Cottonwood Heights and Holladay voters will see a retention question for Utah Court of Appeals Judge Michele M. Christiansen Forster on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Christiansen Forster has served on the Court of Appeals since June 2010, when Gov. Gary Herbert appointed her, according to the Utah Courts website. The race is nonpartisan. It is certified for the ballot, according to BallotReady election data.
Candidate information
- Name: Michele M. Christiansen Forster
- Office: Utah Court of Appeals judge
- Education: Bachelor's degree in history, Lawrence University; juris doctor, University of Utah (1995)
Experience and public service
Christiansen Forster's career spans private practice, federal prosecution, state government and the judiciary.
After earning her law degree, she worked as an attorney at Parsons Behle & Latimer from 1995 to 1998, according to the Utah Courts website. She also served as a law clerk for the Honorable Tena Campbell, according to BallotReady.
She spent nearly seven years as an assistant United States attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Utah, from March 1998 to January 2005. She then served as executive director of the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice from January 2005 to July 2006, according to the Utah Courts website.
Christiansen Forster became general counsel in the Office of Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. from July 2006 to May 2007. She joined the Utah Third District Court in May 2007, according to the Utah Courts website. Herbert appointed her to the Court of Appeals in June 2010, where she has served since.
She also teaches as an adjunct professor at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, according to the law school's faculty directory.
On the issues
The candidate information in this profile is drawn from the Utah Courts judicial biography and BallotReady election data. The election is Nov. 3, 2026.
