Lawmaker looks to reform judicial investigations after Utah Supreme Court justice resignation

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Sen. Todd Weiler seeks reforms to the Judicial Conduct Commission after Utah Supreme Court Justice Diana Hagen's resignation.
• Weiler proposes transparency measures and confidentiality safeguards for commission members and investigations.
• The chairwoman of the commission defended her recusal from a preliminary investigation into allegations against Hagen.

SALT LAKE CITY — A state senator says he is working on potential changes to the Utah Judicial Conduct Commission following the resignation of a Supreme Court justice over allegations of misconduct.

Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, said on his "Political as Heck" podcast Wednesday that he believes Diana Hagen's resignation from the high court was "appropriate" and evidence of the "process working."

But as a result of the controversy, Weiler has opened a bill file aimed at making changes to the Judicial Conduct Commission, which declined to fully investigate allegations that Hagen had an improper relationship with an attorney who argued cases before the court — including a high-profile case over redistricting, which led to the state getting a new congressional map. Both Hagen and the attorney have denied allegations of any inappropriate relationship.

"One thing I think is important is that the members of the JCC disclose — not publicly per se, but at least to the JCC — which judges that they are socializing with, so that the other members of the JCC will know," Weiler, who chairs the Senate's judiciary committee, told KSL.

Complaint against Hagen

As KSL first reported last month, the Judicial Conduct Commission received a complaint against Hagen in December 2025 from a Provo attorney, based solely on allegations he had heard from Hagen's ex-husband. The commission conducted a preliminary review into the matter but opted not to pursue a full investigation.

That was troubling to Gov. Spencer Cox, Senate President Stuart Adams and House Speaker Mike Schultz, who announced they would launch an independent investigation. However, that investigation never got off the ground because Hagen instead chose to step down, submitting her letter of resignation on May 8.

In that letter, Hagen wrote that her family and friends "do not deserve to have intensely personal details surrounding the painful dissolution of my 30-year marriage subjected to public scrutiny."

Hagen also maintained she acted professionally and did not have a conflict of interest on the bench. Hagen authored a majority opinion in the redistricting lawsuit in 2024, but said she voluntarily recused herself from the case in May 2025.

However, along with Hagen's resignation, state leaders and Chief Justice Matthew Durrant jointly announced they would pursue "potential reforms to the Judicial Conduct Commission — ensuring it upholds the highest standards of accountability and earns the confidence of the people of Utah."

Weiler appears to be pursuing the same thing, pointing out that the chair of the Judicial Conduct Commission, Cheylynn Hayman, is Hagen's "very close friend" and also works at the same Salt Lake law firm with David Reymann, the attorney tied to the allegations against Hagen.

A Judicial Conduct Commission spokesperson previously said Hayman recused herself and did not participate in the investigation into the allegations against Hagen. But based on information he's received, Weiler suggested there may be more to the story.

"I've heard that (Hayman) recused herself," Weiler said on the podcast, "but not before kind of telling the rest of the committee, 'Well, you can't believe anything from (Hagen's) husband. He's not a reliable source.'"

Weiler did not elaborate about where he heard about Hayman's recusal. Several members of the Judicial Conduct Commission declined to comment.

Commission chair responds

In a statement to KSL, Hayman said Weiler's description of her recusal is "not accurate." After disclosing her friendships with Hagen and Reymann to the commission, Hayman said she "not only did not participate but left the room to allow the commission to discuss the complaint without me being present."

"It is distressing and deeply disturbing that extremely personal information I shared with fellow commissioners on a confidential basis, in an effort to be open and transparent about one of the bases for my recusal, has been publicly disclosed," she said.

Hayman also provided KSL with a copy of her recusal statement, which stated that she is "good friends with Diana Hagen" and Reymann, though she didn't mention the latter by name. She said she spoke with both individuals about the accusation made by Hagen's ex-husband before the complaint against Hagen was filed.

Yet Hayman went further, telling the commission members about an experience she said she had with Hagen's ex-husband, Tobin Hagen.

"On a personal note, I also shared personal information with Diana Hagen that Tobin Hagen accessed without (her) knowledge or permission," Hayman said in her recusal statement. "He screenshotted that information and texted it to my husband, making an accusation that was supportive of the fact that I was going to leave my husband. So I have also been a victim of accusations at the hand of Tobin."

Tobin Hagen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Potential reforms

Weiler said he is now looking at requiring Judicial Conduct Commission members to file annual statements disclosing which judges they have personal relationships with, and possibly requiring the commission to develop and publish a policy for when members are required to recuse themselves.

He is also considering whether additional safeguards need to be added to ensure the confidentiality of complaints against judges.

"There's been a lot of questions about the privacy and how information from that investigation ended up being produced in response to a (public records) request," Weiler said. "I think that's worthy of some consideration as well to make sure that things that are intended to be confidential stay confidential."

KSL first reported on the complaint against Diana Hagen after receiving it through a public records request to the Utah Legislature.

The senator said he doesn't believe Hagen ever operated under a conflict of interest, but questioned the timing of her alleged relationship. Weiler said he's concerned by the commission's decision not to pursue a full investigation, which could have included interviewing the former justice or requesting subpoenas to obtain any text messages between Hagen and Reymann.

"I keep on seeing people on social media and on comments to other articles saying: 'This was all investigated fully. Why is the Legislature poking its head where it doesn't belong?'" Weiler said. "I don't think you would have seen the governor, the House and the Senate say we need to investigate this if any of us had confidence that the JCC had investigated it fully."

Tensions have been high between the legislative and judicial branches in recent years, as GOP lawmakers have loudly criticized several court rulings on redistricting and abortion rights.

Democrats and others have criticized the scrutiny on Hagen, defending the initial Judicial Conduct Commission review and blasting calls for further investigation. The president of the Utah State Bar called the release of the complaint against Hagen "inappropriate" and said she was "very sad" that Hagen resigned.

What's next?

Weiler's proposed changes to the Judicial Conduct Commission will likely be introduced and debated during the next legislative session, which begins in January.

Hagen had served on the Supreme Court since 2022. Her spot is now vacant, and a process is underway to replace her.

Editor's note: David Reymann does outside legal work for KSL and as an attorney for the Utah Media Coalition, of which KSL is a member.

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The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Utah LegislatureUtahPoliticsPolice & Courts

Bridger Beal-Cvetko

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Bridger Beal-Cvetko is a reporter for KSL. He covers politics, Salt Lake County communities and breaking news. Bridger has worked for the Deseret News and graduated from Utah Valley University.

Daniel Woodruff

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Daniel Woodruff is a reporter/anchor with deep experience covering Utah news. He is a native of Provo and a graduate of Brigham Young University. Daniel has also worked as a journalist in Indiana and Wisconsin.