-Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Utah Court Rules

Posted: July 23, 2026

Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Comment Period Closes September 8, 2026

URJP020. Discovery generally. Amend. The proposed changes to Rule 20 include: (a) renaming the rule to “Discovery and subpoenas in delinquency and criminal proceedings,” reflecting the expanded scope and applicability to delinquency and criminal proceedings in juvenile court; (b) removing language not related to discovery in delinquency or criminal proceedings; (c) explicitly requiring prosecutors in the county of occurrence to disclose discovery materials prior to arraignment; (d) adopting and clarifying that Rule 14 of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure governs subpoenas; and (e) articulating the timing and content requirements for notice of expert witnesses in trials and hearings, and potential sanctions for noncompliance.

URJP023A. Hearing on factors of Utah Code section 80-6-503; bind over to district court. Amend. The proposed amendments to Rule 23A update statutory references while removing procedural provisions duplicative of Utah Code section 80-6-504. Additionally, the proposal simplifies the procedures for binding a minor over to district court following a probable cause determination.

Posted: August 20, 2025

Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Comment Period Closed October 6, 2025

URJP015. Preliminary inquiry; informal adjustment without petition. Amend. The proposed change to Rule 15(d) is in response to Senate Bill 157 (2025), which amended Utah Code section 80-6-304 to require probation officers to inform minors of their right to consult counsel and how to access counsel before declining a nonjudicial adjustment.

Posted: August 15, 2024

Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Comment Period Closed September 29, 2024

URJP014. Reception of referral; preliminary determination. Amend. The proposed revision to paragraph (a) intends to clarify when a probation officer may send a delinquency referral to a prosecutor. This change conforms with Utah Code sections 80-6-303.5 and 80-6-304.5. The changes also include several stylistic changes and a restructuring of paragraphs (a) and (c).

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: 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 2, 2024

Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Comment Period Closed

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: December 20, 2023

Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Comment Period Closed February 3, 2024

URJP019C. Delinquency, traffic and adult criminal matters. Amend. The proposed amendments to Rule 19C include: (1) modifying the heading and the addition of a new paragraph (a) that provides the scope of this rule; (2) the addition of a new paragraph (f) to provide direction regarding motions on the justification of the use of force as a defense; and (3) stylistic and grammatical changes.

Posted: November 17, 2023

Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Comment Period Closed January 1, 2024

URJP052. Appeals. Amend. The proposed amendments to Rule 52 include an overall restructure of the rule to provide clarity regarding juvenile court appeals timeframes. The amendments also include the addition of restoration of parental rights cases as cases that may be subject to appeal.

URJP056. Expungement. Amend. The proposed amendments to Rule 56 include: (1) updates to the referenced statute; (2) a simpler and clearer paragraph (b) regarding adjudication expungements that aligns with the statute, while removing language that places requirements not found in the statute; (3) removal of the language in paragraph (d) as the statute now places the responsibility of serving an expungement order on the juvenile court; and (4) the addition of three new expungement categories created by House Bill 60 of the 2023 Legislative Session.

Posted: September 25, 2023

Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Comment Period Closed November 9, 2023

URJP017. The petition. Amend. The proposed amendments to Rule 17 include: updating references to statute as a result of changes enacted by House Bill 60 of the 2023 Legislative Session; changing the proper noun County Attorney or District Attorney to “the office of the county attorney” or “the office of the district attorney”; changing the proper noun Clerk of Court to “court clerk”; and replacing the language “shall” with “must” according to the Supreme Court Style Guide.