Defendants in Utah criminal cases are required to pay various court fees. For many people, the most convenient payment option is to pay the court fee online. Salt Lake City assault attorney Darwin Overson explains step by step how to pay your Utah court fees over the internet.
What Types of Courts Accept Credit Card Payments Over the Internet?
Utah has two types of criminal courts:
District Courts – District courts, such as West Jordan District Court, have jurisdiction over Class A misdemeanors and all types of felonies (third degree felonies, second degree felonies, and first degree felonies).
Justice Courts – Justice courts have jurisdiction over Class B misdemeanors and Class C misdemeanors, such as disorderly conduct and vandalism (criminal mischief). If you or a family member has been charged with a Class B misdemeanor or Class C misdemeanor, you may be interested in our informational guide to Salt Lake County justice courts.
Each part of the state has its own collection of local and/or regional justice and district courts. The court a case is heard in depends on where the crime allegedly took place. For instance, Taylorsville Justice Court has jurisdiction over offenses that allegedly occur in Taylorsville.
Proceedings that occur in juvenile court are considered to be civil, not criminal, which is a major distinction between adult and juvenile cases. However, if a juvenile has been charged with a very serious felony offense, such as aggravated assault or aggravated kidnapping, he or she may be tried in an adult court, meaning one of Utah’s district courts.
Juvenile, district, and justice courts accept online payments. You may pay a justice court fee, district court fee, or a juvenile court fee over the internet, regardless of where in Utah your case is being heard.
How to Pay a Utah Justice, District, or Juvenile Court Fee Online in 5 Steps
Utah’s court system makes it very easy to make online court fee payments, but first, you need to know what type of court your case is being heard in. To reiterate:
- Juvenile Courts
- Most defendants under 18
- Justice Courts
- Class C Misdemeanors
- Class B Misdemeanors
- District Courts
- Class A Misdemeanors
- Third Degree Felonies
- Second Degree Felonies
- First Degree Felonies
To pay a district court or justice court fee online, follow these five steps:
- Navigate to the official payment portal of the Utah court system by following this link, which will take you to utcourts (dot) gov (slash) epayments.
- On the left side of the screen, you’ll see a box for district and justice court payments. Click the grey “District or Justice Court” button. This should send you to a new page with the URL pubapps (dot) utcourts (dot) gov (slash) ePayments (slash) EPayment (dot) jsp. You should see a header that says “Utah Courts Internet Payment System” near the top of the page.
- Enter your case number into the appropriate box. If you don’t know your case number, you can:
- Click the blue “Can’t Find Your Case?” link for help. The link will open a pop-up window with some troubleshooting tips.
- Enter your citation number in the appropriate box, then click the grey “Search By Citation” button.
- Select the appropriate court from the dropdown menu. Make sure you click on the correct court, or your case won’t appear.
- Click the grey “Search By Case” button, and follow the prompts.
To pay a juvenile court fee online, follow these five steps:
- Follow step one on the list above.
- On the right side of the screen, you’ll see a box for juvenile court payments. Click the grey “Juvenile Court” button. This should open up a new page with the URL pubapps (dot) utcourts (dot) gov (slash) JuvenileEpaymentWEB. You should see a header that says “Utah Courts Juvenile E-Payment System” by the top of the page.
- On the left side of the screen, check off the box that says “I Accept the confidentiality agreement,” then click the blue “E-Payments” button.
- To get information about a case, click the blue “My Case” button on the right side of the screen, and follow the instructions on the new page.
- You’ll be directed to a new page with four information fields, all of which need to be filled. You must enter your case number, case first name, case last name, and date of birth.
- Click the blue “Login” button and follow the prompts.
Facing Criminal Charges? Let our Salt Lake City Criminal Attorneys Fight for You
If you or your son or daughter has been charged with a crime in Utah, you need an experienced Utah criminal defense attorney who can guide you through the court system while protecting your legal rights, preparing you for hearings, and aggressively fighting the charges against you. For a free legal consultation with a Salt Lake City criminal defense lawyer, call the law offices of Overson Law at (801) 758-2287 today.
