Governor Spencer J. Cox appointed Matthew B. Janzen to the Third District Court on October 22. The appointment fills a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Robert Faust and remains subject to confirmation by the Utah Senate.
Janzen currently serves as the division chief of the Special Victims Unit and deputy county attorney in the Davis County Attorney’s Office, where he oversees the prosecution of serious felony cases. He previously spent more than 12 years with the Salt Lake District Attorney’s Office, where he handled homicide, gang-related, and special victims cases.
Before his work in county prosecution, Janzen worked in private practice at Snow Nuffer and Smart, Schofield, Shorter & Lunceford, and served as a city prosecutor and assistant city attorney for South Salt Lake. He has also served on the Utah State Advisory Board for the Children’s Justice Centers for 15 years and was named Outstanding Professional of the Year by the Salt Lake Children’s Justice Centers in 2011.
Janzen earned a law degree from the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law and a bachelor’s degree in economics, magna cum laude, from the University of Utah. Governor Cox stated that Janzen brings decades of legal experience and a deep commitment to public service to the bench.
