As of April 24th, 2025, the United States District Court for the District of Utah has ordered a temporary stay of S.B. 199.
The Utah State Courts are processing guardianship cases under existing law, but are excluding all of S.B. 199's provisions until the stay is lifted or amended. Learn more

JUDGE RICHARD W. DAYNES

Judge Richard W. Daynes was appointed to the Third District Court by Governor Spencer J. Cox in April 2024 and took the bench in June. He serves Salt Lake, Summit, and Tooele counties and is currently assigned to the West Jordan Courthouse. Before his appointment, Judge Daynes served over 22 years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Utah. He held multiple leadership roles as an AUSA, including Chief of the Financial Litigation Section, National Security Section, and Asset Forfeiture/Money Laundering Unit, among others. He also served internationally as the Department of Justice’s Resident Legal Advisor at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing for three years, focusing on fentanyl trafficking and U.S.-China law enforcement relations, and later as Intermittent Legal Advisor to the U.S. Embassy in Malta, addressing terrorist financing and international money laundering. Judge Daynes earned his bachelor’s degree in communications with a minor in Mandarin Chinese from the University of Utah and his Juris Doctorate from the UALR William H. Bowen School of Law, with honors in Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, and Water Law. He clerked for Chief Magistrate Judge Donald E. Abram at the U.S. District Court in Denver, Colorado, and has served as a state and city prosecutor, as well as a private civil litigator. He actively volunteers with youth and community organizations including Volunteers of America, Primary Children’s Hospital, and the Boy Scouts of America.      5/25

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