Posted: February 24, 2026
Rules of Appellate Procedure – Comment Period Closes April 10, 2026
URAP027. Rule 27. Form of briefs, motions, and other documents. Amend. The Committee proposes amending Rule 27 to add a requirement that cases involving pretrial detention, parental rights, or child custody must state that it is such a case on the cover of the brief. This expands on the already effective requirement that the cover must note if an individual is incarcerated.
URAP049. Petition for writ of certiorari. Amend. The Committee proposes an additional amendment to Rule 49 which would require the party to include a certificate of compliance be included with their petition. This rule was previously published for public comment with the following proposed amendments: 1) add a word limit and change the page limit from 20 pages to 15 pages; 2) add a requirement that a certificate of compliance be included with the petition; 3) clarify what the statement of the case should include; and 4) clean-up for clarity and consistency.
URAP050. Response; reply. Amend. The Committee proposes an additional amendment to Rule 50 which would require the party to include a certificate of compliance with their response. This rule was previously published for public comment with the following proposed amendments: 1) add what the contents of the response to a petition for writ of certiorari should include; 2) add a word limit and change the page limit from 20 pages to 15 pages for a response; 3) add a word limit of 1,500 for the reply; 4) add a requirement that a certificate of compliance be included with the response and reply; 5) clarify what the statement of the case should include; and 6) clean-up for clarity and consistency.
Please consider adding an additional subsection to (c)(3) under rule 27, requiring parties to identify capital cases on the cover of their briefs. The Legislature recently passed a bill requiring appellate courts to prioritize and expedite appeals and petitions for extraordinary relief involving capital cases. (HB 495, amending Utah Code 76-3-207) If the Governor signs the bill, the same justification for identifying parental rights / child custody appeals on the cover of the brief would apply equally to capital cases.
Language along these lines would work:
(E) Capital case. In a criminal case involving a capital charge or conviction, including a postconviction case, the cover of the appellant’s brief must state that it is a capital case.
William Hains
Deputy Division Director, Criminal Appeals
Utah Attorney General’s Office
We note a potential numbering issue in the proposed amendments to URAP 27. The redline indicates that subsection (3) is proposed for deletion; however, subsection (4) remains numbered as (4) without accounting for the removal of subsection (3). To avoid confusion and ensure consistent citation, we suggest renumbering subsection (4) as (3), along with any necessary conforming updates.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Ellen Choi
Court Rules Attorney
Aderant