Territorial Court Records

About the Records

The legislature of the proposed State of Deseret approved on January 9, 1850 county courts and justices of the peace. County Probate Courts were established by the legislature in January 1851 in each county to conduct matters relating to "estates; guardianships of minors, idiots, and insane persons; and divorces." They could also hear appeals from justice of the peace courts. The territorial legislature in 1852 granted probate courts jurisdiction over all civil and criminal cases and over chancery matters and the drawing of jury lists (Utah Laws 1851: 43, § 30). In 1855, the territorial legislature passed an "Act in Relation to the Judiciary" which gave local probate courts the same original jurisdiction as the district courts.