Powers and Duties

Utah Code tit. 17, ch. 17-72, pt. 17-72-P3

in effect

Utah Code § 17-72-301 General duties.

17-72-301. General duties. (1) The sheriff shall: (a) preserve the peace; (b) make all lawful arrests; (c) (i) attend in person or by deputy: (A) the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals when required; or (B) when the court is held within the sheriff's county, all courts of record, and court commissioner and referee sessions held within the sheriff's county; (ii) obey a court's lawful orders and directions; and (iii) comply with the court security rule, Rule 3-414, of the Utah Code of Judicial Administration; (d) upon request of the juvenile court, aid the court in maintaining order during hearings and transport a minor to and from youth corrections facilities, other institutions, or other designated places; (e) attend county justice courts if the judge finds that the matter before the court requires the sheriff's attendance for security, transportation, and escort of prisoners in the sheriff's custody, or for the custody of jurors; (f) command the aid of as many inhabitants of the sheriff's county as the sheriff considers necessary in the execution of duties described in this section; (g) take charge of and keep the county jail and prisoners in the county jail as described in Part 4, County Jails, and Part 5, Responsibility for Prisoners; (h) (i) receive and safely keep all prisoners committed to the sheriff's custody; (ii) file and preserve the commitments of prisoners; and (iii) record the name, age, place of birth, and description of each prisoner; (i) release on the record all attachments of real property when the attachment the sheriff receives has been released or discharged; (j) endorse on all process and notices the year, month, day, hour, and minute of reception, and, upon payment of fees, issue a certificate to the individual delivering process or notice showing the names of the parties, title of paper, and the time of receipt; (k) serve all process and notices as prescribed by Part 7, Process Service and Duty to the Court, or any other provision of law; (l) (i) if the sheriff makes service of process or notice, certify on the process or notices the manner, time, and place of service; or (ii) if the sheriff fails to make service, certify the reason upon the process or notice, and return them without delay; (m) extinguish fires occurring in the undergrowth, trees, or wooded areas on the public land within the sheriff's county; (n) perform as required by any contracts between the county and private contractors for management, maintenance, operation, and construction of county jails entered into under the authority of Section 17-65-405; (o) manage and direct search and rescue services in the sheriff's county, including emergency medical responders and other related incident response activities; (p) obtain saliva DNA specimens as required under Section 53-10-404; (q) on or before January 1, 2003, adopt a written policy that prohibits the stopping, detention, or search of any person when the action is solely motivated by considerations of race, color, ethnicity, age, or gender; (r) as applicable, select a representative of law enforcement to serve as a member of a child protection team, as defined in Section 80-1-102; (s) appoint a county security chief in accordance with Section 53-22-103 and ensure the county security chief fulfills the county security chief's duties; (t) ensure that a prisoner who is awaiting trial, sentencing, or disposition of criminal charges has: (i) a private and confidential space to review discovery and other evidence or documents related to the prisoner's criminal case with the prisoner's counsel; and (ii) the means to access and review discovery and other evidence or documents related to the prisoner's criminal case, with or without the prisoner's counsel, including the means to access and review digital, audio, video, or other technological evidence or documents; and (u) perform any other duties that are required by law. (2) (a) Violation of Subsection (1)(j) is a class C misdemeanor. (b) Violation of any other subsection under Subsection (1) is a class A misdemeanor. (3) (a) A prisoner may access or review discovery, evidence, or other documents under Subsection (1)(t) with: (i) technology provided by the jail; or (ii) technology, including a computer, that is approved by the jail and is provided by the prisoner's counsel. (b) If a prisoner's counsel leaves discovery, evidence, or other documents with the prisoner at the jail, the prisoner's counsel shall ensure that the discovery, evidence, or other documents does not include: (i) any visual depiction of an individual who is younger than 18 years old; (ii) any personal identifying information of an individual other than the prisoner; (iii) any financial information of a person other than the prisoner; (iv) any child sexual abuse material as defined in Section 76-5b-103; (v) any apparent child sexual abuse material as defined in Section 76-5b-103; (vi) any obscene child sexual abuse material as defined in Section 76-5b-103; (vii) any intimate image as defined in Section 76-5b-203; or (viii) any visual depiction or information for which possession is prohibited, by policy, at the jail. (4) A sheriff shall comply with the requirements described in Section 53-29-308 for specific registered sex offenders. Amended by Chapter 331, 2026 General Session

Utah Code § 17-72-302 Primary law enforcement authority.

17-72-302. Primary law enforcement authority. The sheriff is the primary law enforcement authority of state law on federal land except as otherwise assigned by law to the authority of a state or municipal law enforcement agency. Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 13, 2025 Special Session 1

Utah Code § 17-72-303 Duty to respond to county legislative body, county executive.

17-72-303. Duty to respond to county legislative body, county executive. The county sheriff shall respond to a request for assistance made by the county legislative body or county executive in accordance with Section 17-66-506. Enacted by Chapter 13, 2025 Special Session 1

Utah Code § 17-72-304 Fees.

17-72-304. Fees. (1) (a) The legislative body of a county may set a fee for a service described in this section and charged by the county sheriff: (i) in an ordinance adopted under Section 17-64-501; and (ii) in an amount reasonably related to, but not exceeding, the actual cost of providing the service. (b) If the legislative body of a county does not under Subsection (1)(a) set a fee charged by the county sheriff, the sheriff shall charge a fee in accordance with Subsections (2) through (7). (2) Unless under Subsection (1) the legislative body of a county sets a fee amount for a fee described in this Subsection (2), the sheriff shall charge the following fees: (a) for serving a notice, rule, order, subpoena, garnishment, summons, or summons and complaint, or garnishee execution, or other process by which an action or proceeding is commenced, on each defendant, including copies when furnished by plaintiff, $20; (b) for taking or approving a bond or undertaking in any case in which he is authorized to take or approve a bond or undertaking, including justification, $5; (c) for a copy of any writ, process or other paper when demanded or required by law, for each folio, 50 cents; (d) for serving an attachment on property, or levying an execution, or executing an order of arrest or an order for the delivery of personal property, including copies when furnished by plaintiff, $50; (e) for taking and keeping possession of and preserving property under attachment or execution or other process, the amount the court orders to a maximum of $15 per day; (f) for advertising property for sale on execution, or any judgment, or order of sale, exclusive of the cost of publication, $15; (g) for drawing and executing a sheriff's deed or a certificate of redemption, exclusive of acknowledgment, $15, to be paid by the grantee; (h) for recording each deed, conveyance, or other instrument affecting real estate, exclusive of the cost of recording, $10, to be paid by the grantee; (i) for serving a writ of possession or restitution, and putting any person entitled to possession into possession of premises, and removing occupant, $50; (j) for holding each trial of right of property, to include all services in the matter, except mileage, $35; (k) for conducting, postponing, or canceling a sale of property, $15; (l) for transporting a prisoner to and from prison to attend court proceedings in a civil case, $2.50 for each mile necessarily traveled, up to a maximum of 100 miles; (m) for receiving and paying over money on execution or other process, as follows: (i) if the amount collected does not exceed $1,000, 2% of this amount, with a minimum of $1; and (ii) if the amount collected exceeds $1,000, 2% on the first $1,000 and 1-1/2% on the balance; and (n) for executing in duplicate a certificate of sale, exclusive of filing it, $10. (3) The fees allowed by Subsection (2)(f) for the levy of execution and for advertising shall be collected from the judgment debtor as part of the execution in the same manner as the sum directed to be made. (4) When serving an attachment on property, an order of arrest, or an order for the delivery of personal property, the sheriff may only collect traveling fees for the distance actually traveled beyond the distance required to serve the summons if the attachment or those orders: (a) accompany the summons in the action; and (b) may be executed at the time of the service of the summons. (5) (a) (i) When traveling generally to serve notices, orders, process, or other papers, the sheriff may receive, except as otherwise provided under Subsection (1)(a), $2.50 for each mile necessarily traveled, in going only, computed from the courthouse for each person served, to a maximum of 100 miles. (ii) When transmitting notices, orders, process, or other papers by mail, the sheriff may receive, except as otherwise provided under Subsection (1)(a), $2.50 for each mile necessarily traveled, in going only, computed from the post office where received for each person served, to a maximum of 100 miles. (b) The sheriff may only charge one mileage fee if any two or more papers are required to be served in the same action or proceeding at the same time and at the same address. (c) If it is necessary to make more than one trip to serve any notice, order, process, or other paper, the sheriff may not collect more than two additional mileage charges. (6) (a) For transporting a patient to the Utah State Hospital or to or from a hospital or a mental health facility, as defined in Section 26B-5-301, when the cost of transportation is payable by private individuals, the sheriff may collect, except as otherwise provided under Subsection (1)(a), $2.50 for each mile necessarily traveled, in going only, to a maximum of 100 miles. (b) If the sheriff requires assistance to transport the person, the sheriff may also charge the actual and necessary cost of that assistance. (7) (a) Subject to Subsection (7)(b), for obtaining a saliva DNA specimen under Section 53-10-404, the sheriff shall collect the fee of $150 in accordance with Section 53-10-404. (b) The fee amount described in Subsection (7)(a) may not be changed by a county legislative body under Subsection (1). Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 13, 2025 Special Session 1

Utah Code § 17-72-305 Certain liability.

17-72-305. Certain liability. The sheriff is liable for the rescue of an individual arrested in a civil action equally as for an escape. Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 13, 2025 Special Session 1

Source: Utah Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel (le.utah.gov)URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title17/Chapter72/17-72-P3.html?v=C17-72-P3_2025110620251206Fetched: 10/26/2026