AGENCY: Millard County (Utah). Justice of the Peace : Delta Precinct
SERIES: 83340
TITLE: Docket books
DATES: i 1922-1969.
ARRANGEMENT: Chronological by year.
DESCRIPTION: These fifteen volumes record individual cases heard by the justice court in Delta (both Delta Town and Delta Precinct). They contain the names of the parties involved, the date, the name of the justice of the peace, the complaint, the action taken, the names of the attorneys, the type of papers filed, and the judgment rendered. A ledger column is also available to enable the judge to keep track of the costs involved in each case.
All but the three earliest volumes have various citations (traffic and fish and game), case filings (warrants, complaints, receipts, etc.), correspondence, and exhibits (photographs) attached to individual pages using paper clips and straight pins. Several personal items are also found with the collection, including check stubs, W-2 tax forms, and correspondence.
This collection is not complete. Gaps occur in 1940, 1947, 1951-54, and 1963-64.
Typical cases include traffic infractions, fish and game violations, small claims cases, civil actions, criminal (both felony and misdemeanor) complaints, and coroner's inquests into unusual deaths.
With the exception of three volumes covering the period of 1942-46, each volume contains a completed case index. Included in these same three volumes are cases originating at Topaz, one of ten relocation centers (for people of Japanese descent) in operation during World War II.
Criminal and civil cases are recorded in separate sections in the three volumes covering the period 1923-39. As there are no distinct sections in the other volumes, criminal and civil matters are intermixed.
Preliminary hearings in criminal cases are recorded in three volumes: 1924-28 (Delta Precinct/Delta Town), 1925-28 (Delta Precinct), and 1941-42 (Delta Precinct).
RETENTION
DISPOSITION
RETENTION AND DISPOSITION AUTHORIZATION
Retention and disposition for this series were specifically approved by the State Records Committee.
APPROVED: 12/1988
FORMAT MANAGEMENT
Paper: Retain in Office for 10 years and then transfer to State Archives with authority to weed.
APPRAISAL
Historical
This retention is based on the historical value of these volumes. These volumes document the types of criminal and civil cases handled by justice courts during this period. They are important for the study of local history and for community studies.¶Most notably, three of these dockets cover the World War II period and contain cases brought from residents of the Central Utah War Relocation Center, "Topaz" (one of ten Japanese relocation camps in the United States), located near Delta, Utah.¶The citations and case filings (which are attached to nearly every page in all but the first three volumes) should be REMOVED and DESTROYED in accordance with the decision of the Judicial Council (1983).
PRIMARY DESIGNATION
Public