Approved Amendments to Utah Code of Judicial Administration

CJA3-102. Assumption of judicial office. (AMEND) Clarifies that the Judicial Council may extend the qualification time period for an appointee confirmed by the Senate when the judge the appointee is replacing has not ended their term.

CJA4-206. Exhibits. (AMEND) The proposed amendments reflect recent statutory changes concerning the receipt, retention, and exposal of court exhibits.

CJA4-101. Manner of Appearance. (NEW) The Supreme Court recently adopted rules of civil, criminal, and juvenile procedure identifying factors judges should consider when setting in-person, remote, and hybrid hearings. This rule is a companion rule addressing notice and compliance.

Judicial Council Order

Judicial Council Order

Judicial Council Order

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Notice of Approved MCLE Rule Amendments – Effective November 1, 2024

MCLE Rule Amendments. Several housekeeping changes which correctly identify “paralegal practitioners” as “licensed paralegal practitioners”; resolve questions raised by the Court during discussions on previously proposed changes; update, correct and clarify various provisions; and make rules for readmission after MCLE suspensions consistent with Court rules governing readmission after other types of administrative suspensions.

Please note that there were no changes to MCLE Rule 11-607, and 11-608.

Supreme Court Order

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Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Effective November 1, 2024

URJP005. Definitions. Amend. The approved amendment to Rule 5 removes the definition of “adjudication.” Senate Bill 88 of the 2024 Legislative Session amends the definition of “adjudication” as found in Utah Code section 80-1-102. “Adjudication” as defined in statute is a better fit for the Rules of Juvenile Procedure. As a result of the removal of “adjudication,” the remaining paragraphs are renumbered.

URJP013A. Limited-purpose intervention. New. In response to In re J.T., 2023 UT App 157, Rule 13A guides intervention in the juvenile court.

URJP015. Preliminary inquiry; informal adjustment without petition. Amend. The approved revision to Rule 15 amends paragraph (f) to refer to statute as the guiding criteria for non-judicial extensions. The term “probation intake officer” was changed to “probation officer.” Additional grammatical and stylistic changes were also made for clarity.

URJP019C. Amend. Regarding motions on the justification of the use of force, the approved amendment to Rule 19C specifically adopts Rule 12(c)(3) of the Rules of Criminal Procedure. This amendment intends to clarify the relationship between statute, the Rules of Criminal Procedure, and the Rules of Juvenile Procedure as outlined in Rule 2 of the Rules of Juvenile Procedure.

URJP022. Initial appearance and preliminary hearing in cases under Utah Code sections 80-6-503 and 80-6-504. Amend. House Joint Resolution 13 of the 2024 Legislative Session made changes to Rule 7B of the Rules of Criminal Procedure related to hearsay. Paragraph (k) of Rule 22 is amended to mirror those changes. Paragraph (k) is further amended to provide clearer direction regarding the raising of objections at the preliminary hearing. Additional grammatical and stylistic changes were also made for clarity.

Repeal – Effective November 1, 2024

URJP031. Initiation of truancy proceedings. Repeal. Rule 31 is repealed as a result of amendments made to Utah Code section 80-6-304.5 by House Bill 362 of the 2024 Legislative Session. Habitual truancy may be referred to the juvenile court for a non-judicial adjustment, but it may not be petitioned. In addition, a change to heading “Section VIII Citable Offenses, Truancy Offenses and Status Offenses” of the rules is also made. The heading will read, “Section VIII Citable Offenses and Status Offenses.”

Supreme Court Order

Supreme Court Order

 

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Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Effective November 1, 2024

URJP050 Presence at hearings. Amend. The approved 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.

Supreme Court Order

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Code of Judicial Administration – Effective Date May 30, 2024

CJA01-0305. Board of senior judges. Amend. Expands membership on the Board to include senior justice court judges and revises term lengths and the number of Board meetings.

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

CJA03-0108. Judicial assistance. Amend. Adds water law cases to the criteria for transferring or assigning senior judges, and  clarifies and simplifies considerations for assigning senior judges.

CJA03-0111. Performance evaluations. Amend. Removes references to senior judges. The process for evaluating senior judge performance has been incorporated into Rule 11-201.

CJA03-0113. Senior judges. Amend. Requires the AOC to provide a new senior judge orientation and expands the responsibilities of court executives in providing support for senior judges.

CJA03-0403. Judicial branch education. Amend. Clarifies that “annually” refers to the fiscal year and revises and simplifies education requirements for active and inactive senior judges.

CJA03-0501. Insurance benefits upon retirement. Amend. Revises qualifications for incentive benefits.

CJA011-0201. Senior Judges. Amend.

CJA.011-0203. Senior Justice Court Judges. Amend. 

The amendments to Rules 11-201 and 11-203: (1) clarify and revise qualifications for appointment of senior judges, (2) establish qualifications and processes 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.

 

CJA01-0305. Judicial Council Order

CJA03-0104. Judicial Council Order

CJA03-0108. Judicial Council Order

CJA03-0111. Judicial Council Order

CJA03-0113. Judicial Council Order

CJA03-0403. Judicial Council Order

CJA03-0501. Judicial Council Order

CJA011-0201, CJA011-0203. Supreme Court Order

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