What is a Scheduling Conference in Utah?

What is known as a scheduling conference in Salt Lake County can be known as something else in other court systems.   In Utah County it is known as a waiver hearing, in Davis County it is called a role-call or a decision to prelim.  Even though they are often called different names in different courts, the purpose is the same.  The scheduling conference is the first time in a felony case or a class-A misdemeanor case where you have the opportunity to sit down in court with the prosecutor to discuss your case.  It is an opportunity to see if you can resolve your case without having to go all the way to trial, to present your evidence, and negotiate what you think the potential resolution could be.    You also get a sense of what the position of the prosecutor is and what you might need to go through to resolve the case.  Sometimes you can resolve your case during the first scheduling conference, sometimes there needs to be additional scheduling conferences, and sometimes the case needs to continue forward through other proceedings.