A Salt Lake County court will cease operations. Here’s how much money it could save.

Salt Lake County residents seeking to resolve traffic tickets in unincorporated parts of the county will soon have to do it at a suburban courthouse.

The Salt Lake County Council voted unanimously Tuesday to eliminate the county justice court by June 30, 2027. The court handles lower-level misdemeanors, small claims and infractions like traffic tickets charged within Utah’s most populous county.

Tuesday’s vote was the last authorization needed to eliminate the court after the state Legislature cleared the way for the move in a joint resolution passed during this year’s general session.

Cities have their own justice courts, so the need for a countywide justice court has “already been dwindling,” resolution sponsor Kirk Cullimore, R-Cottonwood Heights, said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

By 2027, the remaining unincorporated areas of Salt Lake County will be home to fewer than 1,200 people, Salt Lake County Council member Laurie Stringham said during Tuesday’s meeting.

“This has been a long time coming,” Stringham said. “... It doesn’t make sense to have a municipal service such as this for unincorporated Salt Lake County, run by the county at this time, so that’s why we’re bringing this forward.”

Closing the court will save Salt Lake County about $867,600 starting in 2027, according to the Legislature’s resolution.

The 3rd District Court may take over the small number of cases that don’t fall under a municipal justice court’s jurisdiction, but Salt Lake County plans to work with other local courts to make “alternative arrangements” for the remaining cases, the county’s resolution states.