Gov. Cox appoints Judge Diana Hagen to serve as Utah Supreme Court justice
Mar 29, 2022, 12:17 PM | Updated: 12:17 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Spencer Cox has appointed Utah Court of Appeals Judge Diana Hagen to serve as a Utah Supreme Court justice.
Cox’s appointments are subject to approval from the Utah Senate, which will hold a confirmation hearing early next month.
“Judge Hagen’s distinguished career as an appellate court judge and federal prosecutor, as well as her leadership and service in numerous professional and community groups, have well prepared her for this moment,” Cox said. “We are delighted she is willing to take on a new challenge and know she will serve the people of Utah with integrity.”
Hagen was appointed to the Utah Court of Appeals in June 2017 by former Gov. Gary R. Herbert and previously served as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah.
“During her seventeen years as a federal prosecutor, she handled hundreds of criminal appeals as well as high-profile trials, including the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case and the murder of Millard County Sheriff’s Deputy Josie Greathouse Fox,” state officials said. “She also served as president of multiple legal associations and as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Utah, where she was named the 2015 Alumna of the Year.”
Hagen received her law degree from the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law in 1998. After law school, she as a law clerk for United States District Court Judge Tena Campbell.
“I am grateful to Gov. Cox for the confidence he has placed in me and especially honored to have been selected from an outstanding group of nominees,” Hagen said. “I am mindful of the great responsibility and public trust that comes with this appointment. If confirmed by the Utah Senate, I will work hard to be deserving of that trust.”
Hagen currently chairs both the Judicial Branch Education Committee and the Oversight Committee for the Office of Professional Conduct and serves on the Utah Sentencing Commission and the Utah Commission on Civic and Character Education.
She has also received several awards, including the Federal Bar Association Distinguished Service Award, four United States Attorney’s Awards, and an award from the FBI. She was also a member of the Utah Dating Violence Task Force, a Girl Scout troop leader for six years and vice-chair of the Mountain View Elementary Community Council.
Hagen was born in Ogden and currently lives there with her husband, Tobin, and their two children, Kaira and Archer.
