Utah Court Rules – Published for Comment – The Supreme Court and Judicial Council invite comments about amending these rules. To view the proposed amendment, click on the rule number. To submit a comment or view the comments of others, click on “Continue Reading.” To submit a comment, scroll down to the “Leave a Reply” section, and type your comment in the “Comment” field. Type your name and email address in the designated fields and click “Post Comment.” Comments cannot be acknowledged, but all will be considered. Comments are saved to a buffer for review before publication.

Posted: April 2, 2024

Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Comment Period Closes May 17, 2024

URJP050. Presence at hearings. Amend. The proposed amendments to Rule 50 include: (1) a correction to referenced statute in paragraph (a); (2) replacing “court” and “courtroom” with “hearing” in paragraph (d), allowing the court to exclude a person from a hearing, including a remote hearing; and (3) stylistic and grammatical changes.

Posted: March 11, 2024

Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closes April 25, 2024

CJA01-0305. Board of senior judges. Amend. The proposed amendments (1) expand membership on the Board to include senior justice court judges, and (2) revise the term lengths and number of meetings of the Board.

CJA03-0104. Presiding judges. Amend. The proposed amendments remove the requirement to send notice of a senior judge assignment to the State Court Administrator.

CJA03-0108. Judicial assistance. Amend. The proposed amendments (1) add water law cases to the criteria for transferring or assigning senior judges, and (2) clarify and simplify considerations for assigning senior judges.

CJA03-0111. Performance evaluations. Amend. The proposed amendments remove references to senior judges, as the processes for evaluating senior judge performance have been incorporated into Rule 11-201.

CJA03-0113. Senior judges. Amend. The proposed amendments (1) require the AOC to provide a new senior judge orientation, and (2) expand the responsibilities of court executives in providing support for senior judges.

CJA03-0403. Judicial branch education. Amend. The proposed amendments (1) clarify that “annually” refers to the fiscal year, and (2) revise and simplify education requirements for active and inactive senior judges.

CJA03-0501. Insurance benefits upon retirement. Amend. The proposed amendments revise qualifications for incentive benefits.

CJA011-0201. Senior Judges. Amend.

CJA11-0203. Senior Justice Court Judges. Amend.

The proposed amendments to Rules 11-201 and 11-203: (1) clarify and revise qualifications for appointment of senior judges, (2) establish qualifications and process for reappointment of senior judges, (3) establish and revise standards and processes for performance evaluation of senior judges, (4) clarify the role of the Judicial Council in the appointment and reappointment of senior judges, (5) revise the terms of office and authority of senior judges, and (6) include general cleanup for clarity and consistency.

Posted: February 27, 2024

Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed April 12, 2024

CJA03-0306.02. Language Access Committee (AMEND). Removes the reference to rule Rule 3-306.05.

CJA03-0306.03. Interpreter credentialing (AMEND). Clarifies that the rule does not apply to staff interpreters employed by the court and gives the Language Access Program Manager the discretion to grant a rare language exemption without approval from the Language Access Committee.

CJA03-0306.04. Interpreter appointment, payment, and fees (AMEND). 1) Allows judicial officers to appoint “approved” interpreters in legal proceedings without exhausting the list of “certified” interpreters; 2) prevents court employees not hired as staff interpreters from interpreting legal proceedings; and 3) removes language regarding staff interpreter employee benefits.

CJA03-0306.05. Interpreter removal, discipline, and formal complaints (REPEALED)

Posted: February 26, 2024

Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed April 11, 2024

CJA06-0304. Grand jury panel (AMEND). The proposed amendments change all grand jury panel member terms to 5 years, with no member serving more than 2 consecutive terms. Retiring members would be allowed to finish out a term as an active senior judge.

Posted: February 15, 2024

Rules of Civil Procedure – Comment Period Closed March 31, 2024

URCP018. Joinder of claims and remedies. AMEND. The proposed amendments reflect the change in the statue using the language “voidable transaction” instead of “fraudulent conveyance.” Other changes were made to the gendered pronouns used in the rule, as well as to simplify the language of the rule.

Posted: February 14, 2024

Rules of Appellate Procedure – Comment Period Closed March 30, 2024

URAP010. Procedures for summary disposition or simplified appeal process. The Committee proposes amending Rule 10 to: (1) add a provision to allow the appellate courts to dismiss an appeal for failure to prosecute if, after 150 days, the reasons the appeal was tolled under Rule 4(b) or Rule 4(c) are not resolved; and (2) clean-up for clarity and consistency.

URAP057. Record on appeal; transmission of record; supplementation of the record. The Committee proposes amending Rule 57 to modify the definition of the record on appeal for child welfare cases, and to make the rule consistent with Rule 11.

Posted: February 7, 2024

Rules Governing the Utah State Bar – Comment Period Closed March 23, 2024

USB14-0104. Admission to practice law; qualifications, enrollment, oath, and fees. AMEND. This rule amendment clarifies that the Supreme Court may set the fee for a Certificate of Good Standing. This rule amendment also provides revisions necessary to comply with the Supreme Court’s Style Guide.

Posted: January 25, 2024

Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed March 10, 2024

CJA03-0201. Court commissioners (AMEND). Eliminates standing commissioner nominating committees. New nominating committees would be formed each time a commissioner vacancy occurs.

CJA01-0201. Judicial Council Membership – Election (AMEND). Adds a judicial member of the Business and Chancery Court to the Judicial Council.

Posted: January 25, 2024

Rules of Evidence – Comment Period Closed March 10, 2024

URE0106. Remainder of or Related Writings or Recorded Statements. Amend. The proposed amendments track recent changes to Federal Rule of Evidence 106, omitting language indicating that the statements covered by the rule are only those in “writing or recorded,” and adding a sentence affirming, “The adverse party may do so over a hearsay objection.”

Posted: January 24, 2024

Rules of Criminal Procedure – Comment Period Closed March 9, 2024

URCrP008. Appointment of Counsel. Amend. The Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on the Rules of Criminal Procedure recently amended Rule 8 to clarify the responsibility of judges during a self-representation colloquy to waive the right to counsel. The Committee’s efforts aimed to emphasize the right to self-representation as a constitutional right directly related to the right to counsel and the right to appointed counsel for indigent defendants. Additional provisions to the Rule include amendments to the qualifications for appointment on capital cases to require that attorneys representing those defendants have sufficient criminal practice, experience, and training. The Rule is approved for a 45-day public comment period.