AGENCY: District Court (Third District)
SERIES: 9802
TITLE: Case files
DATES: 1851-1896.
ARRANGEMENT: Numerical by consecutive 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 Third Judicial District. Civil cases span the entire period and include suits to recover money, petitions for divorce, and writs of habeas corpus.
Criminal cases date from 1851 to 1882 and include both felonies and misdemeanors. Recurrent criminal offenses include robbery, burglary, theft, riot, malicious destruction of property, extortion, distribution of unlawful substances, contempt, treason, desertion, assault, murder, etc.
The court was required to hold at least four terms within the district each calendar year. Matters from throughout the district (several counties) were heard in Salt Lake City. Cases from Salt Lake County are most numerous but matters from outlying Summit and Tooele counties are common. During the early days of the territory, the Third Judicial District included current Utah counties (such as Iron and Utah) as well as extinct counties (e.g., Green River and Carson). A small number of case files from these locales are included.
RETENTION
Retain
DISPOSITION
RETENTION AND DISPOSITION AUTHORIZATION
These records are in Archives' permanent custody.
FORMAT MANAGEMENT
Paper: Retain in State Archives permanently after microfilming.
Microfilm master: Retain in State Archives permanently with authority to weed.
Microfilm duplicate: Retain in State Archives permanently with authority to weed.
APPRAISAL
Historical
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.