Utah Court Rules – Published for Comment
The Supreme Court and Judicial Council invite comments about amending these rules. To view the proposed amendment, click on the rule number.
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Posted: April 2, 2024
URJP050. Presence at hearings. Amend. The proposed amendments to Rule 50 include: (1) a correction to referenced statute in paragraph (a); (2) replacing “court” and “courtroom” with “hearing” in paragraph (d), allowing the court to exclude a person from a hearing, including a remote hearing; and (3) stylistic and grammatical changes.
Posted: March 11, 2024
CJA01-0305. Board of senior judges. Amend. The proposed amendments (1) expand membership on the Board to include senior justice court judges, and (2) revise the term lengths and number of meetings of the Board.
CJA03-0104. Presiding judges. Amend. The proposed amendments remove the requirement to send notice of a senior judge assignment to the State Court Administrator.
CJA03-0108. Judicial assistance. Amend. The proposed amendments (1) add water law cases to the criteria for transferring or assigning senior judges, and (2) clarify and simplify considerations for assigning senior judges.
CJA03-0111. Performance evaluations. Amend. The proposed amendments remove references to senior judges, as the processes for evaluating senior judge performance have been incorporated into Rule 11-201.
CJA03-0113. Senior judges. Amend. The proposed amendments (1) require the AOC to provide a new senior judge orientation, and (2) expand the responsibilities of court executives in providing support for senior judges.
CJA03-0403. Judicial branch education. Amend. The proposed amendments (1) clarify that “annually” refers to the fiscal year, and (2) revise and simplify education requirements for active and inactive senior judges.
CJA03-0501. Insurance benefits upon retirement. Amend. The proposed amendments revise qualifications for incentive benefits.
CJA011-0201. Senior Judges. Amend.
CJA11-0203. Senior Justice Court Judges. Amend.
The proposed amendments to Rules 11-201 and 11-203: (1) clarify and revise qualifications for appointment of senior judges, (2) establish qualifications and process for reappointment of senior judges, (3) establish and revise standards and processes for performance evaluation of senior judges, (4) clarify the role of the Judicial Council in the appointment and reappointment of senior judges, (5) revise the terms of office and authority of senior judges, and (6) include general cleanup for clarity and consistency.
Posted: February 27, 2024
CJA03-0306.02. Language Access Committee (AMEND). Removes the reference to rule Rule 3-306.05.
CJA03-0306.03. Interpreter credentialing (AMEND). Clarifies that the rule does not apply to staff interpreters employed by the court and gives the Language Access Program Manager the discretion to grant a rare language exemption without approval from the Language Access Committee.
CJA03-0306.04. Interpreter appointment, payment, and fees (AMEND). 1) Allows judicial officers to appoint “approved” interpreters in legal proceedings without exhausting the list of “certified” interpreters; 2) prevents court employees not hired as staff interpreters from interpreting legal proceedings; and 3) removes language regarding staff interpreter employee benefits.
CJA03-0306.05. Interpreter removal, discipline, and formal complaints (REPEALED)
Posted: February 26, 2024
CJA06-0304. Grand jury panel (AMEND). The proposed amendments change all grand jury panel member terms to 5 years, with no member serving more than 2 consecutive terms. Retiring members would be allowed to finish out a term as an active senior judge.
Posted: February 15, 2024
URCP018. Joinder of claims and remedies. AMEND. The proposed amendments reflect the change in the statue using the language “voidable transaction” instead of “fraudulent conveyance.” Other changes were made to the gendered pronouns used in the rule, as well as to simplify the language of the rule.
Posted: February 14, 2024
URAP010. Procedures for summary disposition or simplified appeal process. The Committee proposes amending Rule 10 to: (1) add a provision to allow the appellate courts to dismiss an appeal for failure to prosecute if, after 150 days, the reasons the appeal was tolled under Rule 4(b) or Rule 4(c) are not resolved; and (2) clean-up for clarity and consistency.
URAP057. Record on appeal; transmission of record; supplementation of the record. The Committee proposes amending Rule 57 to modify the definition of the record on appeal for child welfare cases, and to make the rule consistent with Rule 11.
Posted: January 25, 2024
CJA03-0201. Court commissioners (AMEND). Eliminates standing commissioner nominating committees. New nominating committees would be formed each time a commissioner vacancy occurs.
CJA01-0201. Judicial Council Membership – Election (AMEND). Adds a judicial member of the Business and Chancery Court to the Judicial Council.
Posted: January 25, 2024
URE0106. Remainder of or Related Writings or Recorded Statements. Amend. The proposed amendments track recent changes to Federal Rule of Evidence 106, omitting language indicating that the statements covered by the rule are only those in “writing or recorded,” and adding a sentence affirming, “The adverse party may do so over a hearsay objection.”
Posted: January 24, 2024
URCrP008. Appointment of Counsel. Amend. The Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on the Rules of Criminal Procedure recently amended Rule 8 to clarify the responsibility of judges during a self-representation colloquy to waive the right to counsel. The Committee’s efforts aimed to emphasize the right to self-representation as a constitutional right directly related to the right to counsel and the right to appointed counsel for indigent defendants. Additional provisions to the Rule include amendments to the qualifications for appointment on capital cases to require that attorneys representing those defendants have sufficient criminal practice, experience, and training. The Rule is approved for a 45-day public comment period.