Category: -Code of Judicial Administration

Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed July 17, 2021

CJA01-0205. Standing and ad hoc committees (AMEND). Amends membership on the Standing Committee on Pretrial Release and Supervision.

CJA03-0419. Office of Fairness and Accountability (NEW). Establishes the Office of Fairness and Accountability, and identifies the duties of the Director and the objectives of the Office.

CJA04-0202.02. Records classification (AMEND). Clarifies that minors’ names are only public in criminal cases if the minor is a party. This is not a change, the language is simply intended to clear up confusion on the issue.

CJA04-0206. Exhibits (AMEND). Significantly bolsters uniform procedures for the marking, receipt, maintenance, and release of exhibits. Provides courts with the discretion to extend applicability to any proceeding in which exhibits are introduced.

CJA04-0401.02. Possession and use of portable electronic devices (AMEND). Allows JPEC continued use of recordings to evaluate the performance of justice court judges subject to a basic evaluation.

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Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed July 17, 2021

CJA04-0403. Electronic signature and signature stamp use (AMEND).  New Utah Rules of Civil Procedure 7A and 7B, effective May 1, 2021, replaced the order to show cause process  with new “motion to enforce” procedures. Similar to the OSC process, a moving party files an ex parte motion and the court issues an order. The rule amendment allows clerks and judicial assistants to use, with prior approval, an electronic signature or signature stamp to process motions to enforce.

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Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed June 11, 2021

CJA 11-401. Standing Committee on Appellate Representation and the Appellate Roster. Amend.

CJA11-0401. Redline version

CJA11-0401. Clean version

The following is a brief summary of the rule amendments (line numbers refer to the redline version and note where the subject amendments begin). Amendments to Rule 11-401:
  • Address the creation of the Indigent Appellate Defense Division (line 12);
  • Simplify committee composition (line 33);
  • Clarify that at least one appellate brief submitted for application purposes must be in the relevant subject matter area (line 100);
  • Add a CLE requirement (line 139);
  • Add requirements for entity exempt status and clarify when an attorney falls under that exemption (lines 16 and 154); and
  • Increase term limits from three to five years (lines 128 and 138).
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Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed June 10, 2021

CJA03-0415. Auditing (AMEND). The proposed amendments more clearly define the types of audits conducted by the Audit Department, clarify audit procedures, and identify the individuals involved at critical points.

CJA07-0302. Court reports prepared for delinquency cases (AMEND). Replaces a reference to outdated sentencing guidelines with a reference to the new Juvenile Disposition Guide. Removes subjective assessment requirements and aligns the rule with (78A-6-117(j)(ix-x)) regarding probation’s role in victim restitution.

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Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed April 29, 2021

CJA01-0204. Executive committees (AMEND). Allows the Policy and Planning Committee, Liaison Committee, and Budget and Fiscal Management Committee to each determine their own schedule for electing chairs.

CJA02-0103. Open and closed meetings (AMEND). Adds the category of “safeguarded” to the list of reasons that a Council meeting may be closed. The amendment corrects an oversight. The rule wasn’t updated when “safeguarded court records” were added as a classification in CJA rule 4-202.02.

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Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed March 14, 2021

CJA02-0211. Compliance with the Code of Judicial Administration and the Code of Judicial Conduct. AMEND. Expands the ability to report allegations of a failure to comply with the provisions of the CJA and the CJC to any court employee. Allows information identifying the complainant to be omitted from reports to the Judicial Council. If the allegations involve inappropriate behavior toward the complainant, the complainant must be made aware of any corrective action taken. The complainant may ask for Judicial Council review of any decision made by the presiding officer.

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Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed February 4, 2021

CJA03-0101. Judicial Performance Standards (AMEND)
Establishes a definition for “submitted” for purposes of the case under advisement performance standard, and clarifies that judges will be considered compliant with education and case under advisement standards if their failure to meet one or both of those standards was due to circumstances outside of the judge’s control. All material relied upon by the Judicial Council in making a certification decision or explanation shall be forwarded to JPEC and shall be made public to the extent that the information is not confidential personal health information.

CJA03-0108. Judicial Assistance (AMEND)
Authorizes the presiding officer of the Judicial Council to appoint a district court presiding judge as the signing judge for automatic expungements in all district courts within the presiding judge’s district.

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Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed January 9, 2021

CJA Appendix J. Ability-to-Pay Matrix (AMEND). In response to House Bill 206, the Uniform Fine and Bail Schedule has been replaced by the Uniform Fine Schedule and the Ability-to-Pay Matrix. The Ability-to-Pay Matrix provides recommended monetary bail amounts using the poverty guidelines and an individual’s risk of failing to appear in court. Setting monetary bail is a highly fact dependent decision. The recommended amounts do not reflect the maximum amount a judge may order. Judges should ordinarily impose monetary bail based on a person’s ability-to-pay. However, judges continue to have the same discretion to deviate from the recommended amounts as they had under the Uniform Fine and Bail Schedule, provided judges conduct an individualized assessment of ability-to-pay and risk.

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Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Extended to September 8, 2020

CJA03-0101. Judicial Performance Standards (AMEND)

CJA03-0104. Presiding Judges (AMEND)

CJA03-0111. Performance Evaluation of Senior Judges and Court Commissioners (AMEND)
The proposed amendments to Rules 3-101, 3-104, and 3-111 establish a definition for “submitted” for purposes of the case under advisement performance standard. The updates also provide discretion to the Council to excuse full compliance with the performance standards regarding cases under advisement and education hours for circumstances beyond the judge’s control, pursuant to Utah Code section 78A-2-223.

The comment period’s expiration is extended from July 25, 2020 to September 8, 2020. The original notice of comment period is found here.

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