SALT LAKE CITY — A committee of Utah lawmakers is saying the Justice Court system needs a revamp.
They met Tuesday on Utah's Capitol Hill to discuss the current issues with the courts, which handle misdemeanors ranging from drug possession to speeding.
Sen. Stephanie Pitcher said oftentimes, Justice Court is not the first stop for defendants.
“The [defendant’s case] gets filed currently in the Justice Court, and if they’re convicted, they could if they desire, appeal it, and then the case starts all over again in a District Court. The reason for that is because Justice Courts are not courts of record," she said.
There’s no permanent record of what happens in justice court, so the defendant and the prosecutors have to go through the same trial again, which she said costs time and money.
“It’s a resource problem, right? We’re having a prosecutor file a case and take it through the process again in a District Court,” Pitcher explained. “That’s taxpayer dollars that are paying for the prosecutors and the judges to take it through that process.”
Another problem: What happens in Justice Court can vary from one county or city to the next.
“Part of the idea is that because you have Justice Courts that are all over the state and in various cities and counties, that the way they administer those is not necessarily consistent,” said Sen. Kirk Cullimore. “Some courts have a bigger budget, some courts have bigger facilities, some cities have more judges.”
Cullimore said possible solutions are all in the idea stage right now.
But as was clear in Tuesday’s meeting, members of the committee agreed unanimously that something needs to change.
"Either it's a new system within the District Courts or a new state court system altogether. Bringing it to a state court system would potentially allow for more consistency in the administration of justice,” said Cullimore.
The committee plans to address its support for reform to the interim judiciary committee in the coming months.
