In re Honorable Kevin Christensen

Summary

The Utah Supreme Court reviewed a judicial discipline proceeding involving Justice Court Judge Kevin Christensen, whose combined judicial salaries exceeded the statutory salary cap for 2009 through 2011. The court declined to consider his constitutional challenge because he raised it for the first time in the disciplinary proceeding, adopted the Judicial Conduct Commission’s findings and recommendations, censured him, and ordered repayment of the excess salary.

Holdings

1. A judge may not disregard a law without contemporaneously raising a constitutional objection and then first assert the constitutional challenge after being charged in a disciplinary proceeding.
2. Section 78A-7-207(2) is not violated when a municipality honors a justice court judge's request to reduce the judge's salary to comply with section 78A-7-206(1)(e).
3. Censure and repayment of the excess judicial salary received during 2009 through 2011 were just and proper sanctions.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a judge may assert for the first time in a judicial-discipline proceeding that a statute he violated is unconstitutional.
2. Whether Utah Code section 78A-7-207(2), which prohibits diminishing a justice court judge's salary during the judge's term, prevents a municipality from reducing the salary at the judge's request to comply with the statutory salary cap in section 78A-7-206(1)(e).
3. Whether censure and repayment of excess salary were just and proper sanctions under the circumstances.

Disposition

other