Court Opinion

ID: 9758834
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 23:51:59.429486+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:56.758941
License: Public Domain

VOROS, Judge
(concurring):
129 I concur in the majority opinion except as to part ILA., in which I concur in result only.
30 I do not agree with the majority that the first sentence of the controlling statutory section is ambiguous. That sentence reads,
If a justice court judge is absent or disqualified, the appointing authority may appoint another justice court judge currently holding office within the judicial district to serve as a temporary justice court judge.
Utah Code Ann. § 78A-7-208 (2008). This sentence is constructed so that the absence or disqualification of a permanent judge is a condition precedent to the appointment of a substitute judge. A statute that reads, "If a justice court judge is absent or disqualified, *767the appointing authority may appoint another justice court judge" may not, in my view, be reasonably read to authorize the appointment of another judge even if no justice court judge is absent or disqualified. Accordingly, I do not agree that the statute permits an appointing authority to appoint in advance a replacement judge to step in should a disqualification or absence arise. I do agree with the majority that this practice is a prudent one, however, and I would therefore encourage the legislature to amend section 78A-7-208 to clearly authorize it.
1 31 Here, because Judge Christensen was disqualified, I agree with the majority that the appointing authority was authorized to appoint Judge Marx as a temporary justice court judge.