Series 14157

DESCRIPTION: The registers are the official record of all documents and actions filed with the court clerk in connection with individual cases. As documents or court actions are filed, the clerk makes a notation in the volumes which comprise this series showing the nature of each paper filed and the substance of each order of the court. 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.

The registers of actions 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. They are distinguished from series 1622, CIVIL CASE FILES (1896–present), which involve disputed cases wherein issues are more complex and proceedings more protracted.

In addition to recording the filing of documents placed in cases files, the county clerk used volumes 1 and 2 to note other miscellaneous information. An alphabetic list of vital statistics registrars and deputies taking the constitutional oath of office in 1921 was made on page 30 of volume 1 while a record of bounty vouchers issued by the clerk between 1944 and 1964 was maintained at the back of volumes 1 and 2.

ARRANGEMENT: Entries in the miscellaneous file registers of actions are arranged chronologically. Since July 1939 entries for several distinct cases generally appear on each page, listed in order of initial filing date. Several lines are allotted to each case for subsequent entries, which are listed chronologically. For cases requiring more than the space allotted, a "jump" page is provided at the back of the book for continued entries.

RESEARCH NOTE: Researchers should first consult the indices found at the beginning of each volume. Individual cases are identified by the book and page number on which the case is recorded. Since July 1939, multiple cases have been entered on a single page. Distinct actions appearing on the same page are all identified by the same number.

RELATED RECORDS: Documents placed in the MISCELLANEOUS CASE FILES (1934, 1940–1992), series 6381, and the MISCELLANEOUS CASE FILES (RESTRICTED) (1940–1992), series 14156, were recorded until 1977 in the MISCELLANEOUS FILE REGISTERS OF ACTIONS as they were filed with the court clerk.

FINDING AIDS: The five volumes which make up this series are self-indexed. A research guide entitled "Using Court Records" is available for archives' patron use.

CUSTODY HISTORY: The Salt Lake County Clerk was constitutionally designated as ex-officioclerk of Third District Court in and for Salt Lake County until 1989 when the state assumed full financial and administrative responsibility for the district court. At that time a new court clerk was appointed. The county/district court clerk transferred volume 1 to the state archives in 1968 while the district court clerk transferred volumes 2 through 5 in 1992.

PROCESSING NOTE: The registers of actions were designated as a permanent record by Records Disposition Request 68-3, which also authorized microfilming and destruction of the original records. The records retention policy of the Utah Judicial Council reprinted in the 1983 state retention schedule first specified a nine-year retention of the original before microfilming. Microfilming of volume 1 for reference use was done in 1973 while volumes 2 through 5 were completed in 1994. The originals were destroyed following microfilming. The records were archivally processed by W. Glen Fairclough, Jr., in 1994.

CONTAINER LIST