Opinion
Case No. 20030489-CA.
Filed March 25, 2004. (Not For Official Publication).
Appeal from the Third District, Salt Lake Department, The Honorable Glenn K. Iwasaki.
L. Benson Mabey, Salt Lake City, for Appellant.
Paige Bigelow, Salt Lake City, for Appellee.
Before Judges Billings, Jackson, and Thorne.
MEMORANDUM DECISION
Petitioner appeals from the April 11, 2003 minute entry in which the court commissioner recommended, inter alia, that the district court reserve ruling on Petitioner's motion to allocate custody evaluator costs. This appeal is before the court on Respondent's motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction.
An appeal may be taken from a final order or judgment entered by the district court. See Utah R. App. P. 3(a). However, the commissioner's recommendation is not a final order entered by the district court. See Moon v. Moon, 1999 UT App 12, ¶ 13 n. 3, 973 P.2d 431 (noting that under Utah Code Ann. § 78-3-31(1)(a) court commissioners are incapable of entering final judgments) (citing Holm v. Smilowitz, 840 P.2d 157, 167 (Utah Ct.App. 1992)); see also Utah R. Jud. Admin. 6-401.
Accordingly, Petitioner's appeal is dismissed without prejudice to the filing of a timely notice of appeal from any final, appealable order or judgment entered by the district court.
In dismissing Petitioner's appeal without prejudice, we do not address whether the district court's reservation of custody evaluator costs for trial affected the finality of the decree or whether Respondent's motion to clarify, to which Petitioner filed a response, tolled the time for appeal until entry of an order disposing of the motion.
Judith M. Billings, Presiding Judge, Norman H. Jackson, Judge William A. Thorne Jr., Judge.