washington is the sixth.
[Note: Texas’ Court of Criminal Appeals – the state’s highest court for criminal cases – also has nine justices].
It has not been uncommon for states to change (usually expand) the number of justices seated on their Supreme Court over the decades.
When Utah became a state in 1896 there were only three justices – expanding to five justices in 1917 where it remained for nearly 110 years.
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– Their relatively small populations notwithstanding, AL, MS, and OK have whopping 9-justice courts each, same as the US supreme court.
– By contrast, IN has had a rather lean 5-justice court even when it had been among the ten most populous states.
In general, there seems to be a considerable degree of correlation between the size of the relative population of a state and the size of the “court of last resort” (rather shrewd reference, since NY uses a different nomenclature regarding its judicial system). Also, to the best of my knowledge, no State has ever *reduced* the size of its court of final resort for an extended period of time – in contrast to the SCOTUS, which effectively had been reduced to 8 justices from early 2016 to early 2017!
(Unrelated)
Under ‘normal circumstances’ WI would hold a primary election to winnow the field for the State supreme court election. However, for the second straight election, fewer than three contenders are standing for the seat. Hence, Tuesday 17 of 02 2026 will be a quiet, humdrum day. The more interesting question is, will the 7th of April general election be nearly as quiet since, unlike the past few ones, de facto partisan control will not be at stake?