Utah Courts
UCJA Rule 3-303 (Code of Judicial Administration)
UCJA Rule 3-303 (Code of Judicial Administration)
Rule 3-303. Justice court staff and local government employees serving in the justice courts.
Intent:
To provide for court staff who, under the direction of the justice court judge, are primarily responsible for operating the justice courts, to establish a process for deputizing local government employees who may assist the justice courts on a limited basis, and to provide access to financial data for counties and municipalities that operate a justice court.
Applicability:
This rule applies to all justice courts.
Statement of the Rule:
(1) Counties and municipalities are responsible for bearing the expense of providing staff to the justice courts located within their jurisdictions. Such services must be provided by no fewer than the number of full-time employees required by the Council’s certification standards. Additional support may be provided as set forth in paragraph (3) below.
(2) Court Staff.
(2)(A) Staff must be provided to each justice court to assist the judge in managing the operation of the court. Staff will have primary responsibility for performing the following duties:
(2)(A)(i) recordkeeping;
(2)(B)(ii) filing reports;
(2)(C)(iii) scheduling hearings and trials;
(2)(D)(iv) mailing notices;
(2)(E)(v) maintaining case files;
(2)(F)(vi) collecting fines;
(2)(G)(vii) docketing cases;
(2)(H)(viii) taking and certifying acknowledgments and administering oaths; and
(2)(I)(ix) other court-related duties as assigned.
(2)(B) The judge must concur in the appointment of all court staff assigned to serve the court and may participate in the personnel evaluation process for court staff, at the judge’s discretion.
(3) Local Government Employees.
(3)(A) Deputized Employees.
(3)(A)(i) In addition to the staff described in paragraph (2) above, a justice court judge with fewer than three full-time staff may, with the concurrence of the local government executive and the Board of Justice Court Judges (Board), deputize up to four local government employees to perform certain court-related duties on a limited basis. The Board may authorize exceptions to this paragraph upon request by the applicable justice court judge.
(3)(A)(ii) The responsibilities and authority of deputized local government employees must be detailed in a standing order signed by the judge and provided to the local government executive and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC).
(3)(A)(iii) Deputized employees must be supervised by court staff in the performance of court-related duties, but not for the performance of duties unrelated to the court.
(3)(A)(iv) Counties and municipalities must cover the annual cost of the following for each deputized employee:
(3)(A)(iv)(a) an email account on the utcourts.gov domain; and
(3)(A)(iv)(b) any training that may be required by the Board.
(3)(B) Read-only Employees. In addition to the court staff and deputized employees described above, cities and counties may involve other employees in the justice court to the extent that financial reports need to be reviewed and reconciled. Such employees will be granted read-only access to review certain reports in CORIS once they have completed the training required by the Board, signed a Memorandum of Understanding, and submitted the same to the AOC.
(4) No court staff or deputized local government employee serving the court in a part-time capacity will be assigned to other duties which present a conflict of interest or promote an appearance of impropriety regarding court responsibilities. Both court staff and deputized employees must adhere to separation of duties requirements set forth in Section 01-06.00 of the Courts’ Accounting Manual.
(5) Court staff and deputized employees must take an oath that requires them to solemnly swear and promise to support, obey and defend the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of Utah, and to discharge the duties of their office with fidelity to the best of their ability. The oath must be administered by the judge and be recorded on a form provided by the AOC. A copy of the form must be provided to the AOC within one week following an employee’s first day with the court.
(6) Court staff and local government employees who have been deputized pursuant to paragraph (3)(A) above must be certified for the six months ending June 30 and December 31 each year (each, a “certification period”) by demonstrating proficiency with the training required by the Board. The Board may consider a judge’s request to waive one or more courses or extend a certification deadline for good cause, provided the request is received at least three weeks prior to the end of the applicable certification period. At the end of each certification period, access to CORIS will be suspended for court staff and local government employees who are not current with training requirements and who did not receive an extension from the Board. Access to CORIS will be restored once any such user is current with the Board’s requirements.
| Empty Table |
|---|