Advisory Committee

Overview

Consistent with 28 U.S.C. §2071, the court has established an Advisory Committee on the Local Rules of Practice. The Advisory Committee functions to study the local rules operation and effect, to consider amendments to existing rules and creation of new rules, and to correct and update the local rules of practice in the District of Utah. The Advisory Committee makes recommendations to the court concerning rules and procedure while taking into consideration suggestions and recommendations received from any source, new statutes, court decisions, and changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure affecting the Local Rules. The Advisory Committee is comprised of 2 sections - Civil and Criminal.

Membership

Local practitioners, judges, court personnel, and representatives from the United States Attorney's Office and Federal Public Defender Office currently serve as members on the Advisory Committee. The Chief Judge, through a public application process, appoints practitioners, one of whom is designated as the Chair. Practitioner members serve a three-year term, renewable once, with staggered appointments. All practitioner members are voting members of the Advisory Committee.

The Advisory Committee Chair serves a three-year term, renewable once. Except for breaking a tie vote, the Chair is a non-voting member. If a Chair departs before the conclusion of the term, the incoming Chair will serve out the balance of the current term and then may serve as Chair for two additional terms. The Chair directs the work of the Advisory Committee, make assignments to members, and may use non-committee member attorneys with special expertise to work on specific projects.

Court personnel and judges serve as non-voting members of the Advisory Committee. The Clerk’s Office Staff Attorney, under the direction of the Chief Deputy Clerk, on behalf of the court, oversees: (1) rule revisions, (2) publication of proposed new rules and amendments to current rules for public comment, and (3) preparation of the new and amended rules for the judges' consideration and approval. The Advisory Committee, sections, subcommittees, and working groups also utilize court personnel as reporters for record-keeping duties, including minutes.

The number of voting and non-voting members of the Advisory Committee is within the discretion of the Chief Judge, with advice of the Chair and Chief Deputy Clerk, taking into consideration diversity of area of practice, location, needs of the Advisory Committee, and anticipated workload.

The Chief Judge may terminate a member's term at any point.

Committee Assignments

Rules

Organization

The local rules must be consistent with, but not duplicate, acts of Congress and must follow a uniform numbering system established by the Judicial Conference. The local rules are organized into civil rules and criminal rules. The rules are numbered to correspond to the Federal Rule of Civil or Criminal Procedure, which the local rule augments. One example is DUCivR 56-1 augments the summary judgment rule and sets up some filing times and page lengths.

In addition, general rules on attorney admission, conduct, and general court matters are included in the civil rules enacted to augment Fed. R. Civ. P. 83. The civil rules augment the criminal rules on issues where the criminal rules are silent.

Citation of Rules

The correct citation of the local rules are DUCivR - # - # (District of Utah Civil Rule Fed. R. Civ. P. number and rule number). Criminal rules follow the same convention - DUCrimR 1-1, for example.

Rule Suggestions and Recommendations

Members of the bar and the public are encouraged to make suggestions or proposals regarding the local rules throughout the year by sending an email to Utd_public_comments@utd.uscourts.gov. The proponent of a rule change should explain why the change is necessary or desirable. Submission of proposed language is very helpful to the Advisory Committee. The deadline for submitting suggestions or proposals to be considered during the current local rules’ amendment cycle is May 1.

Procedures

Meetings

The Advisory Committee generally meets the second Tuesday of each month at Noon. Meetings are open to the public, except when it is determined—in open session and with a majority present—that it is in the public interest to have all or part of the meeting closed and the reason is stated. Please send an email to Utd_public_comments@utd.uscourts.gov requesting virtual meeting information for a specified meeting.

Preparing Draft Changes

The Staff Attorney prepares, under the direction of the Chair and Chief Deputy Clerk, draft rule changes, notes explaining the purpose, and copies or summaries of written recommendations and suggestions that have been received.

The Advisory Committee considers all changes to local rules a subcommittee, section, or the public sends and finalizes all changes for publication and public comment.

Public Comment Period

Before a proposed rule change is published, the Advisory Committee must vote to advance a rule change for publication. A public comment period on the proposed change extends 3 consecutive weeks after notice is published on the Court’s website, unless the Advisory Committee approves a shorter publication term.

Procedure After the Comment Period

When the public comment period ends, the Staff Attorney prepares a summary of the written comments received the Advisory Committee's review. If the number of comments is very large, the Staff Attorney may summarize and aggregate similar individual comments, identifying the source of each one.

The Advisory Committee reviews the proposed change while considering any comments. If the Advisory Committee makes additional substantial changes, the proposed rule is republished for an additional period of public comment for a term decide upon by the Advisory Committee.

At the end of the Public Comment, Review, and possible Republication process, the Advisory Committee submits to the judges the proposed changes for their approval. The judges may make further amendments upon independent review of the comments.

Approval and Adoption

By general order, the court adopts the rule amendments and sets the effective date.

Members of the Bar are given notice of the changes and the amended rules are published on the court's website. The Clerk's Office coordinates printing and circulating the proposed changes to the members of the court’s Bar, law clerks, judges, and the public on the court’s website and through email notification.

Preparing Minutes and Maintaining Records

The records for the Advisory Committee and the sections consist of:

•    agendas and materials prepared for meetings;
•    minutes of meetings;
•    approved drafts of rule changes written comments received from the public on drafts of proposed rules;
•    written suggestions received from the public;
•    other correspondence with the public about proposed rule changes;
•    summaries of public comments; and
•    reports to the judges.

The records of the Advisory Committee are maintained by the Clerk’s Office and are available for public inspection. Minutes of a closed meeting may be made available to the public but with any deletions necessary to avoid frustrating the purpose of closing the meeting.

Revised: 01/30/2023