Posted: May 8, 2025
Rules of Evidence – Comment Period Closed June 22, 2025
URE0404. Character evidence; crimes or other acts. Amend. The proposed amendments to the text of the rule are technical rather than substantive in nature. Additionally, a proposed new advisory committee note clarifies that consideration of the Shickles factors is no longer mandatory, but that they may be relevant and properly considered depending on the facts and circumstances of the case.
URE0408. Compromise offers and negotiations. Amend. Proposed amendments to the text of this rule are likewise technical rather than substantive. A proposed new advisory committee note observes that the rule differs from its federal counterpart.
URE0510. Miscellaneous matters. Amend. Proposed amendments to the text of the rule are technical only. It is also proposed that a reference be added to recent legislation substantively amending this rule.
Posted: May 7, 2025
Rules Governing the Utah State Bar – Comment Period Closed June 21, 2025
USB14-1001. IOLTA. Amend. There are multiple amendments to this rule. The amendments clarify the responsibilities related to unclaimed and unidentifiable funds in client trust accounts. The amendments define the obligations of lawyers and law firms when handling unclaimed funds, as well as the duties of the representative of a deceased or incapacitated lawyer’s estate in managing such funds. They also clarify the Utah Bar Foundation’s responsibilities in relation to unclaimed funds. In addition, the amendments address the obligations of lawyers, law firms, estate representatives, and the Utah Bar Foundation concerning unidentifiable funds in client trust accounts. The amendments also encourage the cooperation of IOLTA banking institutions and the Utah Unclaimed Property Division in addressing these issues. Finally, the amendments outline the procedures that the Utah Bar Foundation and the Office of Professional Conduct should follow when dealing with unclaimed and unidentifiable client trust account funds.
Posted: May 2, 2025
Rules Governing Licensed Paralegal Practitioners – Comment Period Closed June 16, 2025
RGLPP15-703. Qualifications for Licensure as a Licensed Paralegal Practitioner. Amend. The proposed amendments to Rule 15-703: (1) changes the educational requirement option for Licensed Paralegal Practitioner licensure from an associate’s degree in paralegal studies to an associate’s degree in any subject plus a paralegal certificate, (2) changes the educational requirement option for Licensed Paralegal Practitioner licensure of a bachelor’s degree in paralegal studies to a bachelor’s degree in any subject, and (3) includes general cleanup to add formatting and technical consistency.
Posted: May 1, 2025
Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed June 15, 2025
CJA04-202.03. Records access (AMEND)
House Bill 129 amends adopted individuals’ right to access adoption records. Given the scope of the bill, the proposed amendments to rule 4-202.03 refer individuals to the statute to determine access to adoption records maintained by the court.
CJA Appendix A. Justice Court Nominating Commissions Procedure Manual (AMEND)
The proposed amendments to Appendix A of the Code of Judicial Administration update justice court nominating commission procedures. Among other things, the amendments require applicants to use an online portal to be considered for a judgeship in justice courts and remove the credit check requirement.
Posted: April 28, 2025
Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed June 12, 2025
CJA03-117. Committee on Court Forms (AMEND)
The proposed amendments: 1) formalize the authority of the Forms Committee; 2) clarify that the Judicial Council must approve forms used by Licensed Paralegal Practitioners; 3) grant the Forms Committee the authority to approve all other forms; 4) allow the Forms Committee to delegate its responsibility for certain groups of forms; and 5) direct the Forms Committee to draft forms that center on the needs of self-represented litigants and enhance access to justice.
CJA03-403. Judicial branch education (AMEND)
The proposed amendments make the rule applicable to all state employees who are not time-limited and modify program requirements to align with the judiciary’s performance year, allowing supervisors to include education requirements in performance expectations and evaluations.
Posted: April 22, 2025
Rules of Appellate Procedure – Comment Period Closed June 6, 2025
URAP042. Transfer of case from Supreme Court to Court of Appeals. Amend. The amendments to Rule 42 that were previously sent out for public comment and have been approved include: 1) add to the rule the Court’s currently internal process for retention of appeals in the Supreme Court; and 2) clean-up language for clarity and consistency. One additional amendment was made to remove “to final decision and disposition” in paragraph (g) Subsequent proceedings before Court of Appeals. This additional amendment is being sent out for public comment and approved as final effective May 1, 2025.
Posted: April 22, 2025
Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Comment Period Closed June 6, 2025
URJP016. Transfer of delinquency case. Amend. The proposed amendments to Rule 16 include: (1) in paragraph (a), the preliminary inquiry by the probation officer will occur in the county of residence, but if the minor or the minor’s parent, guardian, or custodian cannot be located or fails to appear for a preliminary inquiry or the minor declines the offer for a nonjudicial adjustment, the referral will be transferred back to the county of occurrence; (2) paragraph (b) establishes the minor’s county of residence as the venue for arraignment and pretrial proceedings; (3) in paragraph (c), trial proceedings will be held in the county of occurrence; (4) paragraph (c) also provides further direction regarding different types of motions; (5) changes to paragraph (d) reflect current C.A.R.E. uploading and eFiling practices; and (6) grammatical and stylistic changes were made to align with the Supreme Court’s Style Guide.
Posted: April 18, 2025
Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Comment Period Closed June 2, 2025
URJP016A. Transfer of a non-delinquency proceeding. Amend. The proposed amendments to Rule 16A include: (1) moving the procedure regarding scheduling in paragraph (d) down to paragraph (e); (2) moving the procedure regarding the notice of the transfer in paragraph (e) up to paragraph (d); and (3) removing procedures in paragraph (e) regarding the “transmit[ting]” of documents. The changes reflect a logical transfer sequence and an updated transfer process given current C.A.R.E. uploading and eFiling practices.
URJP037A. Visual recording of statement or testimony of child in abuse, neglect, dependency, or substantiation proceedings – Conditions of admissibility. Amend. The proposed changes to Rule 37A add child protective order proceedings and other related non-delinquency proceedings to the title and to paragraphs (a), (b), and (c). These changes intend to clarify that Rule 37A applies to child protective order proceedings and other related non-delinquency matters. There are also several grammatical changes throughout and changes that conform to the Supreme Court’s Style Guide.
URJP044. Findings and conclusions. Amend. The proposed amendment to Rule 44 strikes the procedure in paragraph (c) that directs a court to “dismiss any petition which has not been proven,” and replaces it with the following two procedures: (1) in regards to a non-delinquency case, a court will dismiss a petition that has not been proven; and (2) in a delinquency case, the court will enter a finding and disposition of Not True when an allegation of delinquency has not been proven. To accommodate the two proposed procedures, current paragraphs (d), (e), and (f) were renumbered. There are also several grammatical changes throughout and changes that conform to the Supreme Court’s Style Guide.
Posted: March 19, 2025
Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed May 3, 2025
CJA11-201. Senior Judges. Amend. The proposed amendments to Rule 11-201: (1) clarify and revise qualifications for appointment of senior judges, and (2) include general cleanup for clarity and consistency.
Posted: March 17, 2025
Rules of Criminal Procedure – Comment Period Closed May 1, 2025
URCrP007. Initial proceedings for class A misdemeanors and felonies. Amend.
URCrP007A. Procedures for arraignment on class B or C misdemeanors, or infractions. Amend.
Rules 7 & 7A are amended to require the collection of certain demographic information for a person subject to a pretrial protective order at the time of case initiation or when a party makes a request for a pretrial protective order. The demographic information collected is necessary to establish the pretrial protective order on both state and federal databases and maintain the record for enforcement purposes.