Utah Law Developments

• Jurisdiction: Utah,United States
• Citation: Vol. 36 No. 1 Pg. 39
• Pages: 39
• Publication year: 2023

Utah Law Developments Vol. 36 No. 1 Pg. 39 Utah Bar Journal January, 2023

February, 2023

Appellate Highlights

by Rodney R. Parker, Dani Cepernich, Robert Cummings, Nathanael Mitchell, Adam Pace, and Andrew Roth

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following appellate cases of interest were recently decided by the Utah Supreme Court, Utah Court of Appeals, and United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. The following summaries have been prepared by the authoring attorneys listed above, who are solely responsible for their content.

UTAH COURT OF APPEALS

Jordan Credit Union v. Sullivan

2022 UT App 120 (Oct. 27, 2022)

The Utah Court of Appeals reversed the district court's denial of the defendant's motion to set aside a default judgment entered against him, holding that the district court lacked personal jurisdiction over the defendant because he was not properly served. The defendant had been personally served by a Utah County deputy constable while he was incarcerated in the Utah County Jail. Rule 4(d)(1)(D), however, requires service of a person incarcerated to be made "by delivering a copy of the summons and complaint to the person who has the care, custody, or control of the individual," who must then "promptly deliver[ the summons and complaint] to the individual." Because the defendant was not served in this manner, the district court lacked personal jurisdiction. In a concurring opinion, Judge Orme suggests the Utah Supreme amend Rule 4(d)(1)(D) to include the prescribed method applies only "if personal service cannot be effected on such individual."

State v. Hintze

2022 UT App 117 (Oct....