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Utah Supreme Court delivers State of the Judiciary, highlights treatment courts and access reforms
Summary
Chief Justice Matthew Durant told the Senate the judiciary has seen major turnover and policy reforms, urged increased treatment funding including Medicaid expansion, and outlined new pretrial information tools, licensed paralegal practitioners and a guardianship-review program. He cited a recent court-user survey showing high satisfaction.
Chief Justice Matthew Durant delivered the Utah Supreme Court's State of the Judiciary to the Senate, saying the court has added four justices and that 77 district and juvenile judges have taken the bench in the last eight years. Durant described recent criminal, civil and juvenile reforms and praised collaborative work with the Legislature on treatment and pretrial reforms.
Durant focused on efforts to expand drug court capacity in Salt Lake County, saying a fourth drug court added 25 treatment slots and already enrolled 95 participants. "This court increased our drug court capacity by 25 treatment slots, and we already have 95 participants in this new program," he said, and urged consideration of additional treatment funds and Medicaid expansion to support such programs.
On pretrial reform, Durant described a new tool that will give judges information at the pretrial stage about a defendant’s criminal history, prior arrests, convictions and failures to appear. He said the tool aims to provide ‘‘critical facts’’ previously unavailable to judges when making pretrial decisions and thanked legislators who served on pretrial study committees.
Durant also described civil-justice initiatives, including the licensed paralegal practitioner (LPP) program to provide lower-cost legal services, and the Guardianship Review and Monitoring Program (GRAMP), a court-directed visitor program to protect vulnerable adults. He said these measures are part of a broader push to increase access and fairness in the courts.
Durant noted the retirement of Justice Christine Durham and welcomed Justice Paige Peterson, describing her as having a “brilliant and incisive legal mind.” He closed by citing a recent court survey that found 93 percent of visitors were satisfied with their experience, 96 percent felt treated with courtesy and respect, and 91 percent felt their hearing was fair.
The Senate moved to spread Durant’s remarks on the journal and accepted the report without recorded debate.
