28-1-101. President of senate to preside over joint sessions; powers.
Whenever the senate and house of representatives of the legislature of the state of Wyoming shall meet in joint session, for the transaction of any business whatsoever, the duly elected and qualified president of the senate shall preside over the deliberations of any such joint session, with all the prerogatives and powers of a presiding officer, and the officers of both the senate and house shall be, during such joint session, under and subject to his direction.
(a) The general and budget session of the Wyoming legislature shall commence on the second Tuesday of January of odd-numbered years and shall continue for an additional thirty-nine (39) legislative working days unless both houses agree to an earlier adjournment.
(b) There shall be a legislative budget session each even-numbered year to consider the state budget and any other business the legislature deems desirable. The budget session of the Wyoming legislature shall commence on the second Monday of February of even-numbered years and shall continue for an additional number of legislative working days as agreed by both houses of the legislature or as limited by the Wyoming constitution.
(c) As used in this section "legislative working day" means every day of the week when either the senate or house of representatives convenes, exclusive of Sundays.
(d) Members of the legislature shall be paid salary and per diem for each calendar day from the first legislative working day of each session through and including the last legislative working day of each session.
At any time during the session of the legislature when the employment of additional persons may be necessary for the efficient performance of the duties imposed upon the legislature, the senate and house of representatives are hereby authorized to employ such additional employees. All persons employed by either house shall at all times serve at the will of the presiding officer of that house.
The original minutes, receipt books and miscellaneous records of the state legislature deposited with the secretary of state shall be retained by the secretary of state for a period of three (3) years. The original house bills and senate files shall be retained by the secretary of state for ten (10) years after which time the secretary of state will deliver them to the department of state parks and cultural resources for destruction or preservation as it may deem desirable. The original enrolled acts, and the original senate and house journals shall be retained by the secretary of state as permanent records.
Resignation of the office of a member of the senate or house of representatives shall be made to the governor, who shall immediately notify the state central committee of the party which the member represented at the time of his election under W.S. 22-6-120(a)(vii), or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office, of the resignation. If the resigning member did not represent a political party at the time of his election, or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office, the governor shall notify the appropriate boards of county commissioners who shall proceed in accordance with W.S. 22-18-111(a)(iii)(C). For purposes of this section a person shall be considered to "represent" a political party if he was a nominee of that political party when elected to office or when appointed to fill a vacancy in office.
(a) As used in this act:
(i) "Committee" means any duly constituted committee of the legislature, any standing committee of either house of the legislature, joint interim committee of the legislature, special investigating committee established by joint resolution of the legislature and the committees established by W.S. 28-11-101, 28-11-201 and 28-11-301;
(ii) "Council" means the management council of the legislature;
(iii) "Legislature" means the Wyoming legislature;
(iv) "Subpoena" means a legislative subpoena or subpoena duces tecum in such form and issued pursuant to rules prescribed by the legislature or council;
(v) "This act" means W.S. 28-1-107 through 28-1-112 and any future amendments thereto.
Any Wyoming legislator or designated staff members of the legislature are empowered to administer oaths to witnesses in any matter under investigation by the legislature, council, or committee.
28-1-109. Issuance and service of subpoena; privilege of witness; witness fees and expenses.
(a) The presiding officer of either house of the legislature, the council, or a committee may issue a subpoena upon request of a majority of the members of the body. Subpoenas also may be issued on behalf of the management audit committee as provided by W.S. 28-8-107(h).
(b) A subpoena shall be served by the sheriff or his deputy, or may be served by any other person so designated by the presiding officer. Service of a subpoena upon a person named therein shall be made either by reading or by delivering a copy to the person. The person serving the subpoena shall make proof of service thereof to the issuing body promptly and in any event within the time during which the person served must respond to the subpoena.
(c) No witness before the legislature, the council, or any committee is privileged to refuse to testify to any fact or to produce any book, paper, or other document relevant to the matter under inquiry on the ground that his testimony or production of the document may tend to disgrace him or otherwise render him infamous.
(d) Witnesses not employees of the state of Wyoming nor of any political subdivision of the state who are summoned to give testimony or produce documents shall receive witness fees, travel expenses, and other expenses in the same amount as permitted in civil cases triable in district court.
28-1-110. Failure to appear; refusal to testify or produce documents; disturbances.
(a) Any person having been subpoenaed as a witness by the authority of the legislature, council or committee to give testimony or produce books, papers or other documents relevant to the matter under inquiry before the legislature, council, or any committee, who fails to appear, refuses to be sworn, refuses to answer any question relevant to the matter under inquiry, or fails to produce any books, papers or other documents relevant to the matter under inquiry, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) Any person attending a meeting or hearing of the legislature, the council, or any committee, who is disorderly or contemptuous or who willfully creates noise or any other disturbance tending to interrupt or disrupt the meeting or hearing, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(c) Any person who violates this section, upon conviction, a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, may be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars ($100.00) and imprisonment in county jail for a period not to exceed six (6) months.
28-1-111. Certification of violations for prosecution.
Whenever any witness subpoenaed to appear or produce documents before the legislature, council, or any committee, fails to appear to testify, refuses to be sworn, fails to answer any question relevant to matter under inquiry, fails to produce any book, paper or other document relevant to the matter under inquiry, or whenever any person is alleged to have violated W.S. 28-1-110(b), the presiding officer of the body shall certify that failure or violation to the appropriate district attorney for prosecution of the matter in the appropriate court.
28-1-112. Court order to appear to testify or produce documents.
In case of refusal to obey a subpoena issued by the legislature, council, or any committee, the presiding officer of the body shall apply to the district court for the district in which the proceedings are being held, for an order requiring the person to appear before the legislature, the council, the committee or other person designated by the presiding officer at the time and place requested by the application, there to produce the documentary evidence or give testimony on the matter under inquiry. Failure to obey the court order may be punished by the court as a contempt of court.
28-1-113. Joint meetings of legislative standing committees; introduction and passage of budget bill.
(a) The joint appropriations committee shall sit in open sessions while considering the budget and shall begin meetings not less than twenty (20) days prior to the convening of the budget session. The joint committee may cause the attendance of the heads or responsible representatives of the departments, institutions and all other agencies of the state to furnish information and answer questions as the joint committee requires.
(b) All persons interested in the estimates under consideration shall be admitted to the meetings and may be allowed the right to be heard. The governor, or his representatives, and members of the legislature have the right to sit at these public hearings and be heard on all matters coming before the joint committee.
(c) The joint committee shall cause the general appropriation bill or bills known as budget bills, to be introduced in whole or in part in the house of representatives or the senate, or both. When a budget bill has passed the house of origin, the bill shall be referred to the standing appropriations committee of the opposite house which shall meet and consider those amendments to the budget bill which were adopted by the house of origin and shall not propose other amendments to any original joint appropriations committee budget bill.
(d) To the extent not inconsistent with any enacted law or clear expression of legislative intent to the contrary, each agency's budget request as recommended by the governor to the joint appropriations interim committee, any other budgetary explanatory material submitted to the joint appropriations interim committee by the governor and the budget hearings before the joint appropriations interim committee shall guide the interpretation and implementation of appropriations and related language contained within the general appropriations bill or bills appropriating funds to be expended for the operation of a state agency, including programs, purposes and number of employees specified within each agency.
28-1-115. Submission of state agency plans to legislature; contents; purposes.
(a) To assist the legislature in its deliberations, every state agency shall:
(i) No later than December 1, 1994, prepare and thereafter maintain a statement of policies and statutory authority that guide the programs, activities and functions of the agency. The plan shall specify those objectives against which the agency will be measured to evaluate its effectiveness. An agency may implement only those programs that are specifically established by constitutional or statutory authority;
(ii) As required by the governor or by the legislature by law, develop a multi-year plan to accomplish and further the goals and objectives defined in W.S. 28-1-116(a). The plan development shall include an opportunity for public review and comment. The plan shall be submitted to the governor for his approval. The plan shall:
(A) Include performance measures that provide methods and criteria to measure the agency's performance in conducting its activities and in achieving its goals and objectives. The methods and criteria shall comply with standards developed by the governmental accounting standards board. Performance measures shall be developed by the agency and audited by the department of audit;
(B) State the relative priority that each current or proposed program bears with regard to all other programs and objectives within the agency;
(C) Be developed with a multi-year prospective and provide the strategic approach within which the agency's budget request is developed;
(D) Include sufficient information for evaluation of the following:
(I) The specific purpose of each program, function and activity of the executive branch of government or any other major entity that receives funding from state revenue;
(II) The specific public benefit that does or should result from the program, function or activity;
(III) Alternative courses of action that would result in administration of the same program, function or activity in a more efficient or effective manner including: (1) Whether a program, function or activity could be implemented more effectively by another level of government or by a private entity; (2) Whether there is sufficient public benefit to justify the funding necessary for the program, function or activity.
(IV) The consequences of discontinuing any program, function or activity;
(V) Whether the methods, rules and policies employed by the agency to implement a program, function or activity are cost-effective, efficient and consistent with law and impose a minimum of regulatory burden;
(VI) The results and outcomes associated with the program, function or activity from the previous plan.
(b) Financial resources necessary to implement the policies and goals of each agency program shall be clearly identified as a part of each biennial or supplemental budget request. Any state program, function or activity not included in an annual state agency plan shall not receive funding for the subsequent budget period.
(c) Each agency shall submit by the third Monday in November of each year an annual performance report to the governor with copies to the legislative service office to provide a basis for evaluation of attainment of agency goals and objectives in the agency's plan developed under subsection (a) of this section. The report shall be included as part of the annual report required by W.S. 9-2-1014(a).
(d) The management audit committee of the legislature, with the assistance of the legislative service office and the department of audit, may use the agency plans and annual statement of attainment as the basis for program evaluation and performance audits as authorized by law.
(e) Repealed by Laws 2018, ch. 99, § 2.
(f) The plan required under W.S. 28-1-115(a)(ii) may be reviewed by the management audit committee of the legislature and shall be reviewed by the management audit committee if:
(i) Required by the management council of the legislature; or
(ii) Otherwise required by law.
(g) For purposes of this section and W.S. 28-1-116, "state agency" means:
(i) Each separate department in the executive branch of government created under the authority of the Wyoming Government Reorganization Act of 1989, W.S. 9-2-1701 et seq.;
(ii) Offices of the five (5) elected state officials and the attorney general; and
(iii) Each agency designated as a separate operating agency under W.S. 9-2-1704(d).
(a) On or before July 1, 1995, and by March 31 of each odd-numbered year thereafter, the governor shall define state goals and objectives in the following areas:
(i) Education;
(ii) Regulatory and economic development;
(iii) Natural resources;
(iv) Health;
(v) Human services;
(vi) Transportation;
(vii) Public safety and corrections;
(viii) General government.
(b) The governor may submit draft goals and objectives to the management council for comment.
(c) On or before September 1 of each odd numbered year, each state agency, as defined under W.S. 28-1-115(g), following an opportunity for public review, shall submit to and have approved by the governor a plan as described by W.S. 28-1-115(a)(ii).
(d) Repealed By Laws 1997, ch. 178, § 2.
(e) When the governor submits the state budget or a supplemental budget as required under W.S. 9-2-1013, he shall also distribute agency plans required under subsection (c) of this section. The budget for each agency shall be performance and program based and shall reflect the goals and objectives specified in the agency's plan.
(f) All dates established in this section or in W.S. 28-1-115 may be extended by the governor.
28-1-118. Legislative review of state revenue distribution formulae; reports required.
The joint revenue interim committee shall submit a report to the governor and legislature by December 1, 2004, and by December 1 of each fourth year thereafter, reviewing the distribution formulae for federal mineral royalties, severance taxes and inheritance taxes. The report shall indicate whether the formulae are understandable to public policy makers, serve the needs of the citizens of the state and whether the distinction between sustainable revenues and "one-time" revenues contained therein is reasonable. The report may contain recommendations for legislation.
(a) As used in W.S. 28-2-116 through 28-2-119:
(i) "Census block" means a geographic area of the state of Wyoming specified by the United States bureau of the census in accordance with the 2020 decennial census and identified uniquely by census block number;
(ii) "Voter tabulation district" or "VTD" means a geographic area of the state of Wyoming specified by the United States bureau of the census in accordance with the 2020 decennial census and identified by Wyoming VTD name and number;
(iii) "This act" means W.S. 28-2-116 through 28-2-119.
(b) As used in W.S. 28-2-118 and 28-2-119 unless the context otherwise requires:
(i) "Blocks" designates the entire census block as numbered by the United States bureau of the census for the 2020 decennial census within the named VTD and county is a part of the legislative district;
(ii) "(Name of) County" designates either that the entire named Wyoming county is within the legislative district or that a portion of the named Wyoming county as specified is within the legislative district;
(iii) "District (number)" designates the legislative district number assigned to a house or senate legislative district from which a legislator is elected under this act;
(iv) "VTD" designates either that the entire voter tabulation district as named by the United States bureau of the census for the 2020 decennial census within the named county is a part of the legislative district or that a portion of the named voter tabulation district within the named county as specified is a part of the legislative district.
(c) W.S. 28-2-118 creates legislative districts for the Wyoming senate and W.S. 28-2-119 creates legislative districts for the Wyoming house of representatives.
(d) The secretary of state shall maintain and make available for public inspection in a hardcopy or electronic format, or both, during regular business hours:
(i) The United States P.L. 94-171 data for the 2020 decennial census received by that office from the United States bureau of the census; and
(ii) The list and geographic description of the legislative districts for the Wyoming senate as printed in "Attachment B" as referenced in W.S. 28-2-119(c) and enacted into law and the list and geographic description of the legislative districts for the Wyoming house of representatives as printed in "Attachment A" referenced in W.S. 28-2-119(b) and enacted into law.
(e) The legislature finds that:
(i) The deviations in population between legislative districts in this act are required to recognize county boundaries, communities of interest, common economic interests and historical representative practices in Wyoming;
(ii) This act further recognizes the difficulties in representation caused by geographic boundaries and the rural nature of Wyoming;
(iii) This act keeps whole more political subdivisions than other redistricting plans considered by the Wyoming legislature;
(iv) Through keeping political subdivisions and communities of interest as whole as possible, this act provides for effective and efficient election administration;
(v) The residents of Sheridan county school district number three are a community of interest with the residents of Johnson county through shared institutions and political history. The residents of Sheridan county school district number three typically conduct their business in Johnson county and have a shared economic interest with Johnson county. The residents of Sheridan county school district three have a shared educational interest with Johnson county. These connections and communities of interest between residents of Sheridan county school district three and Johnson county do not exist between the residents of Sheridan county school district three and Campbell county;
(vi) The factors listed in this subsection that create population deviations among legislative districts in this act are all legitimate considerations reasonably incident to the effectuation of a rational state policy.
28-2-117. Effective date of changes in legislative districts; election of holdover senators.
(a) Changes in all legislative districts are effective for the 2022 general election cycle and the sixty-seventh legislature.
(b) Members for senate districts designated as odd-numbered districts in W.S. 28-2-118(b) shall be elected for a term of four (4) years at the 2022 general election. As provided in subsection (c) of this section, no election shall be held in 2022 for senate districts designated as even-numbered districts in W.S. 28-2-118(b) for which members were elected at the 2020 general election and nothing in this act shall affect the terms of those members. Members for senate districts designated as even-numbered districts in W.S. 28-2-118(b), shall be elected for a term of four (4) years at the 2024 general election.
(c) A member elected in the 2020 general election for a senate district designated as an even-numbered district in W.S. 28-2-118(b) who has been removed from the district as a result of district boundary changes made by this act may continue to serve the remainder of the member's term for the district from which the member was elected.
(d) Nothing in this act otherwise affects the terms of members of the sixty-sixth legislature.
28-2-118. Senate legislative districts; list of nested house districts formed to create senate districts.
(a) Subsection (b) of this section creates legislative districts for the Wyoming senate consisting of the numbered legislative districts contained therein. There shall be one (1) senator elected from each legislative district as specified in subsection (b) of this section. If the senate district is listed with two (2) house districts in subsection (b) of this section, those senate districts shall consist of the entirety of the geographic area of the two (2) house districts listed in subsection (b) of this section for each senate district and as fully described in "Attachment A." All senate districts are fully described in "Attachment B."
(b) Senate districts shall be organized as follows:
(i) Senate District 1 – House Districts 1 and 52;
(ii) Senate District 2 – House Districts 6 and 62;
(iii) Senate District 3 – House Districts 2 and 5;
(iv) Senate Districts 4 – House Districts 7 and 8;
(v) Senate District 5 – House Districts 12 and 42;
(vi) Senate District 6 – House Districts 4 and 10;
(vii) Senate District 7 – House Districts 9 and 41;
(viii) Senate District 8 – House Districts 11 and 44;
(ix) Senate District 9 - House Districts 13 and 45;
(x) Senate District 10 – House Districts 14 and 46;
(xi) Senate District 11 – House Districts 15 and 47;
(xii) Senate District 12 – House Districts 17 and 48;
(xiii) Senate District 13 – House Districts 39 and 60;
(xiv) Senate District 14 – House Districts 18 and 20;
(xv) Senate District 15 – House Districts 19 and 49;
(xvi) Senate District 16 – House Districts 21 and 22;
(xvii) Senate District 17 – House Districts 16 and 23;
(xviii) Senate District 18 – House Districts 24 and 50;
(xix) Senate District 19 – House Districts 25 and 26;
(xx) Senate District 20 – House Districts 27 and 28;
(xxi) Senate District 21;
(xxii) Senate District 22;
(xxiii) Senate District 23 – House Districts 3 and 31;
(xxiv) Senate District 24 – House Districts 32 and 53;
(xxv) Senate District 25 – House Districts 33 and 54;
(xxvi) Senate District 26 – House Districts 34 and 55;
(xxvii) Senate District 27 – House Districts 35 and 36;
(xxviii) Senate District 28 – House Districts 56 and 57;
(xxix) Senate District 29 – House Districts 37 and 59;
(xxx) Senate District 30 – House Districts 38 and 58; and
(xxxi) Senate District 31 – House Districts 43 and 61.
(c) See Attachment B.
28-2-119. House legislative districts; lists of census
blocks for split voter tabulation districts in the house of representatives.
(a) Subsection (b) of this section creates legislative districts for the Wyoming house of representatives consisting of the numbered legislative districts contained therein. There shall be one (1) representative elected from each legislative district as specified in subsection (b) of this section. The area within a county, voter tabulation district or census block as provided in paragraphs (i) through (iii) of this subsection is determined using the United States bureau of the census topologically integrated geographic encoding and referencing data base (TIGER®). Each numbered legislative district in subsection (b) of this section consists of the combined geographic area within the:
(i) Entire specified county, if the county alone is listed with no geographic subdivision listed below it;
(ii) Voter tabulation district, if any are listed below the specified county; and
(iii) Census block, if any are listed below the specified voter tabulation district. A census block listed below a voter tabulation district indicates a split voter tabulation district.
(b) See Attachment A.
(a) There shall be a president of the senate whose duties shall be:
(i) To take the chair at the hour fixed for the meeting of the senate, and call the members to order;
(ii) To announce the business before the senate in the order in which it is to be taken up;
(iii) To receive and submit in proper manner all motions and propositions presented by the members, and to announce the result;
(iv) To receive messages and other communications from other branches of the government, and to announce them to the senate;
(v) To authenticate by his signature, when necessary, all bills, orders and proceedings of the senate;
(vi) To name the members of all committees, unless otherwise directed by the senate.
(b) He may call any member to the chair, but such substitution shall not extend beyond an adjournment, except that in the case of sickness, he may, with the approval of the senate, appoint a member to perform the duties of the president for a period not exceeding ten (10) days.
(c) He shall have the regulation of such parts of the capitol and its passages, and any building in which the legislature meets while displaced from the capitol, as are or may be set apart for the use of the senate and its officers.
(d) He shall refer all matters to be committed to the committee most appropriate to take charge of the same.
(e) He shall, whenever a motion is made and carried to shut the doors of the senate chamber, in the discussion of any question which may, in the opinion of any member, require secrecy, direct the senate chamber to be cleared, and during the discussion of such question, the doors shall remain closed.
(f) He shall call a member to fill the chair whenever the senate resolves itself into a committee of the whole, and the chairman so called shall have the power of the president of senate, until such committee rise.
(g) He shall preserve order and decorum and may speak to points of order, in preference to other members, rising from his seat for that purpose.
There shall be a vice-president of the senate, who, in the absence of the president, shall exercise all the powers and authority of the president, and shall perform all his duties.
(a) At the beginning of each session of the legislature, the senate thereof shall engage such employee personnel for said session, upon respective compensation bases, as decided by it.
(b) The senate may authorize personnel to be employed beyond the adjournment of the session in order to complete recordkeeping of each session and prepare for each session of the legislature. The president of the senate, subject to legislative appropriation, shall establish the compensation of any staff so employed whose duties shall be performed under the direction of the president.