Start with Xchange, MyCourtCase, or a courthouse terminal
Utah criminal court records are primarily divided between District Courts and Justice Courts. The public can search many cases through Utah Courts Xchange, while defendants and other parties can use the free MyCourtCase system for their own qualifying cases. If you do not want to pay for online Xchange access, most Utah district courthouses and the Utah State Law Library provide free public Xchange terminals.
First identify whether the criminal case belongs in District Court or Justice Court
Utah has two trial-court systems that commonly contain adult criminal records. Searching only one can cause you to miss a case.
Felonies and Class A misdemeanors
Utah District Courts are general-jurisdiction courts. All felony criminal cases and Class A misdemeanor cases are filed in District Court.
District Court also handles many other civil and domestic matters, so narrowing an Xchange search by criminal case type can help reduce unrelated results.
Most Class B and C misdemeanors
Utah Justice Courts handle most Class B and Class C misdemeanors, infractions, ordinance violations and traffic matters.
Justice courts are operated locally, and older electronic coverage varies more from court to court than District Court coverage.
Xchange is Utah’s main public District and Justice Court case search
Utah Courts Xchange is the official public case-information repository for Utah District and Justice Courts.
Xchange displays public information entered into the Utah Courts Information System (CORIS) by court employees where the underlying case is maintained.
Depending on the case, Xchange can show:
- defendant or party name
- available date of birth
- county
- court location
- case type
- case number
- filing date
- criminal charges
- charge level
- plea information
- dispositions
- assigned judge
- attorneys of record
- hearings and proceedings
- judgments
- case outcome
How to search a Utah criminal case in Xchange
Open the official Xchange system
You can log in with a subscription or choose the one-time/guest access option.
Choose District, Justice, or both
Search both court types when you do not know whether the matter is a felony, Class A misdemeanor, lower-level misdemeanor or traffic-related offense.
Use a case number when you have one
Case-number searches are generally more precise than common-name searches. Utah warns that case numbers are not unique statewide, however, so multiple results can still appear.
Otherwise search the defendant’s name
Xchange supports first name, last name, birth date, county, court, case type, date ranges and other narrowing tools.
Open the case history
Review the charges, plea, disposition, proceedings and judgment entries rather than assuming the first listed charge represents the final outcome.
Purchase a document only when you need the filing itself
When a public electronic document is available, Xchange shows a purchase link. The current document-access price is $1 per document.
Current Utah Xchange fees
Utah Courts offers both one-time access and recurring subscriptions. If you are searching only one or two cases, the guest option is usually more relevant.
| Access type | Current fee | Search/document cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-time / Guest | $10 initial payment |
Searches: $0.20 each Documents: $1 each |
Occasional users searching a small number of cases. |
| Monthly subscription |
$25 setup then $40/month |
First 500 searches included each month; additional searches: $0.35 each; documents: $1 each |
Law offices, researchers and frequent users. |
You can search Xchange for free at many Utah courthouses
Paying for Xchange online is not the only option. Utah Courts says free public Xchange access is available at most District Court locations and may also be available in some Justice Courts.
The state recommends calling the specific courthouse first to confirm that a public terminal is available.
Free public Xchange access is also available at the Utah State Law Library in Salt Lake City.
If it is your own criminal case, try MyCourtCase before paying for Xchange
MyCourtCase is a free Utah State Courts system for parties to qualifying District and Justice Court cases.
MyCourtCase can allow a party to:
- view case history
- read filed court papers
- see case activity
- link multiple qualifying cases
- pay fines and fees
- receive case notifications
- file certain criminal and traffic documents
- view open or closed qualifying cases
Who can use it?
Utah says a party to almost any District or Justice Court case can use MyCourtCase. It is available for open and closed cases, subject to specific private-case exceptions.
Utah also now allows a victim in a criminal case to create a MyCourtCase account to access qualifying case documents and history.
What do you need to register?
- email address
- case number
- correct court location
- government-issued identification
Utah’s wildcard trick can make Xchange name searches much better
Xchange matches party names according to how court staff entered them from the original filings. An exact-name search can therefore miss a record when a middle initial, suffix or spelling variation was used.
Utah Courts specifically recommends using an asterisk (*) as a wildcard.
Search a name more broadly
Instead of searching only:
John Doe
try a first-name search such as:
John* + Doe
This can return variations such as a middle name or middle initial that would otherwise prevent an exact match.
Utah also recommends placing an asterisk after a surname when you are unsure how it was entered. For example, searching William* can return William, Williams, Williamson and hyphenated variants.
Too many results?
Narrow by:
- date of birth
- county
- specific courthouse
- District or Justice Court
- case type
- filing date range
- disposition date range
- citation number
How to read a Utah criminal docket without confusing a charge with a conviction
Xchange provides both summary and extended case histories. The extended history can include minute-entry information and a chronological list of proceedings.
| Docket field | What it tells you | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Case number | Identifies the case within the court system. | Utah notes that the first two digits indicate the filing year, but case numbers are not necessarily unique statewide. |
| Charge | The criminal allegation entered on the case. | Check whether the charge was amended, dismissed or adjudicated. |
| Charge level | Shows classifications such as felony or misdemeanor level. | The charge level can affect which Utah court handles the case. |
| Plea | Shows whether and when a plea was entered. | A plea entry should still be read together with the final disposition. |
| Disposition | Shows how an adjudicated charge was resolved. | This is more important than relying on the original accusation alone. |
| Proceedings | Chronological court events. | Use them to follow hearings, motions and case progress. |
| Judge | Current assigned judicial officer. | Helpful when checking calendars or contacting the court. |
| Defendant information | Can include name, DOB, law-enforcement agency, officer, prosecutor, citation number and violation date. | Use available identifiers to reduce mistaken identity. |
How far back do Utah online court records go?
Xchange coverage depends on when each court began using Utah’s CORIS case-management system.
District Courts
Utah Courts says most District Courts were using CORIS by the end of 1998. Cases after each court’s conversion to the statewide system are generally the most complete.
Justice Courts
Justice Court coverage is less uniform. Each Justice Court began using CORIS at a different time, and individual courts made their own decisions about whether to convert older cases.
When older cases were converted, Utah warns that the electronic record may contain less information than a newer native CORIS case.
Which Utah criminal court documents can be downloaded online?
Utah Courts says public District Court documents that are electronically available and were filed on or after July 1, 2010 are available through Xchange when the record is eligible for public access.
Xchange currently charges $1 per available electronic document, regardless of the number of pages in that document.
Examples of potentially useful criminal-case documents include:
- charging documents
- motions
- orders
- judgments
- sentencing documents
- public minute entries
- other qualifying filed documents
Check Utah criminal court calendars for upcoming hearings
Utah’s District and Justice Court calendars list scheduled court activity for a two-week period and are updated daily.
A court calendar can be useful when you already know the court location and want to confirm an upcoming hearing before opening a full docket.
Utah court-calendar resourcesUtah also publishes free weekly District Court filing and disposition reports
For users researching recent public filings, Utah Courts publishes downloadable Weekly District Case Reports.
The reports are normally posted each Monday, or Tuesday when Monday is a holiday.
Case Filings Report
Lists public District Court cases filed during the prior week, including case type, case number, location, filing date and party names.
Disposition Report
Lists qualifying public cases with judgments disposed during the previous week.
Judgment Report
Lists qualifying District Court cases in which a judgment was issued during the prior week.
How to request Utah court copies, certified records and records not on Xchange
When an electronic Xchange document is unavailable—or when you need certification—request the record from the Utah court that maintains the case.
Utah Request a Court Record| Record/service | Current fee | Practical use |
|---|---|---|
| Paper copy | $0.25 per sheet | Ordinary paper record without certification. |
| Certified copy | $4 per document + $0.50 per page | When an agency or legal proceeding requires court certification. |
| Exemplified copy | $6 per document + $0.50 per page | A higher authentication level used in limited formal situations. |
| Email / fax | $5 for 10 pages or fewer, then $0.50 per page | Utah says courts will not fax or email records already available through Xchange. |
| Electronic storage medium | $15 per unit | For electronic records provided on qualifying storage media. |
Staff research time can also cost money
Utah currently provides the first 15 minutes of staff preparation time free. Longer or unusually complex requests may incur staff-time charges under Utah’s court-record fee rule.
Utah court hearings are recorded and recordings can be requested
Utah District, Juvenile and appellate courts are courts of record. Proceedings are recorded either electronically or through a court reporter.
Utah’s record-request guidance currently lists electronic copies of qualifying court-proceeding audio or video at $15 for each one-half day of testimony.
If you need a transcript instead of the recording itself, transcript fees are different and are governed by Utah’s transcript-fee schedule.
Utah court record and transcript feesNot every Utah criminal or court record appears on Xchange
Xchange displays public court information only.
Records that may not appear include:
- expunged criminal cases
- cases sealed by court order
- juvenile delinquency cases
- juvenile child-welfare cases
- termination-of-parental-rights matters
- other records classified as private, protected or non-public
- certain older Justice Court cases never converted to CORIS
If information in Xchange appears incorrect, Utah says the official record keeper is the clerk of the court where the case is filed. Contact that clerk rather than trying to correct the information through a third-party background-check website.
For very old Utah cases, check the Utah State Archives
Utah Courts directs users researching many historical court records—particularly records more than 50 years old—to the Utah State Archives.
Archives holdings include records from:
- Utah Supreme Court
- historical District Courts
- municipal courts
- Justice Courts
- probate courts
- territorial-era courts
More recent records generally remain with the court or agency that created them.
Utah historical court-record guidanceCriminal appeals use Utah’s separate appellate docket system
Xchange is primarily for District and Justice Court case information. When a criminal case reaches the Utah Court of Appeals or Utah Supreme Court, use the state’s appellate records resources.
Utah’s Appellate Docket Search searches appellate matters by case/docket number.
Utah also makes appellate opinions available separately.
Most appellate criminal matters
The Utah Court of Appeals hears qualifying appeals from lower Utah courts. Its opinions, oral-argument calendars and appellate docket resources are available through Utah Courts.
Utah Court of AppealsUtah’s highest state court
Utah Supreme Court docket information, opinions and appellate resources are maintained separately from District and Justice Court Xchange records.
Utah Supreme CourtOlder appellate briefs
Utah says briefs from pending appellate cases are available through the appellate clerk’s office. After cases close, original briefs are transferred to the Utah State Law Library. Historical appellate files may also be available through the Utah State Archives.
Utah BCI criminal history is different from a Utah court-record search
The Utah Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI) maintains Utah’s central criminal-history repository.
A BCI criminal-history record is not the same thing as searching public court dockets. The public can search another person’s qualifying public court cases through Xchange, but Utah BCI’s Right of Access process is for obtaining your own Utah criminal history.
Current Right of Access fee
Utah BCI currently charges $20 for a personal Utah criminal-history Right of Access request.
Individuals can request their record in person or by mail.
Bureau of Criminal Identification
4315 South 2700 West, Suite 1300Taylorsville, UT 84129
Phone:
801-965-4445
Published office hours:
Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., excluding state holidays.
BCI record absent but court case exists?
BCI specifically warns that an old criminal event can sometimes appear in court or corrections records even when it does not appear on the person’s BCI record—for example, if fingerprints were never submitted to the state repository.
How to challenge an incorrect Utah BCI criminal-history record
Utah BCI provides a formal Record Challenge process when a person believes information on their Utah criminal history is inaccurate or incomplete.
The current BCI Record Challenge fee is $20.
Before filing a challenge, gather documents that prove the correction you are requesting, such as:
- court judgment
- dismissal order
- amended charge information
- sentencing record
- expungement order
- other official court documentation
Search Utah prison, probation and parole records separately
The Utah Department of Corrections Offender Search can be used to locate people who are currently under UDC supervision.
The search includes people currently:
- incarcerated by Utah Corrections
- on probation under UDC supervision
- on parole under UDC supervision
Searches can be made by name or UDC ID number.
Why a Utah criminal case may disappear from public Xchange results
A qualifying Utah criminal case can be removed from ordinary public Xchange access after expungement. Utah Courts says expunged criminal cases do not appear in Xchange.
Utah currently has both petition-based expungement and automatic/Clean Slate processes, depending on the case and eligibility rules.
Petition-based expungement
Utah BCI currently charges:
- $65 to begin an adult expungement eligibility application
- $65 for each qualifying conviction, plea-in-abeyance or other fee-bearing certificate issued
- no certificate fee for qualifying dismissal, acquittal or declination certificates
- separate court filing fees may also apply
Utah BCI says fingerprints are required for the expungement eligibility application.
Clean Slate / automatic expungement
Utah has automatic-expungement provisions for qualifying cases. Eligibility depends on factors such as offense level, disposition, elapsed time, pending criminal cases and other statutory requirements.
BCI also offers a $15 verification application for people who want to learn which records have been automatically or petition-expunged from their Utah criminal history.
Utah BCI expungement information Utah Courts expungement guideUse the Utah State Law Library for free public Xchange access
The Utah State Law Library is open to the public and provides computers that can be used to access Xchange without purchasing an online Xchange subscription.
Utah State Law Library
Scott M. Matheson Courthouse450 South State Street, Room W-13
Salt Lake City, Utah
Phone:
801-238-7990
Email:
library@utcourts.gov
Library staff can help users navigate court and legal-research resources, but they cannot provide legal advice.
Practical Utah criminal court search tips
Search both court types
If you do not know the offense level, search District and Justice Courts together.
Use the wildcard
Utah specifically recommends an asterisk after names to capture middle initials, suffixes and spelling variations.
Use DOB carefully
Criminal results can include a defendant DOB when available. Use it to distinguish people with similar names.
Don’t assume case numbers are statewide-unique
Utah warns that the same case number can potentially return more than one result. Check court location and county.
Read the disposition
The original charge is not necessarily the final conviction or case outcome.
Use MyCourtCase for your own case
A party can usually view their own qualifying case history and documents for free.
Use a courthouse terminal to save money
Most Utah District Courts and the State Law Library provide free public Xchange access.
Old Justice Court record? Call the clerk
Electronic coverage varies because each Justice Court joined CORIS on its own schedule.
Use weekly reports for very recent research
Utah’s free weekly District Court filings and disposition files can help identify a recent public case before you conduct a broader paid search.
Separate court records from BCI history
Xchange is a public docket system. BCI is the state’s central criminal-history repository. They answer different questions.
Search corrections separately
A prison or supervision record belongs in the Utah Department of Corrections search, not just the court docket.
Don’t interpret disappearance automatically
A record may disappear from public Xchange after expungement or sealing, not because the underlying historical event never occurred.
Using Utah court records for employment, housing or other regulated decisions
A Utah Xchange search is a public court-record search. It is not automatically the same as a legally compliant consumer background report or a fingerprint-based Utah BCI background check.
Employers, licensing agencies, volunteer organizations and other authorized users may be required to use specific BCI or FBI procedures depending on the purpose of the check.
Utah criminal court record questions
1. Where can I search Utah criminal court cases?
Use Utah Courts Xchange for public District and Justice Court case information. District Courts handle all felony and Class A misdemeanor cases, while Justice Courts handle most Class B and C misdemeanors, infractions and traffic matters.
2. Is Utah Xchange free?
Online Xchange access generally requires payment. The one-time option currently requires a $10 initial payment, with searches charged at $0.20 each and available documents at $1 each. Free public Xchange terminals are available at most District Courts and at the Utah State Law Library.
3. Can I see my own Utah criminal case for free?
Yes, in many situations. Parties to qualifying District and Justice Court cases can use MyCourtCase for free to view case history and filed documents. Criminal-case victims can also create qualifying MyCourtCase accounts.
4. How far back does Utah Xchange go?
Coverage depends on when each court began using CORIS. Utah says most District Courts were using CORIS by the end of 1998. Justice Court conversion dates vary, and older converted records can contain less information.
5. How can I find a Utah criminal case when the exact name search fails?
Utah recommends using Xchange’s asterisk wildcard. Enter a surname followed by an asterisk and use the first few letters of the first name followed by an asterisk to capture name, middle-initial and suffix variations.
6. Are expunged Utah criminal cases visible in Xchange?
No. Utah Courts says an expunged criminal case is removed from public Xchange access. Cases sealed by judicial order also do not appear in ordinary Xchange results.
7. Can I obtain my full Utah criminal history from BCI?
You can request a copy of your own Utah criminal history through the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification Right of Access process. The current state fee is $20.
8. Are juvenile criminal cases available on Utah Xchange?
Juvenile delinquency, child-welfare and termination-of-parental-rights cases are not available through ordinary Xchange public access. Juvenile Court has separate access rules and its own MyCase system for qualifying parties.
9. How can I find a Utah criminal appeal?
Use Utah’s Appellate Docket Search and the separate Court of Appeals or Supreme Court records resources. Appellate cases are not researched in the same way as ordinary District and Justice Court Xchange cases.
10. Where can I find someone in Utah state prison or on parole?
Use the Utah Department of Corrections Offender Search. It includes people currently under UDC incarceration, probation or parole supervision, but it does not include all people awaiting trial in county jails.
Official Utah sources used for this guide
- Utah Courts — Xchange Public Case Search
- Utah Courts Xchange
- Utah Courts — Xchange Search Instructions and Tips
- Utah Courts — Xchange FAQ
- Utah Courts — MyCourtCase
- Utah Courts — Searching District and Justice Court Records at the Courthouse
- Utah Courts — Request a Court Record
- Utah Courts — Filing, Transcript and Record Fees
- Utah Courts — Weekly District Case Reports
- Utah Courts — Appellate Court Records
- Utah Court of Appeals
- Utah Supreme Court
- Utah State Law Library
- Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification — Criminal Records
- Utah BCI — Obtain Your Own Criminal History
- Utah BCI — Criminal History Forms and Record Challenge
- Utah BCI — Expungements
- Utah BCI — Clean Slate / Automatic Expungement
- Utah Department of Corrections — Offender Search