Salt Lake City, Utah—The Utah Judicial Council voted today to recommend legislation that would create a more independent Justice Court system. At today’s Council meeting, Utah Supreme Court Justice Ronald E. Nehring presented the final report by the Justice Court Study Committee, which included the following recommendations:
1-Pay Justice Court judges through the state rather than the city or county
2-Appoint Justice Court judges through a local selection committee
3-Transition to only full-time Justice Court judges
4-Require Justice Court judges to stand for retention election
5-Provide for a six-year term for Justice Court judges
6-Establish a minimum education requirement of a four-year college degree
The committee’s proposal is to implement the changes over time. The first step is to convert to state payment of judges’ salaries and benefits effective July 1, 2009. Current Justice Court judges would serve out their existing terms of office so that by February 2012, all Justice Court judges would be full time judges or be serving part time as senior Justice Court judges. Based on the current caseload numbers for Justice Courts, approx. 60 full-time judges will be needed to manage cases statewide when fully implemented.
The committee’s goals have been to establish more judicial independence for justice courts, enhance the public’s trust and confidence in Justice Courts, and preserve the ability of local government to maintain a local court, according to Justice Nehring. This proposal achieves all of these goals.
The recommendations will now be put in the form of proposed legislation for introduction during the 2008 Legislative Session. The Judicial Council will review the proposed legislation at a meeting on Dec. 17.