Millcreek-area voters will decide whether to retain Utah Court of Appeals Judge Michele M. Christiansen Forster on Nov. 3.

The nonpartisan retention race asks a single question: whether Christiansen Forster should remain on the bench. She has served on the Court of Appeals since June 2010, when Governor Gary Herbert appointed her, according to her biography on the Utah Courts website. She is certified for the ballot, according to BallotReady.

Millcreek residents will see the retention question alongside several other judicial races. The Millcreek Times has published profiles of Judge Gregory Orme, Judge Ryan Mortensen and Judge Coral Sanchez, all facing retention votes the same day.

Candidate information

  • Name: Michele M. Christiansen Forster
  • Office sought: Utah Court of Appeals Judge (retention)
  • Party: Nonpartisan
  • Election date: Nov. 3, 2026
  • Education: Bachelor's degree in history, Lawrence University; juris doctor, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law (1995)

Experience and public service

Christiansen Forster's career spans private practice, federal prosecution, state government and the judiciary, according to her Utah Courts biography.

After earning her law degree in 1995, she worked as an attorney at Parsons Behle & Latimer from 1995 to 1998. She also served as a law clerk for the Honorable Tena Campbell.

She then spent nearly seven years as an assistant United States attorney in the District of Utah, from March 1998 to January 2005. She left that post to become executive director of the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, where she served from January 2005 to July 2006.

Christiansen Forster moved to the governor's office in July 2006, working as general counsel under Governor Jon M. Huntsman Jr. until May 2007. She was then appointed to the Utah Third District Court, where she served as a trial judge from May 2007 until her elevation to the appellate bench in June 2010.

Governor Herbert appointed her to the Court of Appeals in June 2010, and she has served there since. She also teaches as an adjunct professor at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law.

The Millcreek Times did not receive issue-position responses from this candidate. This profile is based on publicly available biographical information from the Utah Courts website and BallotReady. Voters can find additional judicial performance information through the Utah Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission.