SB 283 Utah Senate · 2026 General Session

Court Fees and Administration Amendments

SB 283 updates Utah's court fee structure and administrative procedures. It makes civil document fees free for state agencies and local governments, increases certain court fees, and requires court security funding to come from the Court Security Account instead of fee revenue. The bill removes outdated rules (like allowing sheriffs to appoint law school graduates as bailiffs or requiring juvenile fine schedules) and ensures protective order requests have no filing fee under the Online Court Assistance Program. No new state funds are appropriated for these changes.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House Passage

Feb 2026

Signed into Law

Mar 2026

Introduced Feb 11, 2026 Signed Mar 23, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Substitute #1 → Enrolled · 4 edits · Mar 23, 2026

MODERATE

This bill establishes a new 'Court Security Account' to fund court security contracts at all district and juvenile courts. It creates a $60 security surcharge on specific offenses, splitting the revenue so that $28 goes to the state's Court Security Account and $32 is distributed to counties and a technology fund. The effective date of the bill was updated from March 2, 2026, to May 6, 2026.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include juvenile courts of record in addition to district courts for security funding purposes.

FISCAL

Created a new restricted 'Court Security Account' in the General Fund to contract for security at all district and juvenile courts.

Established a new $60 security surcharge on convictions for offenses in the uniform bail fine schedule and moving traffic violations.

Reallocated the distribution of the security surcharge: $28 now goes to the Court Security Account, while the remaining $32 is split between county general funds and a Justice Court Technology, Security, and Training Account.

TIMELINE

Changed the bill's effective date from March 2, 2026, to May 6, 2026.

Introduced → Substitute #1 · 9 edits

MAJOR

This bill updates Utah court fees and administrative procedures, primarily by increasing filing fees for civil cases and court security surcharges, while removing obsolete provisions regarding sheriff-appointed bailiffs and outdated court construction funding. The bill also clarifies rules for voluntary fine payments, expands the Online Court Assistance Program surcharge, and modernizes the handling of plea agreements and expungements.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of fees charged to the public and modifies the applicability of certain security surcharges to include moving traffic violations, while removing provisions that allowed sheriffs to appoint law school graduates as bailiffs.

FISCAL

Increased civil filing fees for various claims, such as raising the fee for a $2,000 or less claim from $90 to $105 and the fee for a divorce petition from $325 to $350.

Increased the court security surcharge from $28 to $60 and adjusted the distribution percentages for these funds.

Deleted obsolete language regarding the use of court fee revenues to fund a specific Salt Lake City court complex construction project from 1994-1998.

REQUIREMENT

Removed the provision allowing sheriffs to appoint law school graduates as bailiffs, requiring sheriffs to assign only law enforcement or special function officers instead.

Increased the surcharge for cases filed using the Online Court Assistance Program from $20 to $60.

Updated the Uniform Fine Schedule to require annual reviews and clarified that defendants can perform compensatory service in lieu of fines.

Modified plea in abeyance agreements to require specific restitution certifications from prosecutors and added notice requirements for victims regarding expungement.

Extended the time limit for a citation to appear in court from 14 days to 14 days but clarified the earliest appearance date to five days.

Clarified that voluntary payments of recommended fines without a personal appearance count as a conviction and must be entered as such.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 25, 2026 · House Mar 6, 2026

How they voted

22–0

Passed · 7 other

Total votes 29

Feb 25, 2026

D Democratic6

6 Yea

100% Yea

N Forward1

0% Nay

R Republican22

16 Yea 6

72% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Mar 23, 2026

Signed into law

Governor Signed

executive

Mar 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate/ signed by President/ sent for enrolling

upper

Mar 7, 2026

Upper · Passed

House/ signed by Speaker/ returned to Senate

upper

Mar 7, 2026

Lower · Passed

Senate/ concurs with House amendment

lower

Mar 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

House/ passed 3rd reading

upper

Mar 4, 2026

Lower · Passed

House/ return to Rules due to fiscal impact [House Rules Committee]

lower

Mar 4, 2026

Lower · Passed

House/ comm rpt/ substituted [House Judiciary Committee]

lower

Mar 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

House Comm - Favorable Recommendation [House Judiciary Committee]

lower

Feb 27, 2026

Committee

House/ to standing committee [House Judiciary Committee]

lower

Feb 26, 2026

Introduced

House/ 1st reading (Introduced)

lower

Feb 25, 2026

Lower · Passed

Senate/ passed 3rd reading

lower

Feb 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate/ committee report favorable [Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee]

upper

Feb 12, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation [Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee]

upper

Feb 12, 2026

Committee

Senate/ to standing committee [Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee]

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Introduced

Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors