Utah Justice Diana Hagen Resigns Amid Relationship Investigation

Diana Hagen is an American lawyer and former judge who served as a justice on the Utah Supreme Court from 2022 to 2026. Born in Ogden, Utah, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in speech communication from the University of Utah and a Juris Doctor from the S.J. Quinney College of Law in 1998, graduating Order of the Coif.Hagen began her legal career as a law clerk for United States District Court Judge Tena Campbell before practicing at a Salt Lake City law firm. She later joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah, serving as the Appellate Chief for nearly ten years before being promoted to First Assistant United States Attorney. As a federal prosecutor, she handled high-profile matters, including the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case. Additionally, she spent many years as an adjunct professor at the University of Utah, teaching appellate practice and advocacy.In 2017, Utah Governor Gary Herbert appointed Hagen to the Utah Court of Appeals. Following nearly five years on the appellate court, Governor Spencer Cox nominated her to the Utah Supreme Court in March 2022, and she was confirmed and sworn in on May 18, 2022.Hagen resigned from the Utah Supreme Court on May 8, 2026, amid allegations of an inappropriate relationship with David Reymann, an attorney involved in a high-profile redistricting lawsuit over which she had previously presided. The allegations surfaced after her ex-husband submitted a complaint claiming she had exchanged inappropriate text messages with Reymann.Hagen strongly denied operating under any conflict of interest, maintaining that her final involvement in the redistricting case occurred in October 2024. She noted that she reconnected with friends in the spring of 2025 after her 30-year marriage ended, and she voluntarily recused herself from all cases involving Reymann in May 2025. She self-reported the allegations to the Judicial Conduct Commission, an independent body tasked with investigating judicial misconduct. The commission conducted a confidential investigation and ultimately dismissed the complaint.Despite the commission dismissing the complaint, state Republican leaders called for further investigation into her conduct. In her immediate resignation letter to Governor Cox, Hagen expressed her desire to continue serving but stated she could not do so without sacrificing the effective functioning of Utah's judiciary and the privacy and well-being of her family. She emphasized that her loved ones did not choose public life and did not deserve to have the intensely personal details surrounding the painful dissolution of her marriage subjected to public scrutiny.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-world-between-us--6886561/support.