The Supreme Court or Judicial Council has approved and adopted the following rules, which rules are effective on the date indicated. To view the newly adopted rules, click on any rule number.
Under circumstances described in CJA Rules 2-205 or 11-105, certain rules may have been adopted prior to a public comment period. The public is provided the opportunity to provide comment on those rules during the 45 days following the adoption of any such rule. To review and comment, click on the “LINKS” tab directly below. Then click on “Proposed Rule Amendments Published for Comment” to be taken to the page where links to rules subject to public comment are located.
Posted: January 25, 2024
URE0506. Physician and Mental Health Therapist-Patient. Amend. The amendments to Rule 506 are intended to strike a proper balance between maintaining a strong privilege, respecting a criminal defendant’s constitutional rights, and clarifying when and how the exception applies.
Posted: January 12, 2024
URAP004. Appeal as of right: when taken. The approved amendments to Rule 4 include: (1) clarify what will be deemed the entry date for an order that is filed on the weekend or on a legal holiday; (2) clarify when the time for appeal beings to run when multiple post-judgment motions are decided separately; (3) restructure paragraph (f) to be consistent with paragraph (g) (addressing reinstating the right to appeal in civil cases); (4) explain the standard governing a motion to reinstate the time for appeal in a criminal case; (5) include a one-year deadline from discovery of facts giving rise to the claim; (6) require a defendant to include in the motion for reinstatement the reasons for filing later than the one year deadline; and (7) clean up language for clarity.
Posted: December 21, 2023
RPC01.02. Scope of representation and allocation of authority between client and lawyer. Licensed paralegal practitioner notice to be displayed. AMEND. Clarifies the circumstances under which a lawyer may advise or assist a client with respect to Utah’s cannabis laws.
RPC07.01. Communications Concerning a Lawyer’s Services. AMEND. Rule 7.1 was recently circulated for comment in response to a petition to the Supreme Court. That petition expressed concern about the direct solicitation of potential clients soon after traumatic events. The petition proposed returning to the Rules of Professional Conduct a ban on direct solicitation. Such a ban previously appeared in Rule 7.3 and still appears in the ABA Model Rule. The Utah Supreme Court eliminated the ban on direct solicitation in 2020. The proposed amendments that were drafted in response to the petition generated a large number of comments in opposition. Using Fla. Bar v. Went For It, Inc., 515 U.S. 618, 620–21 (1995) as a guide, the rule was redrafted to more narrowly address the petition’s concerns. That rule proposal is now the subject of this comment period.
RPC08.04. Misconduct. AMEND. Rule 8.4 circulated for comment last year. The proposal attempted to codify in a new paragraph (2) Ethics Advisory Opinion 02-05, which concluded that 8.4(1)(c) (conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation) does not apply to government attorneys overseeing an otherwise legal undercover criminal investigation. The proposal as written received a number of comments in opposition. A new proposal, which is now the subject of this comment period, provides that while it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation, a lawyer may participate in lawful investigatory activities employing deception for the purpose of detecting ongoing violations of law. Those lawful investigatory activities include governmental “sting” operations; use of testers in fair-housing cases to determine whether landlords or real estate agents discriminate against protected classes of applicants; and gathering evidence of copyright violations.
Posted: December 20, 2023
CJA03-0108. Judicial assistance (AMEND). Authorizes the presiding officer of the Judicial Council to appoint a juvenile court presiding judge as the signing judge for automatic expungement orders in juvenile court cases within the presiding judge’s district.
CJA04-0202.02. Records classification (AMEND)
CJA04-0202.03. Records access (AMEND)
Posted: November 21, 2023
CJA06-0301. Authority of court commissioner as magistrate. (AMEND). Within the bounds of Utah Code section 78A-5-107 and constitutional limitations on the delegation of judicial authority, broadens commissioners’ magistrate authority.
Supreme Court Order for CJA 6-301
CJA04-0202.08. Fees for records, information, and services. (AMEND). Clarifies that court appointed attorneys requesting records on behalf of an indigent client qualify for a fee waiver. Removes bulk data fees and individual hourly rates from the rule. Rates will be posted on the court webpage.
Supreme Court Order for CJA 4-202.08
CJA04-0202.02. Records classification. (AMEND)
CJA04-0202.03. Records access. (AMEND)
Classifies video records of court proceedings as sealed and limits access to official court transcribers, court employees, and anyone by court order.
Posted: November 17, 2023
URJP010. Bail for non-resident minors. Amend. The approved amendments to Rule 10 include updates to the referenced statute.
Posted: November 17, 2023
URJP009. Detention hearings; scheduling; hearing procedure. Amend. The approved amendments to Rule 9 include a correction to the referenced statute in paragraph (a), and the addition of paragraph (o), allowing the juvenile court to review predisposition orders to detention every 30 days instead of every seven days when there is concurrent jurisdiction in the district and juvenile courts or when a criminal information is pending in the juvenile court. The changes also include replacing the language “shall” with “must” or “will” to comply with the Supreme Court Style Guide.
Posted: October 31, 2023
URE0101. Scope; Definitions. Amend. The amendments add certain definitions in subparagraph (b) to clarify the applicability of the Utah Rules of Evidence to juvenile court proceedings, and add subparagraph (c) to specify that in the event of conflict between these definitions and the Utah Rules of Juvenile Procedure, the latter rules govern.
URE0412. Admissibility of Victim’s Sexual Behavior of Predisposition. Amend. Subparagraph (a) is amended to omit the specific reference to “juvenile delinquency” proceedings. In view of the proposed amendments to URE 101 and 1101, the reference is unnecessary. The reference could also be confusing since other rules that likewise apply to juvenile delinquency proceedings do not include such specific references.
URE0615. Excluding Witnesses. Amend. Subparagraphs (d) and (e) are amended to omit the specific references to “juvenile delinquency” proceedings. In view of the proposed amendments to URE 101 and 1101, the references are unnecessary. The references could also be confusing since other rules that likewise apply to juvenile delinquency proceedings do not include such specific references.
URE1101. Applicability of Rules. Amend. Subparagraph (a) is amended to add a provision clarifying that the Utah Rules of Evidence apply to “all juvenile court proceedings unless stated otherwise in the Utah Rules of Juvenile Procedure.”
Posted: October 31, 2023
CJA06-0501. Reporting requirements for guardians and conservators (AMEND). In response to previous public comments, the amendments clarify filing requirements and the use of court forms for guardians and conservators.