AGENCY: District Court (First District)
SERIES: 1529
TITLE: Northern division civil and criminal case files
DATES: i 1878-1891.
ARRANGEMENT: Numerical by case number.
DESCRIPTION: An original complaint, summons, indictment or arrest warrant which initiate a legal action together with all legal papers subsequently filed in connection with the civil or criminal proceeding through disposition or dismissal of the case make up these case files. Case files document the legal process and the administration of justice in the First Judicial District. Civil cases include suits to recover money, petitions for divorce, and writs of habeas corpus. Criminal cases include both felonies and misdemeanors. Recurrent criminal offenses may include robbery, burglary, theft, forgery, malicious destruction of property, assault, murder, etc. Although the far flung First District Court was divided into two geographic divisions (northern and southern), only files from the Northern Division are included in this series. The Northern Division, which typically met at Ogden in Weber County, included Box Elder, Cache, Morgan, and Weber counties. The northern division became the newly created territorial fourth judicial district in 1892. The court was required to hold a specified number of terms within the district each calendar year. Matters from throughout the several counties which made up the Northern Division were heard in Ogden, Weber County. Cases from Weber County are most numerous but matters from outlying counties are included.
RETENTION
DISPOSITION
RETENTION AND DISPOSITION AUTHORIZATION
These records are in Archives' permanent custody.
FORMAT MANAGEMENT
Paper: Retain in State Archives permanently with authority to weed.
Microfilm master: Retain in State Archives permanently with authority to weed.
Microfilm duplicate: Retain in State Archives permanently with authority to weed.
APPRAISAL
Historical Legal
This disposition is based on the 1993 records retention policy of the Utah Judicial Council (in UCA, Utah Court Rules Annotated, Appendix F), which has remained unchanged since the 1980 issue of the state Records Retention Schedule (Utah State Archives and Records Service, Department of Finance 1980, page 1). The territorial case files provide documentation about individuals, legal procedure, court history and functions. The permanent disposition of the case files is based on their historical research value.
PRIMARY DESIGNATION
Public. UCA 63G-2-301 (1) (f) provides that judicial records are public unless restricted by the rules of criminal or civil procedure.