October 2022 – Utah Court Rules – Published for Comment

Posted: October 31, 2022

Rules of Civil Procedure – Comment Period Closed December 15, 2022

URCP041. Dismissal of Actions. This rule was previously published for public comment after changes to subparagraphs (a)(1)(A), (a)(1)(A)(i), and (a)(2). The issue of dismissing an action as to a particular party was brought to the Committee. The example posed included a multi-defendant case where a settlement agreement may have been reached as to some, but not all defendants, and the plaintiff sought to dismiss the action as to those particular defendants, but not all of the defendants. Rule 41 currently addresses the dismissal of an “action.” The Committee is proposing a change to subsections (a)(1)(A) and (a)(2) that would permit a plaintiff to dismiss an action, “a claim, or a party… .” Which is a slight language change from the previous amendment for the same purpose to make the language more clear.

Posted: October 27, 2022

Rules of Appellate Procedure – Comment Period Closed December 11, 2022

URAP020. Habeas corpus proceedings. Repeal/Add Advisory Committee Note. The Committee is posting for public comment the addition of an Advisory Committee Note to the repealed rule. This note is intended to alleviate concerns in regards to repealing Rule 20. The Committee previously proposed repealing Rule 20 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.

URAP019. Extraordinary writs. The Committee proposes amending Rule 19 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file a response from 7 days to 30; (4) add an Advisory Committee Note advising parties that although Rule 20 has been repealed, they still have the ability to file directly to the Supreme Court under Rule 19 under appropriate circumstances; and (5) clean up language for clarity and consistency.

URAP023. Motions. The Committee proposes substituting “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. The Committee proposes amending Rule 23C 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: October 17, 2022

Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Comment Period Closed December 1, 2022

URJP022. Initial appearance and preliminary examination in cases under Utah Code section 80-6-503. Amend. The proposed amendments to Rule 22 include: (1) adding reference to Utah Code section 80-6-504 to the title; (2) changing the term “preliminary examination” to “preliminary hearing;” (3) in paragraph (g), clarifying timelines for scheduling preliminary hearings based on whether a youth is in custody, removing reference to Utah Code section 80-6-503, and moving the language allowing extension to time periods to the end of the paragraph; (4) updating paragraph (h) to reference 80-6-504 rather than 80-6-503 to correct a typographical error; and, (5) removing specific probable cause language and making reference to 80-6-504 instead.

Posted: October 13, 2022

Rules of Criminal Procedure – Comment Period Closed November 27, 2022

URCrP016. Discovery. AMEND. Rule 16 is amended to incorporate an updated reference to Rule 26(b)(6) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, which was modified and became effective May 4th, 2022.