The Utah Supreme Court and the Utah Judicial Council invite comments to proposed amendments to the following court rules. The comment period expires June 16, 2006.
Summary of proposed amendments
Rules of Appellate Procedure
URAP 04. Appeal as of right: when taken. Amend. Creates a procedure to implement the directive in State v. Manning, 2005 UT 61, 122 P.3d 628. allowing a criminal defendant to have appeal rights reinstated, when the defendant has been deprived of the an appeal.
URAP 24. Briefs. Amend. Clarifies the briefs that are to be filed and the number of pages permitted in cases involving cross-appeals. A singled brief may not exceed 50 pages, and the combined total of a party's two briefs may not exceed 75 pages.
Rules of Civil Procedure
URCP 045. Subpoena. Amend. Require person scheduling deposition to give advance notice before serving subpoena. Permit person serving subpoena rather than recipient to decide whether records should be copied and delivered or delivered for inspection and copying. Requires advance payment of costs upon request. Clarifies the grounds and procedures for objecting to a subpoena. Requires declaration under penalty of perjury to accompany documents produced under a subpoena. Delete committee note.
URCP Form 40. Subpoena. Repeal & Reenact. Subpoena, Notice of Rights, Objection, Declaration of compliance.
URCP 063. Disability or disqualification of a judge. Amend. Clarify that judge is to take no action in a case after a motion to recuse has been filed.
URCP 074. Withdrawal of counsel. Amend. Requires judicial consent for withdrawal if a hearing has been set.
Rules of Criminal Procedure
URCrP 15.5. Visual recording of statement or testimony of child victim or witness of sexual or physical abuse - Conditions of admissibility.. Amend. The changes clarify the standards for when recorded child testimony may be used. The child must be available to testify at trial.
URCrP 29. Disability and disqualification of a judge or change of venue. Amend. Clarify that judge is to take no action in a case after a motion to recuse has been filed.
Rules of Evidence
URE 0407. Subsequent remedial measures. Amend. Amend to conform to the Federal rule.
Rules of Juvenile Procedure
URJP 16. Transfer of delinquency case for preliminary inquiry. Amend. Renumber according to Supreme Court protocol.
URJP 34. Pre-trial hearing in non-delinquency cases. Amend. Technical amendment.
URJP 37. Child protective orders. Amend. Technical amendment to conform to statute.
Code of Judicial Administration
CJA 03-406. Budget and fiscal management. Amend. Permit greater discretion in defining budget programs.
CJA 03-414. Court security. Amend. Permit private security agents transporting money to be armed. Approved effective April 24, 2006 as an expedited amendment under Rule 2-205. Subject to further change after the comment period.
CJA 04-404. Jury selection and service. Amend. Differentiates between excuse from jury service and postponement. Modifies the qualification process to enable qualifying on the web. Eliminates demographic information from the qualification questions. Deletes requirement that an excused juror be called in the next term.
CJA 06-303. Collection of fines and restitution. Amend. Corrects references from Office of Recovery Services and Department of Corrections to Office of State Debt Collection.
CJA Appx F. Record Retention Schedule. Amend. Retain search warrants not associated with a case for five years.
How to view redline text of the proposed amendments
To see proposed rule amendments and submit comments, click on this link to: http://www.utcourts.gov/resources/rules/comments/. Then click on the rule number.
How to submit comments
You can comment and view the comments of others by clicking on the "comments" link associated with each body of rules. It's more efficient for us if you submit comments through the website, and we encourage you to do so. After clicking on the comment link, you will be prompted for your name, which we request, and your email address and URL, which are optional. This is a public site and, if you do not want to disclose your email address, omit it. Time does not permit us to acknowledge comments, but all will be considered.
Submit comments directly through the website or to:
Tim Shea
Email: tims@email.utcourts.gov Please include the comment in the message text, not in an attachment.
Fax: 801-578-3843
Administrative Office of the Courts
P.O. Box 140241
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-0241
One method of submitting a comment is sufficient.