Series 6381

Utah. District Court (Third District : Salt Lake County)
Miscellaneous case files, 1940-1992.
20 microfilm reels.

Variant Title: ivil case files
ivil and criminal case files


Arrangement: Numerical by miscellaneous case number.
For records created from 1925 to 1977 arrangement is Chronological by initial filing date.
Arrangement: Since the addition of an alphanumeric prefix in 1977 (the letter "M", designating it as a miscellaneous case file, combined with a two-digit number indicating the year the action was begun), the arrangement has been chronological by calendar year, thereunder numerical by consecutive case number, i.e., M77-142. Documents within individual case files are arranged chronologically by filing date.


Description: The case files are a collection of all documents and actions filed with the court clerk in connection with individual court actions. They provide documentation of the proceeding from initial filing through disposition or dismissal. Such papers and actions include petitions, notices, and applications initiating the court action, waivers and documents consenting to extradition, depositions relating to cases pending in out-of-state courts, inquests into the deaths of Salt Lake County residents, relinquishment of newborn children for adoption, releases signed by unmarried, pregnant women agreeing to a financial settlement and freeing the alleged fathers from further financial responsibility, court-ordered sterilization of mentally retarded individuals, letters, transcripts, exhibit documents, subpoenas, notices, invitations to judges of other district courts to sit in Third District Court, requests to appoint individuals as a judge pro temporein order to perform a marriage ceremony for friends, and judge's orders or decrees including approval of newspapers for publication of legal notices, approval to dispose of accumulated evidence, and an order sealing adoption orders.

Records and documents pertaining to a particular action are filed together by the court clerk, who is required by the Rules of Civil Procedure to file pleadings and other legal papers. Collectively they constitute the case file. Case numbers are assigned by the court when papers are initially filed with the clerk. The case files document the legal process and the administration of justice in conjunction with miscellaneous cases that do not involve a hearing and generally need only the formality of a judge's signature for approval and thus take up little judicial time. Ex parteproceedings are common. These records are distinguished from series 1622, CIVIL CASE FILES (1896-present), which involve disputed cases wherein issues are more complex and proceedings more protracted.

Finding Aids: A series inventory is available in the Archives Research Center.

Indexes: An alphabetic index is found at the beginning of each volume of the REGISTER OF ACTIONS, Series 14157, covering from 1925 thru 1977.

Indexes: The miscellaneous case files are indexed alphabetically by COURT CASE INDEXES, Series 14158, covering from 1977 thru 1988.

Indexes: The miscellaneous case files are indexed numerically by COURT CASE INDEXES, Series 14159, covering from 1977 thru 1988.



Agency Note: Agency history record, is a record describing the history and functions of the agency responsible for the creation of this series.


Related records: Utah.District Court (Third District : Salt Lake County), Civil case files, 1896-, series 1622, available at this repository, where formerly designated miscellaneous cases were integrated with the civil case files beginning in 1993.

Utah.District Court (Third District : Salt Lake County), Miscellaneous case files (restricted), 1964-1992, series 14156, available at this repository, contains those cases sealed by court order or otherwise restricted.

Utah.District Court (Third District : Salt Lake County), Miscellaneous civil and criminal file registers of actions, 1925-1977, series 14157, available at this repository, record the filing of the original documents with the court clerk and serves as an index to the case files.

Utah.District Court (Third District : Salt Lake County), Court case indexes, 1977-1988, series 14158, available at this repository, serve as an alphabetic index to the miscellaneous case files.

Utah.District Court (Third District : Salt Lake County), Court case indexes, 1977-1988, series 14159, available at this repository, serve as a numeric index of the miscellaneous case files.

Utah.District Court (Third District : Salt Lake County), Tax commission case files, 1963-1974, series 14160, available at this repository, generated by the State Tax Commission were alternately filed with the miscellaneous case files and the tax commission case files.

Location of Holdings:
Utah State Archives Research Center , 300 South Rio Grande St., Salt Lake City, UT 84101-1106. (801) 533-3535, or email.


Retention and Disposition: Total retention is permanent as of 06/01/97.

Access Terms:
Court records--Utah--Salt Lake County.( 3 Record Series.)