Posted: January 23, 2025
Approved Amendments to Utah Code of Judicial Administration – Effective May 1, 2025
CJA03-302. Clerk of court (AMEND)
The amendments bring the rule in line with current practice, help court employees understand the Clerk of Court’s role, and update language and other terms for consistency purposes.
CJA03-303. Justice court clerk (AMEND)
The amendments clarify the role of non-court staff in justice court operations and codify the Judicial Council’s decision to restrict access to the courts’ case management system when certification requirements have not been met.
CJA04-401. Proceedings conducted by remote transmission (NEW)
The rule requires remote court proceedings held by video conference to be conducted exclusively via video conferencing platform approved by the Judicial Council. The Council may grant exceptions.
Posted: January 2, 2025
Approved Amendments to Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure – Effective December 18, 2024
The Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on the Rules of Criminal Procedure updated citations to the Utah Code in Rules 6, 7, 7A, and 9. The amendments do not include any substantive changes to the Rules.
URCrP06. Warrant of arrest or summons. Amend.
URCrP07. Initial Proceedings for class A misdemeanors and felonies. Amend.
URCrP7A. Procedures for arraignment on class B or C misdemeanors, or infractions. Amend.
URCrP09. Proceedings for persons arrested without a warrant on suspicion of a crime. Amend.
Posted: December 3, 2024
Approved Amendments to Utah Code of Judicial Administration – Effective May 1, 2025
CJA4-202.02. Records Classification. Amend. The amendments reclassify probation progress/violation reports as protected records, classify “nonpublic restitution records” as sealed records in accordance with Utah Code, and update statutory references.
CJA4-202.03. Records access. Amend. The amendments are non-substantive clerical changes.
CJA6-104. District court water judges. Amend. The amendments clarify that the supervising water judge is responsible for reassigning water cases upon the retirement of a water judge.
Posted: October 31, 2024
Supreme Court Rules of Professional Practice – Effective November 1, 2024
The purpose of these new rules is to align the governance structure of the Office of Legal Services Innovation and Legal Services Innovation Committee with the rule-based governance structures the Supreme Court uses to manage the Utah State Bar, Board of Mandatory Continuing Legal Education, and the Office of Professional Conduct. These new chapters do not amend or alter any existing practices or authorizations.
LSIR11-701. Purpose. New.
LSIR11-702. Composition. New.
LSIR11-703. Disclosure, Recusal, and Disqualification. New.
LSIR11-704. Office and Committee Powers. New.
LSIR11-705. Entity Data. New.
Posted: October 31, 2024
Supreme Court Rules of Professional Practice – Effective November 1, 2024
UCJA11-503. Oversight Committee for the Office of Professional Conduct. AMEND. The proposed amendments to this rule increase the number of committee members, expand the responsibilities of the committee, and increase the frequency of the committee’s meetings.
UCJA11-510. Ethics and Discipline Committee composition. AMEND. The proposed amendments to this rule prohibit the chair of the Ethics and Discipline Committee from engaging in the private practice of law for payment. The proposed amendments also make stylistic changes.
UCJA11-520. Chief Disciplinary Counsel and OPC counsel. AMEND. The proposed amendments to this rule clarify the employment structure and responsibilities of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel for the Office of Professional Conduct.
UCJA11-521. OPC prosecutorial powers and duties. AMEND. The proposed amendments to this rule clarify the authority of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel of the Office of Professional Conduct.
Posted: October 30, 2024
Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Effective November 1, 2024
URJP014. Reception of referral; preliminary determination. Amend. The approved revision to paragraph (a) clarifies when a probation officer must send a delinquency referral to a prosecutor. This change conforms with Utah Code sections 80-6-303.5 and 80-6-304.5. The changes also include several stylistic changes and a restructuring of paragraphs (a) and (c).
Posted: October 29, 2024
Rules of Evidence – Effective November 1, 2024
URE0615. Excluding Witnesses. Amend. The amendments conform closely to recent amendments made to FRE 615. They clarify that witnesses may be excluded “from the courtroom or from a place where they can see or hear the proceedings;” specify that only “one” “officer or employee of a party that is not a natural person” be exempt from exclusion “if that officer or employee has been designated as the party’s representative by its attorney;” and add a new subparagraph (b) to clarify that the court may make other orders to “prohibit disclosure of trial testimony to excluded witnesses,” and to “prohibit excluded witnesses from accessing trial testimony.”
Posted: October 29, 2024
Approved Amendments to Utah Code of Judicial Administration – Effective November 1, 2024
CJA01-205. Standing and ad hoc committees. Amend. CJA03-114.Judicial outreach. Repeal. The proposed amendments: 1) create a Tribal Liaison Committee; 2) remove the general counsel member position from the Working Interdisciplinary Network of Guardianship Stakeholders Committee (WINGS); 3) eliminate the Pretrial Release and Supervision Committee; and 4) repeal the Judicial Outreach Committee. The Outreach Committee’s work will be absorbed by the Committee on Fairness and Accountability.
CJA02-102. Council agenda. Amend. The proposed amendments formalize the existence of the Council’s consent calendar, list the items which may be placed on the calendar, outline the process for removing items from the calendar, and require a Council vote on items placed on the consent calendar.
CJA03-422. Tribal Liaison Committee. New. The proposed amendments create a new Judicial Council standing committee, the Tribal Liaison Committee, to serve as a core leadership team for the Tribal Liaison and to provide subject matter expertise to the Council regarding matters impacting both the judiciary and tribal courts.
CJA03-501. Insurance benefits upon retirement. Amend. The proposed amendments clarify policies regarding retirement benefits for commissioners and judges of courts of record and incentive benefits for active senior judges.
Posted: October 10, 2024
Rules of Appellate Procedure – Effective November 1, 2024
URAP019. Extraordinary relief. Amend. The amendment to Rule 19 updates the reference to Rule 23C.
URAP021. Filing and service. Amend. The amendments to Rule 21 include: (1) removing the language “and accompanied by proof of service” in paragraph (c) because that language is unnecessary where paragraph (e) provides the requirements for proof of service; (2) changing “contact information” to “user accounts” to clarify that electronic service will occur on parties that have a user account; and (3) removing the language from paragraph (a)(1) about the transition to e-filing and the effective date of August 1, 2024.
URAP023C. Motion for emergency relief. Amend. The amendments to Rule 23C include: (1) changing “emergency relief” to “expedited review” to clarify the precise use of this rule; and (2) clean-up language for clarity and consistency.
URAP029. Oral Argument. Amend. The amendment to Rule 29 adds that a party may not reserve more than five minutes for rebuttal during oral argument.
Posted: October 10, 2024
Rules of Civil Procedure – Effective November 1, 2024
URCP001. General Provisions. FINAL. The amendments to this rule are to conform to the rules style guide. It was reviewed along with Rule 81 after the drafting of the new Rules of Business and Chancery Court Procedure.
URCP005. Service and filing of pleadings and other documents. FINAL. The amendments to this rule take into account the new filings systems and ways in which service and filing can be accomplished. The major amendments include removing the list from paragraph (a), updating the methods of service found in paragraph (b), and a revised paragraph (d) for certificates of service. Amendments were also made to conform to the rules style guide, format for other rules, and to use plain language.
URCP007A. Motion to enforce order and for sanctions. FINAL. The amendments to rules 7A(h) were made to clarify the enforcement mechanisms found in rule 37(b) as opposed to using the motion to enforce order and for sanctions process found in rule 7A. This amendment also includes a proposal to delete subparagraph (b)(6) from Rule 37. The proposed amendments to Rule 37 will be forthcoming as the proposals include additional language changes for subpoenas that are being made in conjunction with several other URCP rules.
URCP060. Relief from judgment or order. FINAL. The amendments to this rule are to clarify the language found in subparagraph (d) and update the numbering found in subparagraph (b) to conform to the rules style guide.
URCP081. Applicability of rules in general. FINAL. The amendments to this rule were proposed after the drafting and finalization of the new Rules of Business and Chancery Court Procedure, and to conform to the rules style guide.