At the Emery County Commission meeting on Tuesday, Judge Scott N. Johansen was honored for his many years of service to Emery County.
Johansen retired in 2016 from his 24-year tenure as the Seventh District Juvenile Court Judge. He became the judge in 1992 after serving as the Emery County Attorney for 13 years. As judge, he served Carbon, Emery, Grand and San Juan counties. He also served as the felony drug court judge in Emery and the family drug court judge in Carbon County until his retirement.
In 2014, Johansen received the Chancellor’s Medallion Award at the USU Eastern commencement exercises. He received his law degree from the J. Reuben Clark College of Law at BYU in 1977 and practiced with the Price law firm of Frandsen, Keller & Jensen from1977 to 1979. He served as city attorney for several cities and towns in Carbon, Emery and Sanpete counties and is a former president of the Utah Association of Counties. Johansen is a past chair of the Board of Juvenile Court Judges and a past chair of the Judicial Council’s Policy and Planning Committee as well as a past member of the Sentencing Commission and the Judicial Council.
Johansen made landmark changes in the juvenile justice system. He was instrumental in transforming the system by helping to create the juvenile sentencing guidelines and also by helping to secure significant amounts of funding for the system to be used in the hiring of probation officers and in funding services for those involved in the juvenile justice system. He championed education and had an unrivaled 96% high school graduation rate for juveniles that came before him.
Johansen is the son of the late Eugene and Grace Johansen and the husband of Laurel Johansen. They have five children, two sons and three daughters. They have 20 grandchildren, including a set of twins and a set of triplets. Their 21st grandchild is expected in November. Johansen has maintained an active role in their lives even during his fight with leukemia and afterward. Johansen was diagnosed with leukemia in 2015 and after a long, hard, courageous battle, he was declared leukemia free in September of 2016.
Johansen is always accompanied by grandchildren, whether it is working with them on the farm or riding horses in Joe’s Valley. He is the grandpa that can be seen sliding down rocks and hiking through Yosemite and he was also involved in instigating, encouraging and participating in paddle-board fights at Bear Lake. He loves training little cowboys and farmers out at the field and spends a lot of his time in retirement converting from flood irrigation to the new sprinkling system, which he thoroughly enjoys.
Ever the historian, Johansen regales family with stories from WWII and with experiences from his own life, ranching in Joe’s Valley and prosecuting murders in his early career. He enjoys traveling to see his grandchildren and he’s always up for excursions delivering Hereford bulls to buyers throughout the West and Midwest for the JoBulls operation. His family feels as though they were granted a miracle in having him still with them after his bout with cancer and they enjoy every minute they get to spend with him.
Johansen has gained the respect and admiration of many during his years of service to his community, family and church.
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