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Chief Justice emphasizes access, efficiency and transparency in State of the Judiciary address
Summary
Chief Justice Matthew B. Durant told the Utah Senate the judiciary has improved public access through online tools and interpreter services, citing a litigant survey showing high satisfaction, but said more work remains to reach rural and non-English-speaking court users.
Chief Justice Matthew B. Durant delivered the State of the Judiciary to the Utah Senate, highlighting three priorities — accessibility, efficiency and transparency — and pointing to recent initiatives meant to make court processes more understandable and less costly for the public.
“93 percent… I am satisfied with my experience at court today,” Durant said, citing a statewide survey of litigants, lawyers and witnesses that informed the courts’ reforms. He framed that figure as evidence the courts have improved how people understand their cases and know what to do next.
Durant told senators the judiciary has expanded self-help services and online tools. The statewide court self-help center provided phone, email and text assistance to about 16,000 people last year, and the online court assistance program (OCAP) generated more than 60,000 fileable documents. The courts also provided interpreting services for 47 languages last year, amounting to nearly 20,000 hours of interpretation, Durant said.
On efficiency, Durant described a statewide electronic court-record system that combines e-filing, e-payments and real-time access to dockets and documents. He said the shift to electronic records has reduced the court-clerk workforce by about 8 percent over two years and eliminated some direct costs — noting paper-file and folder expenditures that once totaled about $150,000 five years ago have fallen to zero for storage of active paper files.
Durant said the judiciary is testing remote hearing arrangements to serve rural communities — for example, enabling a judge in one location to hear matters involving people physically located in another county — while the Judicial Council studies which case types and procedures best suit remote hearings.
On transparency, Durant said judges’ performance assessments are published by the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission and that the courts have made performance measures available online. He also noted that since April 1 the media has been permitted to videotape proceedings in many district, juvenile and justice-court cases, which the judiciary believes will increase public understanding of court work.
Durant closed by urging legislators and the public to use the Judicial Council as a forum for ideas about further improvements. "If you have issues or ideas relating to our courts, please bring them to the Judicial Council," he said.
The Senate resolved into a Committee of the Whole to receive the address and later spread Durant’s remarks upon the Senate Journal. The committee dissolved at the close of the remarks and the Senate returned to its second-reading calendar business.
