Here are the following types of Utah Courts.
Utah Justice Court.
Currently there are 81 Justice Court judges who serve in 115 county and municipal courts.
Class B Misdemeanors and below. Utah’s small claims courts sit inside the justice courts and have a jurisdictional limit of $15,000 as of 05/2022. Small Claims handles most all civil claims.
Most cities and counties have justice courts and small claims courts. Sometimes the small claims and justice courts will be contracted with the district court to have the district court handle their justice court matters.
Justice court judges are not required to be licensed, or law trained. The majority of justice court judges are law train in Utah.
Utah Juvenile Courts.
All juvenile delinquency, child welfare, some adoption and other smaller, less used actions involving minors are brought in Utah’s juvenile courts.
Juvenile courts sit by judicial district in the same manner that the district courts sit. First through eight judicial districts, like the district courts do.
Utah District Courts.
All Class A Misdemeanors and all felonies are heard in the district courts. District courts are organized across Utah into eight judicial districts, just like the juvenile courts.
District courts can hear all civil and criminal matters. District courts hear appeals from the justice court and small claims courts. The District Court is the state trial court of general jurisdiction. There are 70 full-time district judges serving in the state’s eight judicial districts.
Utah Court of Appeals.
Utah Supreme Court.
The last Utah court that hear any matter. Only the United State Supreme Court can reverse the Utah Supreme Court. The Utah Supreme Court is a discretionary court, meaning it does not have to hear all appellate matters, but is required to hear some matters.
The Supreme Court is the “court of last resort” in Utah. The court consists of five justices who serve ten-year renewable terms.