Code of Judicial Administration – Effective June 1, 2023
CJA01-0205. Standing and ad hoc committees (AMEND). Adds members to the Judicial Council’s Standing Committee on Fairness and Accountability.
Author: Utah Courts
Posted: May 22, 2023
Posted: May 22, 2023
Code of Judicial Administration – Effective November 1, 2023
CJA03-0117. Committee on Court Forms (AMEND). Acknowledges the Committee’s responsibility to review existing forms and assess the need for new court forms, adds new form requirements, including user-testing where practicable, and removes the requirement that the General Counsel conduct a legal review of every form prior to committee approval.
CJA03-0406. Budget and fiscal management (AMEND). Incorporates the role of the Budget and Fiscal Management Committee and makes other improvements to clarify the judiciary’s budget process.
Posted: May 17, 2023
Rules of Professional Conduct – Effective May 17, 2023
RPC01.01. Competence. AMEND. Adds comment [9], which states, “Lawyers should be aware that their mental, emotional, and physical well-being may impact their ability to represent clients and, as such, is an important aspect of maintaining competence to practice law and compliance with the standards of professionalism and civility. Resources supporting lawyer well-being are available through the Utah State Bar.”
The ABA has proposed—but not yet adopted—a comment to Rule 1.1 that contains permissive language tying lawyer well-being to competence (See Advisory Committee materials here). The above comment is Utah’s version of the ABA proposal.
The ABA and jurisdictions throughout the country have grappled with the question of how to de-stigmatize the topic of mental health in the legal profession. Utah has taken the bold step of making well-being resources, such as Unmind and Tava Health, readily available through the Utah State Bar.
Comment 9 to Rule 1.1 takes this a step further by explaining the nexus between well-being and lawyer competence. The addition is not meant to be punitive or impose additional requirements or burdens on lawyers. Rather, it is intended to be educational and to point lawyers to the importance of prioritizing their well-being.
Posted: May 3, 2023
Rules of Appellate Procedure – Effective May 1, 2023
URAP008. Stay or injunction pending appeal. Rule 8 is being amended to remove references to specific subparagraphs within Rule 62 of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 62 was significantly amended effective November 1, 2021. Those amendments deleted the prior subparagraph (d). Thus, the current reference in Rule 8(b)(1) of the Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure to “Rule 62(d) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure” no longer makes sense. To avoid future problems, the Committee also suggests modifying Appellate Rule 8’s subparagraph (c) because it also contains a reference to a specific subparagraph of Civil Rule 62.
Posted: April 26, 2023
Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Effective May 3, 2023
URJP022. Initial appearance and preliminary examination in cases under Utah Code section 80-6-503. In its 2023 legislative session, the Utah Legislature approved SJR006, modifying Rule 22 of the Utah Rules of Juvenile Procedure. The amendment addresses the probable cause determination at a preliminary examination.
Posted: April 24, 2023
Rules of Civil Procedure – Effective May 1, 2023
URCP059. New trials; amendments of judgment. AMEND. Amendments made to subparagraph (e) to include “unless otherwise provided for by statute or rule” because as previously written the rule may conflict with Utah Code section 78B-6-811(5)(b), which states a court may modify a judgment for additional amounts owed if a motion is submitted within 180 days.
Posted: April 24, 2023
Code of Judicial Administration – Effective April 25, 2023
CJA04-0202.02. Records classification (AMEND). The proposed amendments update statutory references and include three substantive changes:
- Classifies records related to Court Commissioner Conduct Committee and Council actions under CJA Rule 3-201.02 as “private,” except for public censures by the Judicial Council.
- Safeguards contact information in domestic cases upon request, if the individual’s contact information has been safeguarded in a protective order or stalking injunction action under (8)(A) or in the cases listed under (8)(B).
- In response to S.B. 93, classifies:
- sex designation records for both minors and adults as “private;”
- name change records for both minors and adults as “public,” and
- records in cases involving both a name change and a sex designation change, for minors and adults, as “private” (with a few exceptions).
Posted: April 20, 2023
Rules of Appellate Procedure – Effective May 1, 2023
URAP005. Discretionary appeals from interlocutory orders. Final Rule 5 is amended to: (1) clarify what will be deemed the entry date for an order that is entered on a weekend or legal holiday; and (2) clean up language for clarity and consistency.
URAP011. The record on appeal. Final Rule 11 is amended to: (1) add a requirement that parties include the position of all other parties when filing a motion to supplement the record; and (2) change the reference to Rule 11(e)(1) to (c)(1).
URAP022. Computation and enlargement of time. Final Rule 22 is amended to: (1) clarify what will be deemed the entry date for an order that is entered on a weekend or legal holiday; (2) clarify “legal holiday” and provide a link to the Utah Court’s website that lists the holidays on which the Utah State Courts are closed; (3) add a requirement that parties include the position of all other parties when filing a motion; and (4) clean up language for clarity and consistency.
URAP052. Child welfare appeals. Final Rule 52 is amended to: (1) clarify what will be deemed the entry date for an order that is entered on a weekend or legal holiday; and (2) clean up format for consistency.
Posted: April 20, 2023
Rules of Appellate Procedure – Effective May 3, 2023
URAP004. Appeal as of right: when taken. S.B. 18, the Public Expression Protection Act, originally sought to impose a 21-day deadline to file a notice of appeal from the denial of an expedited motion to dismiss a lawsuit under the Act. But the Utah Supreme Court’s legislative liaison recognized that including a deadline to file a notice of appeal in a statute could raise constitutional questions about whether that deadline infringes the Court’s procedural rulemaking authority. There was not enough time left in the legislative session for the legislature to pursue a joint resolution to amend the rules of appellate procedure to add the new deadline. Thus, to avoid future litigation on the constitutional issue, court and legislative personnel worked jointly to amend rule 4 to include the new deadline to take effect simultaneously with the bill’s effective date of May 3, 2023. The Court has accordingly adopted the amendment to rule 4 on an expedited basis, with the public comment period to follow, pursuant to rule 11-105(5) of the Utah Rules of Judicial Administration.