Utah Legal Overview The highest court in Utah is the Utah Supreme Court, consisting of five justices who serve 10-year terms. The justices are appointed by the Governor and have to be elected at the next general election. The intermediate appellate court is the Utah Court of Appeals, comprised of seven judges who serve 6-year terms. They hear appeals from the district courts, which are the main trial courts with original and general jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters. There are 70 district court judges over eight judicial districts. Utah also has juvenile courts and justice courts with limited jurisdiction.
Top metro Utah areas for Legal Issues: Logan
1. Capital punishment is legal in Utah, with the death penalty being administered by lethal injection. Utah's judiciary has often grappled with the state's bigamy statute when it came up against the right to religious freedom. The first of three bigamy verdicts handed down by the Utah Supreme Court was State v. Green (Utah 2004), wherein it upheld the conviction of a polygamist who engaged in multiple spiritual unions with several women while ensuring he had only one active civil marriage. In re Steed (Utah 2006) and State v. Holm (Utah 2006), the court reaffirmed its stand on the bigamy law. 2. Social workers are to blame regarding a boy's death in Utah that resulted from his father's hand. 3. A lawsuit has signed in $200 million in a Utah fraud case.
Trending Utah Legal Topics: The Utah State Bar was established in 1931 and recognized by the state legislature to manage and regulate licensing of lawyers in Utah. The constitution was amended in 1985 to bring the regulatory and licensing activities of the unified Utah State Bar directly under the control of the Utah Supreme Court. Membership is now mandatory for more than 6,500 lawyers licensed to practice law in Utah. The total membership of the Utah State Bar is over 7,300. The Supreme Court, State Bar and other administrative offices and agencies of the judiciary are based in Salt Lake City, UT. |