Finally received it after waiting nearly a year.
Filed Feb 22, 2015 in person, took about 6 months for the AG's office to respond, another couple of months before I got the letter from the Prothonotary's office stating denial and hearing options. Another month before I could get a hearing. Had hearing in late Dec, judge approved it, took class in late January and submitted certificate the next day in person, then about 2 more weeks before my LCDW showed up in the mail.
Why the prothonotary doesn't follow the procedural rules set forth by the court and submit it to the judge after 30 days is beyond me. The AG's office gets 30 days to respond, if not the court is supposed to consider the application on the facts presented. I don't know why that is so difficult to understand or follow. If the judge gave me a deadline of 30 days for ANYTHING, its not arbitrary, if I miss it, the case gets dismissed or otherwise moves along without it, its not "you have 30 days but really take as much time as you want to get it to me". I wish the NRA would back the legal fees of an applicant to file a lawsuit to enforce the rule. Had the procedural rules been followed, I would have filed Feb 22, it would have gotten to the judge around the end of March, lets say he still denied it (which would be reasonable considering he didn't have a background on me), I would have had a hearing, lets say another month, April 2015, he would have approved at that point and I would have had my LCDW after I completed my training in May.
Overall the hearing process was very straightforward, both the AG's representative and the judge were very nice and fair. The Judge took the time to listen to all of the facts presented in each hearing, some of them were more cut and dry than others but he gave everyone ample time to plead their case, he was interested and engaged.
Coincidentally, I got my Utah renewal application in the mail on the same day. I went online, filled out the renewal, paid fee and uploaded a photo, renewal should be here in about 2 weeks they said, all for a cost of about $16, including a whopping $.75 convenience fee for doing it online.
Glad the process is finally over.