Police Retention of a Minor's Phone in a Joint-Custody Household

Attorney Answer

Utah law does not set a fixed deadline for how long police may hold your son's phone as evidence, but you can petition the court to get it back even while the case is still open — provided you can show you actually own it.

When police seize a device connected to a criminal or juvenile investigation, they're generally allowed to keep it as evidence for as long as the case remains active, and there's no statute requiring them to proactively update every parent in a joint-custody arrangement. That gap is frustrating, but it isn't unusual — the agency's obligation to disclose case details is limited, especially in a juvenile matter.

You still have a formal path to ask for the phone back. Utah Code § 77-11a-305 lets a person who owns property being held as evidence petition the court — the one where the case is pending, or the district court if no case has been filed — for its return, even before the investigation concludes. The petition is served on both the prosecutor and the agency holding the phone, and the court must provide an opportunity for an expedited hearing.

The catch is the burden: you'd need to establish by clear and convincing evidence that you own the phone and may lawfully possess it. Paying the monthly bill isn't automatically the same as owning the device, and a phone given to a child can raise a genuine question about whether it was a gift to him rather than your property. Purchase records, the account and financing agreement, and how the phone was described when you gave it to him all matter to that showing.

The custody tension you describe — the father blocking phone access and threatening to monitor communications — is a separate issue from the seizure itself. That question turns on your custody order (if any) and what "joint legal custody" entitles you to regarding your son's communications and property, not on the criminal investigation.

What you can do

1. Contact the police agency's records or evidence unit directly and ask for the case number and the phone's status. 2. If a juvenile court case has been filed, contact the juvenile court clerk to find out whether you have a right to notice as a custodial parent. 3. File a petition under Utah Code § 77-11a-305 in the court where any case is pending (or the district court if none is pending), and make sure it is served on the prosecutor and the agency holding the phone. 4. Gather proof of ownership — the purchase receipt, the financing or carrier agreement, and your custody documentation — before you file. 5. Consult a Utah attorney about both the property-return petition and the separate custody-communication dispute with your ex.