Michele M. Christiansen Forster is on the Tuesday, Nov. 3 ballot for a retention vote on the Utah Court of Appeals. Sandy voters will see this nonpartisan race on their ballot and decide yes or no on whether she should continue serving.

The Sandy Herald has profiled other judges in this election cycle, including Judge Orme and Judge Mortensen.

Candidate information

  • Name: Michele M. Christiansen Forster
  • Office: Utah Court of Appeals
  • Appointed: June 2010 by Governor Gary Herbert, according to the Utah Courts website
  • Education: Bachelor's degree in history, Lawrence University; J.D., University of Utah (1995)

Experience and public service

Christiansen Forster has held public legal roles across state and federal government, according to her Utah Courts biography.

She began her legal career as an attorney at Parsons Behle & Latimer from 1995 to 1998. She then served as an assistant United States attorney in the District of Utah from March 1998 to January 2005.

Christiansen Forster served as executive director of the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice from January 2005 to July 2006. She then served as general counsel in the Office of Governor Jon M. Huntsman Jr. from July 2006 to May 2007.

She served on the Utah Third District Court beginning in May 2007. She served there until June 2010, when Governor Herbert appointed her to the Court of Appeals.

She also clerked for the Honorable Tena Campbell and serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law.

On the issues

The research for this profile did not include issue responses or policy statements from Christiansen Forster.

This profile is based on publicly available biographical information from the Utah Courts and the University of Utah. The Sandy Herald did not receive questionnaire responses from this candidate.