In Utah’s First, Second, Third and Fourth Judicial District Courts, domestic commissioners are the frontline of family law cases rather than judges. Commissioners are judicial officers, who handle divorce, custody, separation, paternity, and grandparent visitation cases. They review documents filed with the court, hold hearings, review the evidence, and conduct settlement and pretrial conferences. Commissioners make recommendations to the assigned judge regarding custody, alimony, child support, property and other issues. They enter temporary orders and can sanction parties if they do not comply with court orders or rules. Trials are held before judges but most everything else is heard and decided by a commissioner.
The Fourth Judicial District Court, consisting of Utah County, Wasatch County, Juab County, and Millard County, recently announced the following:
Beginning April 6, 2020 Utah’s Fourth District Court Commissioners will begin conducting some hearings through the Webex platform (webex.com). The Commissioners encourage counsel to download and become familiar with the application before their hearings. The Court will notify participants (counsel and pro se parties) of which cases have been set for Webex hearing and provide instructions for joining the virtual hearing. Counsel, parties and other necessary participants may participate using the Webex app or by calling the phone number provided by the Court.