Utah Courts – Utah Court Rules – Published for Comment

Posted: June 26, 2024

Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed August 10, 2024

CJA01-0205. Amend. Standing and ad hoc committees

CJA02-0102. Amend. The proposed amendments formalize the existence of the Council’s consent calendar, list the items which may be placed on the calendar, outline the process for removing items from the calendar, and require a Council vote on items placed on the consent calendar.

CJA03-0422. New. Tribal Liaison Committee. The proposed amendments create a new Judicial Council standing committee, the Tribal Liaison Committee, to serve as a core leadership team for the Tribal Liaison and to provide subject matter expertise to the Council regarding matters impacting both the judiciary and tribal courts.

CJA03-0501. Amend. The proposed amendments clarify policies regarding retirement benefits for commissioners and judges of courts of record and incentive benefits for active senior judges.

CJA04-0101.New. Manner of appearance. The Supreme Court recently published proposed rules of civil, criminal, and juvenile procedure which identify factors judges should consider when setting in-person, remote, and hybrid hearings. The procedural rules also specify how hearing participants may request to appear in a manner opposite of the initial court setting and provide factors judges should consider in approving or denying a participant’s request. Rule 4-101 is a new companion rule addressing notice and compliance.

Posted: June 14, 2024

Notice of Proposed MCLE Rule Amendments – Comment Period Closed July 29, 2024

MCLE Rule Amendments. Several housekeeping changes, including correctly identifying “paralegal practitioners” as “licensed paralegal practitioners”; resolving questions posed by the Court during the last revision of MCLE rules; simplifying appeals; and formalizing the process for readmission of lawyers following administrative suspension for three or more years for failing to comply with MCLE rules and the process for relicensure of licensed paralegal practitioners following administrative suspension for three or more years for failing to comply with MCLE rules.

Posted: May 28, 2024

Supreme Court Rules of Professional Practice – Comment Period Closes July 12, 2024

The purpose of these new rules is to align the governance structure of the Office of Legal Services Innovation and Legal Services Innovation Committee with the rule-based governance structures the Supreme Court uses to manage the Utah State Bar, Board of Mandatory Continuing Legal Education, and the Office of Professional Conduct. These new chapters do not amend or alter any existing practices or authorizations.

LSI11-0701.New. Legal Services Innovation Purpose

LSI11-0702.New. Legal Services Innovation Committee Composition

LSI11-0703.New. Disclosure, Recusal, Disqualification

LSI11-0704.New. Legal Services Innovation Office and Committee Powers

LSI11-0705.New. Entity Data

LSI11-0706.New. Non-traditional Legal Service Provides Assisting Clients in Court

Posted: May 21, 2024

Rules of Criminal Procedure – Comment Period Closes July 5, 2024

URCrP009A. Amend. The Utah Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on the Rules of Criminal Procedure recently amended Rule 9A to include procedures related to defendants in custody on a bench warrant based on a failure to appear for a court proceeding. Once notified that a defendant has been arrested on a bench warrant, a court must set a bench hearing date following the defendant’s arrest. The amended Rule provides the timeframe in which the court must first schedule the bench hearing and the timeframe in which the court must hold the bench hearing. The Rule is approved for a 45-day public comment period.

Posted: May 21, 2024

Notice of Proposed Amendments to Utah Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee Rules – Comment Period Closes July 5, 2024

The Utah Supreme Court invites comments to the following proposed new rules. The comment period will close on July 5, 2024. The proposed rules identify factors judges should consider when setting in-person, remote, and hybrid hearings. The proposed rules also specify how hearing participants may request to appear in a manner opposite of the initial court setting. Finally, the proposed rules provide factors judges should consider in approving or denying a participant’s request.

URCP087. New. In-person, remote, and hybrid hearings; requests for accommodation.

URCrP017.05. New. In-person, remote, and hybrid hearings; requests for accommodation.

URJP061. New. In-person, remote, and hybrid hearings; requests for accommodation.

Posted: May 16, 2024

Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Comment Period Closed June 30, 2024

URJP019C.Amend. Regarding motions on the justification of the use of force, the proposed 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.

Posted: May 15, 2024

Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closes June 29, 2024

CJA04-0601. Selection of indigent aggravated murder and defense fund counsel (REPEAL)
Under Senate Bill 160, effective May 1, 2024, the Office of Indigent Defense Services will be responsible for administering the Indigent Aggravated Murder Defense Fund and assigning an indigent defense service provider to represent individuals prosecuted for aggravated murder. As such, rule 4-601 has been repealed.

CJA02-0212. Communication with the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel (AMEND)
House Bill 344, effective May 1, 2024, combines the legislature’s “Judicial Rules Review Committee” and “Administrative Rules Review and General Oversight Committee” into one committee called the “Rules Review and General Oversight Committee.” The amendments bring the rule in line with new reporting requirements in the bill.

CJA04-0907. Divorce education and divorce orientation course (AMEND)
Under House Bill 337, effective May 1, 2024, the Judicial Council must provide a separate mandatory parenting course “for unmarried parties in a parentage action determining issues of child custody and parent-time.” Until the unmarried parties course is available, unmarried parties must attend the married parents course.

Posted: May 15, 2024

Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closes June 29, 2024

CJA01-0204.Executive committees (AMEND)
Amends membership on the Technology Advisory Subcommittee (TAC). A representative from the Office of General Counsel would replace the Policy, Planning, and Technology Committee member and a member of the Judicial Data and Research department would be added to each of the technology core teams.

CJA01-0205. Standing and ad hoc committees (AMEND)
Eliminates the General Counsel member position on both the Pretrial and WINGS committees.

CJA04-0202.01. Definitions (AMEND)
Clarifies that calendars are not “records.”

CJA04-0202.08. Fees for records, information, and services (AMEND)
Grants clerks of court the authority to waive the one free copy limit for court records associated with a case.

CJA04-0206. Exhibits (AMEND)
Provides exhibit managers with much-needed clarity and guidance on how to manage exhibits in criminal, post-conviction, and appellate actions.

Posted: April 26, 2024

Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Comment Period Closed June 10, 2024

URJP005.Definitions. Amend. Rule 5 is being amended to remove 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 also 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 proposed revision to Rule 15 amends paragraph (f) to refer to statute as the guiding criteria for non-judicial extensions. Additional grammatical and stylistic changes were also made for clarity.

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.

URJP031.Initiation of truancy proceedings. Repeal. It is proposed that Rule 31 be repealed based on amendments to statute brought 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.

Posted: April 25, 2024

Utah Rules of Business and Chancery Court Procedure – Comment Period Closed June 9, 2024

NEW Rules of Business and Chancery Court Procedure – These rules were drafted using the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure as their base line. Thus, the Committee determined that the Rules of Civil Procedure were adequate for the Business and Chancery Court, these rules simply incorporate them by reference rather than repeat the identical language. For example, although these rules include significant modifications to Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 26, necessitating a distinct Rule 26 for the Business and Chancery Court, the Committee concluded that Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 37, including its mechanisms for enforcing the parties’ discovery obligations under Rule 26, could be adopted into these rules without modification and is therefore incorporated by reference. The Rules of Civil Procedure that do not apply in Business and Chancery Court are explicitly excluded by reference in Appendix A.

URBCP001.NEW — General provisions.

URBCP008.NEW — General rules of pleadings.

URBCP010.NEW — Form of pleadings and other papers.

URBCP013.NEW — Counterclaim and crossclaim.

URBCP014.NEW— Third-party practice.

URBCP016.NEW— Pretrial conferences.

URBCP018.NEW— Joinder of claims and remedies.

URBCP019.NEW— Joinder of persons needed for just adjudication.

URBCP020.NEW— Permissive joinder of parties.

URBCP022.NEW — Interpleader.

URBCP024.NEW— Intervention.

URBCP026.NEW — General provisions governing disclosure and discovery.

URBCP038.NEW— Jury trial of right.

URBCP042.NEW — Consolidation and separate trials.

URBCP063.NEW — Disability or disqualification of a judge.

URBCP065A.NEW— Injunctions.

URBCP065B.NEW — Extraordinary relief.

URBCP077.NEW — Business and chancery court; clerks.

URBCP085.NEW— Title.

URBCP086.NEW — Licensed paralegal practitioners.

Appendix A Rules of Civil Procedure excluded from Rules of Business and Chancery Court Procedure