Utah Supreme Court Justice Diana Hagen has resigned from the bench amid an investigation into allegations that she had an improper relationship with an attorney who worked on the state’s redistricting case. Hagen’s resignation is effective immediately. Although the Utah Judicial Conduct Commission dismissed the complaint after its investigation, Hagen faced immense pressure from Republican leaders regarding the alleged conflict of interest. Justice Diana Hagen — under intense pressure from Republican leaders, including Gov. Spencer Cox — has resigned from the Utah Supreme Court, the governor said. https://t.co/X93awpFtm1 — The Salt Lake Tribune (@sltrib) May 8, 2026 ABC4 Utah explained further: The complaint against Hagen was submitted to Chief Justice Matthew Durrant and the Judicial Conduct Commission in December 2025, and it alleged that Hagen engaged in an extramarital affair with attorney David Reyman, an attorney for the plaintiffs in Utah’s high-profile redistricting case. The complaint argued that she could not be impartial in the case because of the alleged affair. Hagen denied the adultery allegations, and she stated that her last involvement in the redistricting case was in October 2024. She said that she rekindled a friendship with Reymann as her thirty-year marriage failed, and she voluntarily recused herself from the redistricting case and other cases in which he was involved. Utah lawmakers called the relationship “concerning” and said that they will be launching an independent investigation into the allegations. Governor Cox also called for an independent investigation and said that Hagen “failed to promote confidence in the judiciary.” Democratic party leadership expressed concerns about an investigation by the legislation “overstepping judicial independence.” At Utah Republican Convention, GOP party leaders took the notable step of calling for delegates to vote against retaining two Utah Supreme Court Justices this November, including Hagen. The Utah State Bar responded, asking voters to use the non-partisan retention evaluations from the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission when deciding to retain judges. “The judicial, executive, and legislative branches are committed to working together on potential reforms to the Judicial Conduct Commission—ensuring it upholds the highest standards of accountability and earns the confidence of the people of Utah,” Gov. Spencer Cox, Senate President J. Stuart Adams, Speaker of the House Mike Schultz, and Chief Justice Matthew Durrant said in a joint statement, according to the outlet. “I am saddened that our colleague, Justice Diana Hagen, has chosen to resign from the Utah Supreme Court. She was a valued member of the judiciary. Justice Hagen has dedicated her legal career to public service,” Durrant said in a separate statement. More below: JUST NOW: Utah Supreme Court Justice Diana Hagen RESIGNS — the same justice who helped give Democrats +1 Congressional seats out of Utah for the midterms She's embroiled in a scandal of reportedly having an AFFAIR with an attorney involved in that redistricting case GOOD… pic.twitter.com/qGmRsnblEJ — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 8, 2026 More from The Salt Lake Tribune: But amid the cloud of the investigation — and the Utah Republican Party actively campaigning for Utahns to vote her off the bench in November’s retention election — Hagen submitted her resignation, “effective immediately,” to Cox, the governor said in a news release Friday. In her resignation letter, Hagen wrote that she recognizes public service requires sacrifice and officials are held to a higher standard and “greater degree of public scrutiny and diminished privacy.” “But my family and friends did not choose public life,” she wrote. “They do not deserve to have intensely personal details surrounding the painful dissolution of my thirty-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.”