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: February 27, 2023
CJA11-0107. Open and Public Meetings. NEW. This rule describes when Supreme Court committees should hold open meetings and defines allowable reasons for closed meetings. This rule is consistent with the philosophy of the Open and Public Meetings Act.
Posted: February 27, 2023
URAP020. Habeas corpus proceedings. Repeal/Add Advisory Committee Note. Rule 20 has been repealed because it is superfluous and confusing, and could prejudice a criminal defendant’s opportunity to seek relief under the Post-Conviction Remedies Act (PCRA). Rules 65B and 65C of the civil rules, together with the PCRA, Utah Code § 78B-9-101 to -110, already provide mechanisms to challenge the lawfulness of any official detention. Although the rule is being repealed, there will be an advisory committee note left in Rule 20 advising parties that although Rule 20 has been repealed, they still have the ability to file a petition directly to the Supreme Court under Rule 19, under appropriate circumstances.
URAP019. Extraordinary writs. Rule 19 has been amended to: (1) incorporate a page and word limit, and a certificate of compliance, similar to the requirements in Rule 24 regarding briefs; (2) add the ability for the petitioner to file a reply after service of a response; (3) increase the amount of time to file a response from 7 days to 30; (4) add an Advisory Committee Note advising parties that although Rule 20 has been repealed, they still have the ability to file a petition directly to the Supreme Court under Rule 19 under appropriate circumstances; and (5) clean up language for clarity and consistency.
URAP023. Motions. Rule 23 has been amended to substitute “discussion” for “memorandum.” The Committee believes that the word “memorandum” can lead individuals to file unnecessarily a separate document containing the facts and arguments supporting their requests, rather than merely including those facts and arguments in the original petition or motion.
URAP023C. Motion for emergency relief. Rule 23C has been amended to: (1) change the reference to Rule 19; (2) change the rule reference in paragraph (e) concerning form of papers from Rule 23(f) to Rule 27, as paragraph 23(f) was relocated to Rule 27 effective November 1, 2021; and (3) correct formatting for consistency. The rule currently refers to a specific subparagraph in Rule 19 that will be renumbered under the proposed amendments. To avoid cross-referencing problems that future amendments may create, the Committee recommends directing parties to the general rule rather than a specific paragraph.
Posted: February 24, 2023
URCP041. Dismissal of Actions. Amend. Subparagraphs (a)(1)(A) and (a)(2) were amended to permit a plaintiff, under specified circumstances, to dismiss an action, “a claim, or a party,” rather than only an action.
Posted: February 15, 2023
URCP065A. Injunctions. Amend.
HJR002S03 (the joint resolution amending Rule 65A re: injunctions) passed both the House and the Senate with the constitutional 2/3 majority. Based upon that action being completed, Rule 65A of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure is now amended and the new version of Rule 65A went into effect immediately. Language previously allowing a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order to issue where a litigant showed, among other things, that “the case presents serious issues on the merits which should be the subject of further litigation” has been removed from paragraph (e). Additionally, paragraph (f) authorizes a restrained or enjoined party to move for reconsideration of the injunction or restraining order, and requires that such a motion be granted and an injunction or restraining order be terminated, under certain specified circumstances.
Posted: February 7, 2023
URCrP002. Time. Amend. The Rule is amended to adjust how time is computed following the adoption of Juneteenth as a state holiday.
Posted: February 2, 2023
URCP007. Pleadings allowed; motions, memoranda, hearings, orders. (AMEND). The first change to subparagraph (l)(1) adds motions for Rule 16 pretrial conferences to the list of motions the court may act upon without waiting for a response. The second change removes portions of the rule and adds subparagraph (q) to the end of the rule to outline page limits and word limits for filings. This brings the rule in line with the Utah Local Federal rules, the Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure, and the Federal Courts of Appeal which use page and word limits. Parties may use the page or word limits.
URCP007A. Motions to enforce order and for sanctions. (AMEND). The change to subparagraph (h) clarifies confusion that may arise in reading rule 109 where an injunction is entered by the court in domestic actions and whether a party may file a motion to enforce an injunction entered by the court. The same change was made to Rule 7B.
URCP007B. Motion to enforce order and for sanctions in domestic law matters. (AMEND). The change to subparagraph (h) clarifies confusion that may arise in reading rule 109 where an injunction is entered by the court in domestic actions and whether a party may file a motion to enforce an injunction entered by the court. The same change was made to Rule 7A.