Is judge Don M. Torgerson of Utah appointed by trump?
Executive summary
Judge Don M. Torgerson is a Utah state judge appointed to the Seventh District Court in July 2018 by Governor Gary R. Herbert, not by President Donald Trump [1]. National coverage about Trump judicial appointments focuses on federal Article III nominees; lists of Trump’s federal appointees (not including state judges) are compiled on sources such as Wikipedia and advocacy trackers [2] [3].
1. Who appointed Don M. Torgerson — state, not federal
State court biographies and multiple Utah news outlets state that Don M. Torgerson was appointed to the Utah Seventh District Court in July 2018 by Governor Gary R. Herbert; those sources describe his jurisdiction (Grand, San Juan, Carbon and Emery counties) and prior legal background [1] [4] [5]. These are state-court, not federal, appointments and therefore are outside the roster of judges appointed by a U.S. president [1].
2. Why confusion with “Trump-appointed” can happen
National readers often conflate any judge in public controversy with federal appointees because federal judges are lifetime Article III appointees and receive heavy national attention; meanwhile advocacy groups and trackers list Trump’s federal judicial nominees and confirmations separately [2] [3]. The databases of Trump-appointed federal judges will not list state-court judges like Torgerson because those lists cover Article III, Article I and Article IV federal appointments [2].
3. The recent controversy that prompted the question
Torgerson drew bipartisan calls to resign after a sentencing in May 2025 in which he sentenced a 22-year-old defendant to 112 days already served and four years’ probation for possessing child sexual abuse material; critics in the Utah Legislature framed this as too lenient while the Utah Judiciary defended that the judge followed sentencing guidelines enacted by the Legislature [4] [6]. Coverage by The Salt Lake Tribune, KSL and local outlets documented both the sentence details and the political response [4] [6] [5].
4. What sources say about appointments and authority
Federal appointment records and trackers list judges whom Presidents nominate and the Senate confirms; these are distinct from state judicial appointment systems described on state court pages [2] [1]. Available sources about Torgerson explicitly name the state governor as the appointing authority; they do not link him to any presidential appointment process [1] [4].
5. Competing perspectives in the reporting
Local reporting presents two competing framings: legislators and critics say the sentence sends a harmful message to victims and call for resignation or impeachment [4] [5]; the Utah Judiciary and defenders say Torgerson acted within the sentencing framework and that some coverage omitted context the judiciary believes is relevant [6]. National reporting on Trump appointments, by contrast, focuses on federal nominee patterns and legal challenges to certain interim federal appointments — a separate topic [2] [7].
6. Limits of current reporting and what’s not found
Available sources do not mention any direct connection between Don M. Torgerson and President Donald Trump, nor do they report any federal nomination or confirmation of Torgerson by the U.S. Senate or a president [1] [4]. Available sources do not mention any subsequent appointment or elevation of Torgerson to a federal bench (p1_s1–[2]2).
Conclusion: Judge Torgerson is a state-level Utah judge appointed by Governor Gary Herbert in July 2018; he is not listed among federal judges appointed by President Trump in the provided sources [1] [2]. The recent controversy surrounding his sentencing explains why readers might search his appointment history, but state appointment records make his appointing authority clear [4] [6].