Utah Court Rules – Published for Comment – Page 10 – The Supreme Court and Judicial Council invite comments about amending these rules. To view the proposed amendment, click on the rule number. To submit a comment or view the comments of others, click on “Continue Reading.” To submit a comment, scroll down to the “Leave a Reply” section, and type your comment in the “Comment” field. Type your name and email address in the designated fields and click “Post Comment.” Comments cannot be acknowledged, but all will be considered. Comments are saved to a buffer for review before publication.

Posted: November 8, 2022

Rules Governing the Utah State Bar – Comment Period Closed December 23, 2022

USB14-0705. Admission by motion. Amended as of November 7, 2022, pursuant to UCJA Rule 11-105(5). The amendments restore reciprocity language to the rule.

Since the August 1, 2022 amendments, the Utah State Bar’s Office of Admissions has fielded several inquiries about whether an attorney who is primarily licensed and practicing in a non-reciprocal jurisdiction would now be eligible for admission by motion. These questions appear to arise from the deletion of a reciprocity provision in Rule 14-705. Removing reciprocity requirements was never the intention behind the August amendments. Rather, the intention was to simply recognize that the pandemic created opportunities for remote work. As such, these amendments clarify that a reciprocal admission applicant must have been engaged in the Full-time Practice of Law in the reciprocal jurisdiction, whether remotely or in-person, during the relevant time period.

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.

Posted: September 23, 2022

Rules Governing the Utah State Bar – Comment Period Closed November 7, 2022

USB14-0802. Authorization to practice law. Amend. The purpose of the proposed amendments to Rule 14-802 is to give Licensed Paralegal Practitioners (LPPs) the ability to modify the court forms that are relevant to their areas of practice. This would give LPPs some much needed flexibility to complete services for their clients while still working within the scopes of practice established by the Supreme Court. Rule 14-802 was initially drafted with the intention of both defining the scope of practice for LPPs and ensuring the availability, accuracy, and effect of that scope of practice through forms that have been vetted and approved by the Judicial Council’s Standing Committee on Court Forms. While the intent of this rule was to guide LPPs, attorneys, and the public through a new and uncharted program that authorized the limited practice of law by non-attorneys, it resulted in unanticipated results. LPPs’ effectiveness has been artificially limited, with negative results for their clients in the form of reduced cost savings and the inability to tailor pleadings to clients’ individual circumstances.

Posted: September 23, 2022

Rules of Civil Procedure – Comment Period Closed November 7, 2022

URCP007. Pleadings allowed; motions, memoranda, hearings, orders. AMEND. The first proposed 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 proposed 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 proposed change to subparagraph (h) would clarify any 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 proposed change to subparagraph (h) would clarify any 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.

Posted: September 19, 2022

Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed November 3, 2022

CJA03-0412. Procurement of goods and service. (Amend). The small purchase limits have been increased to $5,000 per item and up to $10,000 for an entire purchase.

Posted: September 19, 2022

Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed November 3, 2022

CJA04-0202.04. Request to access a record associated with a case; request to classify a record associated with a case. (Amend). Clarifies that requesters denied access to non-public court records associated with a case that they are not authorized to access under rule 4-202.03 must file a motion or petition to access the record.

CJA04-0202.08. Fees for records, information, and services. (Amend). Consistent with H.B. 96 and 63G-2-203(5)(c), the proposed amendments in lines 55-62 would allow the court to charge requesters for the first 15 minutes of personnel time if the person has submitted a separate request within the 10-day period immediately prior to the date of the new request, provided the person is not a Utah media representative.

In line 112, “impecunious” is changed to “indigent” to make it more consistent with Utah Code and other court rules.

In lines 116-118, indigent requesters are allowed one free copy of each record, after which they would be required to pay the standard rates. Exceptions can be made by the State Court Administrator.

CJA01-0204. Executive committees. (Amend). The proposed amendments create court-level core teams and subcommittees of Policy, Planning, and Technology to assist the Committee in accomplishing its new technology responsibilities.

CJA01-0201. Judicial Council Membership – Election. (Amend).

CJA01-0302. Board of Judges Membership – Officers – Secretariat. (Amend).

The proposed amendments clarify that Council members may serve as non-voting members of a trial court board and continue to allow an exception for the appellate courts.

Rule 1-201 has also been amended to reflect the Judicial Council’s membership exception for the Standing Committee on Judicial Fairness and Accountability set forth in rule 1-205(1)(C).

Posted: August 24, 2022

Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed October 8, 2022

CJA04-0208. Automated case processing procedures. (AMEND) HB 139, deferred traffic prosecution, goes into effect on October 1, 2022. The amendments authorize the Administrative Office of the Courts to develop a process for issuing automated orders in deferred traffic prosecution cases, similar to the clean slate expungement process. Removes definitions of terms that are not included in the rule.

CJA03-0108. Judicial assistance. (AMEND) HB 139, deferred traffic prosecution, goes into effect on October 1, 2022. The amendments allow the presiding officer of the Council to appoint a district court presiding judge as the signing judge for deferred traffic prosecution orders in all district courts within the presiding judge’s district with jurisdiction over eligible cases.

CJA04-0403. Electronic signature and signature stamp use. (AMEND) HB 139, deferred traffic prosecution, goes into effect on October 1, 2022. The amendments allow the electronic signature of a judge to be automatically affixed to orders related to deferred traffic prosecution cases.