Third District Court Judge Matthew D. Bates will appear on the Nov. 3, 2026, general election ballot in a nonpartisan retention vote. Voters will decide whether to keep him on the bench.
Bates serves Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele counties as a Third District Court judge, according to his official Utah Courts biography. That jurisdiction includes Cottonwood Heights and Holladay. No challenger appears on the ballot.
Candidate information
- Name: Matthew D. Bates
- Office sought: Utah District Court Judge, District 3 (retention)
- Election date: Nov. 3, 2026
- Party: Nonpartisan
- Education: J.D., Brigham Young University (2003)
Experience and public service
Before joining the bench, Bates built his career as a prosecutor. He worked in the litigation and criminal appeals divisions at the Utah Attorney General's Office, according to his BallotReady profile. He then served as a prosecutor at the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office from 2008 to 2011, according to KPCW.
Bates went on to become chief prosecutor at the Summit County Attorney's Office. In that role, he helped establish Summit County's drug court program and worked with the Summit County Sheriff's Office and others on the state's Justice Reinvestment Initiative, the Park Record reported.
Governor Gary R. Herbert appointed Bates to the Third District Court in July 2016. He was selected from a pool of five nominees to fill a vacancy left by the retirement of Judge Charlene Barlow, KPCW reported. The Utah Senate confirmed his appointment by a unanimous vote.
This profile was compiled from publicly available sources including the Utah Courts official biography, Park Record, KPCW and BallotReady.
