Utah Courts – Page 15 – Utah Court Rules

Posted: January 28, 2021

Code of Judicial Conduct – Comment Period Closed March 14, 2021

Terminology. Adds the definition of abusive conduct and amends the definition of judicial candidate to those who are applying for judicial office.

CJC02.3. Bias, Prejudice, and Harassment. AMEND. The amendment applies abusive conduct restrictions to judges.

CJC02.11. Disqualification. AMEND. Clarifies that the restriction on hearing cases applies when the lawyer is a supervisor of the judge’s relative.

CJC02.12. Supervisory Duties. AMEND. The amendment applies abusive conduct restrictions to judge in their supervisory roles.

CJC04.1. Political and Campaign Activities of Judges and Judicial Candidates in General. AMEND. Clarifies that only certain restrictions apply to judicial candidates.

Posted: January 20, 2021

Rules of Criminal Procedure – Comment Period Closed March 6, 2021

URCrP016. This proposal incorporates changes suggested by the public comments to require disclosure of police officer’s notes only if they have not been incorporated into a police report, allowing defendants to waive the mandatory disclosures, and clarifying the notice procedure when a prosecutor decides a required disclosure is either not lawful or would endanger any person or an ongoing investigation.

Posted: December 21, 2020

Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed February 4, 2021

CJA03-0101. Judicial Performance Standards (AMEND)
Establishes a definition for “submitted” for purposes of the case under advisement performance standard, and clarifies that judges will be considered compliant with education and case under advisement standards if their failure to meet one or both of those standards was due to circumstances outside of the judge’s control. All material relied upon by the Judicial Council in making a certification decision or explanation shall be forwarded to JPEC and shall be made public to the extent that the information is not confidential personal health information.

CJA03-0108. Judicial Assistance (AMEND)
Authorizes the presiding officer of the Judicial Council to appoint a district court presiding judge as the signing judge for automatic expungements in all district courts within the presiding judge’s district.

Posted: December 3, 2020

Rules of Professional Conduct – Comment Period Closed January 17, 2021

Proposed changes merge the attorney Rules of Professional Conduct and the LPP Rules of Professional Conduct into one set of rules. Currently, there are two nearly identical sets of Rules of Professional Conduct for each type of licensee. One set of rules is more efficient and makes changes and updates to the rules simpler and more uniform.

Preliminary Notes

RPC01.00. Terminology.

RPC01.01. Competence.

RPC01.02. Scope of representation and allocation of authority between client and lawyer.

RPC01.05. Fees.

RPC04.02. Communication with persons represented by legal professionals.

RPC06.01. Voluntary pro bono legal service.

Posted: November 25, 2020

Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed January 9, 2021

CJA Appendix J. Ability-to-Pay Matrix (AMEND). In response to House Bill 206, the Uniform Fine and Bail Schedule has been replaced by the Uniform Fine Schedule and the Ability-to-Pay Matrix. The Ability-to-Pay Matrix provides recommended monetary bail amounts using the poverty guidelines and an individual’s risk of failing to appear in court. Setting monetary bail is a highly fact dependent decision. The recommended amounts do not reflect the maximum amount a judge may order. Judges should ordinarily impose monetary bail based on a person’s ability-to-pay. However, judges continue to have the same discretion to deviate from the recommended amounts as they had under the Uniform Fine and Bail Schedule, provided judges conduct an individualized assessment of ability-to-pay and risk.

Posted: November 2, 2020

Rules Governing the Utah State Bar – Comment Period Closes December 17, 2020

The Supreme Court Board of Mandatory Continuing Legal Education is proposing changes to the MCLE Rules that govern licensed attorneys. For more information, please see the attached letter from David Hirschi, Chair MCLE Board.

David Hirschi MCLE Letter

Posted: November 2, 2020

Rules of Appellate Procedure – Comment Period Closes December 17, 2020

URAP034. Costs. Amend. The proposed amendments to Rule 34: (1) provide a flat $3.00 per page for costs in 34(c)(1); (2) change dates throughout the rule to increments of seven; (3) comport the rule with Standing Order 11 (Regarding filing documents by email); (4) replace the term “taxed” to “awarded” throughout the rule; and (5) clean up other language for clarity and consistency.

Posted: October 26, 2020

Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed December 10, 2020

CJA04-0202.02. Records Classification (AMEND). Clarifies that all records related to determinations of indigency are private records.

CJA04-0403. Electronic signature and signature stamp use (AMEND). Authorizes judges’ electronic signatures to be automatically affixed to automatic expungement orders.

Posted: October 7, 2020

Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed November 21, 2020

CJA03-0301.01. State Court Administrator—Complaints and Performance Review; Complaints Regarding Judicial Officers and State Court Employees (NEW)

Establishes the Management Performance Review Committee, outlines a process for reviewing the performance of the State Court Administrator, and creates an avenue by which complaints regarding the State Court Administrator, judicial officers, and state court employees can be received, reviewed, and investigated.

CJA03-0105. Administration of the Judiciary (NEW)

Sets forth the authority of judges, courts, the Supreme Court, and the Judicial Council to administer the functions of the judicial branch. Creates a process by which the Supreme Court and Judicial Council may assess and determine exclusive and predominate authority, and how those two bodies will communicate with each other when issues arise.

Posted: October 6, 2020

Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed November 20, 2020

CJA03-0201. Court Commissioners (AMEND)
Clarifies that both the Council and presiding judges can take corrective actions in response to a complaint or poor performance, and “removal” was added as a possible corrective action.

CJA03-0201.02. Court Commissioner Conduct Committee (AMEND)
More clearly defines the committee’s charge and complaint procedures, and creates an appeals process if the Committee dismisses a complaint without a hearing.