The Salt Lake City Justice Court only handles criminal cases (except civil small claims) and only Class B and C Misdemeanors and Infractions. Class A Misdemeanors and felonies are prosecuted in the Salt Lake County 3rd District Court.
Domestic Violence. Threat of violence, domestic violence in the presence of children, DV Assault & Battery, harassment, electronic harassment are a few common domestic violence tagged charges. A total list of tagged domestic violence crimes is found at Utah Code 77-36-1 (Utah’s Cohabitant Abuse Procedures Act.).
Cohabitant Defined: To be a crime of domestic violence the alleged criminal action must be against an intimate partner or family member. Cohabitant is defined at Utah Code 78B-7-102. The cohabitant must be 16 years or older to qualify.
All domestic violence convictions are enhanceable offenses. Meaning if you have priors, any new charge is more severe.
DUIs. The are many types of DUIs and associated mandatory license and jail sentences. DUIs can be Impaired Driving, drugged driving, regular Section 502 .05BAC or an Extreme DUI. Each type of DUI carries mandatory jail, license sanctions, interlock and “non-a-drop” driver status. There are many linger effects of a DUI conviction. All DUIs are enhanceable offenses.
DUIs have a 10 year waiting period to expunge, compared to 7 years for a felony and 4 years for a Class B Misdemeanor.
Drugged/Metabolite Driving. Drugged driving charges can be legal and illegal drugs in your system, so long as you were impaired to drive. It is always a jury question on what constitutes impairment from drugs, unless they were illegal drugs. Illegal drugs in your system are “per se,” or presumes that you were impaired.
Retail Theft. Retail Theft is an enhanceable offense. Class B Retail Theft is where stolen merchandise is under $500. Over $500 in stolen goods can be charged as a Class A Misdemeanor.
Alcohol Crimes. There are many alcohol crimes or where alcohol is involved. Intoxication, public urination, disorderly conduct, domestic violence, DUIs, open containers. See this near master list of alcohol crimes in Utah.
Some alcohol related convictions can suspend your driver’s license. MIPs, DUIs, Interlock, and Not a Drop violations to name a few.
Child Abuse. Misdemeanor B child abuse is prosecuted in the justice court. Child abuse can be recklessly, intentional or knowing. You can’t accidentally commit child abuse.
Drug Possession. Marijuana is still very illegal in Utah. Utah is a medical marijuana state, but as of 2023 combustible marijuana is still illegal. You can’t smoke even medical marijuana. Additionally, you have to keep the marijuana in the same original packaging and out-of-state purchased marijuana is still illegal.
Drug Paraphernalia. Utah’s drug paraphernalia act is very broad in how it defines drug paraphernalia. Many items are easily recognizable as drug paraphernalia, but some items not so much. The Act has a list of factors that the jury can consider when determining if something is drug paraphernalia.
The Salt Lake City Justice Court is prosecuted by the Salt Lake City Attorney’s Office, not the Salt Lake County Attorney’s Office. Like many city prosecutors, SLC prosecutor’s tend to be newer in their career and often use SLC as a stepping stone to a county attorney’s office. https://www.slc.gov/attorney.
2022 Total Filings. The total filings in the Salt Lake City Justice Court were 16,859. Of those filings:
DUI. 191
Traffic. 9,811
Other Misdemeanor. 4,586.
The West Valley City Justice Court has 19,376 filings in 2022 and is the biggest justice court in Utah.
Address: 333 S 200 E, Salt Lake City UT 84111
Phone: (801) 535-6300
These are the current Honorable Judges at the Salt Lake City Justice Court:
Judge Liu:
Judge Landau:
Judge Robison:
Judge Magid:
Judge Peters:
Because Utah Justice Courts are not “courts of record” there is a built-in automatic De Novo appeals process. A De Novo appeal is a Do Over Appeal. A normal, traditional appeal, is based on the cold transcripts. No new testimony is taken. A justice court appeal is a Do Over, meaning that you try the entire case over again. You put your entire case again to the jury, like a second bite at the apple.
If you are visiting Utah and charged with a crime in the Salt Lake City Justice Court, often you can avoid a court hearing and do the entire matter by electronic filing. Any jury trial or evidentiary hearing will be in-person and there are many opportunities for video court.
When hiring Attorney Jake Gunter he strives to avoid court and complete the entire matter by mail.
The two Salt Lake County jails are operated by the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Oxbow Jail is located at: 3148 S 1100 W, Salt Lake City, UT 84119.
Metro Jail is located at: 3415 S 900 W, South Salt Lake, UT 84119.
