Utah State Courts

Justice Court Report Table of Contents

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Utah Family Court Task Force Final Report To The Utah Judicial Council December 16, 1994 Published By The Administrative Office of the Courts 230 South 500 East Suite 300 Salt Lake City, Utah 84102 (801) 578-3800  

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I. Table of Contents i

II. Task Force Members v

III. Report Summary 1

IV. Introduction 17

A. Formation of Task Force 17
B. Models Considered 17
C. Input Process 18
D. Modifications of Preliminary Recommendations
1. Effective Date
2. Assignment of Judicial Applicants to the Family Department 20
E. Report Nomenclature 20

V. Need for a Family Department 25

A. Unique Nature of Family Disputes 25
B. Lack of Delay in Utah Trial Courts 26
C. Fragmented Jurisdiction 26
D. Multiplicity of Cases Affecting a Family 27
E. Specialization 27
F. Improve the Delivery of Justice to Families 28
1. Improved Case Management 28
2. Improved Information 29
3. Improved Coordination of Cases and Services 29
4. Nonadversarial Procedures 30
G. Conclusion 30

VI. Cases Assigned to the Family Department 33

A. Cases Recommended 33
B. Cases Not Recommended 35
1. Intrafamily Crimes 35
2. Minor Traffic Offenses 36

VII. The Family Department and the Delivery of Services 39

A. Family Department as a Court of Law 39
B. Dissolution of the Marriage 39
C. Delivery and Coordination of Services 40
1. Introduction 40
2. Advocacy for Services 41
3. Delivery of Services 42
a) Services in the Marketplace 43
b) Services within State Government 43
c) Employee Services or Contract Services 43
4. Alternatives 44
5. Separation of Judges from Program Supervision 45
6. List of Programs 45

VIII. Family Department Organization and Operations 49

A. Department of the District Court 49
B. Permanent Judge Assignment 50
1. Burnout 50
2. Fiefdoms 51
3. Equivalent Departments 51
4. Generalist Judge 52
5. Disadvantages of Rotation 52
6. Impediments to Calendar and Case Management 52
7. Advocacy for Programs 53
8. Alternatives to Rotation and Permanent Assignment 53
9. Recommendation: Permanent Assignment 54

C. Administration 54
1. Judicial Council 55
2. Board of Judges 55
3. Presiding Judge 55
4. Statewide Administrator 56
5. District Executive 56
6. Clerk of the Court 56

D. Operations 56
 1. Case Management 56
a) Case Management Objectives 56
b) Case Management Functions 57
(1) Clerical 57
(2) Screening 58
(3) Case Coordination 59
(4) Service Coordination 60
(5) Information to Parties 62
(6) Training for Case Managers 62
(7) Periodic System Evaluations 63
2. Enforcement of Court Orders 63
3. One Family -- One Judge: Direct Calendaring 65
a) Master Calendar 66
b) Individual Calendar 66
c) Direct Calendar 66
d) Guidelines for Direct Calendar Case Assignment 69
4. Mediation of Domestic Disputes 69
a) Promise of Mediation 69
b) Process of Mediation 70
c) Concerns about Mediation 71
d) Qualification of Mediators 72
e) Other Methods of Alternative Dispute Resolution 72
5. Public Trial and Records 73
6. Appeals 76
7. Hours of Operation 76
8. Facilities 76
9. Rules of Procedure 77

IX. Transition to a Family Department of the District Court 81

A. Local Planning 81
B. Incumbent Judges 81
1. Self Selection of Assignment 82
2. Rotation 82
3. Recommendation: Prospective Application of the Family Department 82
C. Incumbent Court Commissioners and Staff 84

X. Family Department Caseload 87

XI. Appendix A: History of Utah Juvenile Court Studies 91

XII. Appendix B: Family Court Features of Other States and National Standards 95

A. Other States 95
B. ABA Standards Relating to Court Organization 96
C. National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges 97
D. Family Courts: An Effective Judicial Approach to Resolution of Family Disputes by Robert W Page 99

XIII. Appendix C: Bibliography 101
 

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I. Task Force Members
 
 

James B. Lee  Parsons, Behle & Latimer  Task Force Chair	Hon. Judith M. Billings  Utah Court of Appeals  Task Force Vice-Chair
Hon. J. Mark Andrus  Second District Juvenile Court	Hon. L. Kent Bachman  Second District Juvenile Court
Frederick N. Green  Green & Berry	Hon. Leslie A. Lewis  Third District Court
David E. Littlefield  Littlefield & Peterson	Hon. Gordon J. Low  First District Court
Hon. Sharon P. McCully  Third District Juvenile Court	Rosalind J. McGee  Citizen Representative
Russell Y. Minas  Mooney & Associates	Mary T. Noonan, Director  Division of Family Services
Hon. Frederic M. Oddone  Third District Juvenile Court	Hon. Boyd L. Park  Fourth District Court
Grethe B. Peterson  Citizen Representative	Hon. Sandra N. Peuler  Third District Court
Kim Rilling  Rilling & Associates	Hon. Joanne L. Rigby  Salt Lake County Justice Court
Craig M. Snyder  Utah Bar Commission	Hon. Louis G. Tervort  Sixth District Juvenile Court
Billy L. Walker  Office of the Attorney General	Roy W. Whitehouse  Court Executive  Third District Juvenile Court

 

Kellie F. Williams  Corporon & Williams

 

Timothy M. Shea  Task Force Counsel

Vihn Lee  Task Force Intern

 
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