Title 5, Title 5 — Courts

Bond. A municipal judge shall give a bond to the municipality for which he is appointed in an amount provided by ordinance of the city or town. The bond shall be conditioned on the performance of his duties in accordance with law and ordinance of the city including the duty to tu…

Procedure generally; additional rules may be provided by ordinance; appeals. The procedure of municipal courts shall conform to the procedure provided by law and rules of procedure for courts of limited jurisdiction. The incorporated city or town may by ordinance provide any addi…

Appeals to district court in certain cities or towns. In addition to all other methods heretofore provided by law, an appeal from the judgment or sentence of a municipal court in any city or town operating under a special charter or commission, commission manager or manager form …

Costs. (a) Each city or town in the state of Wyoming may prescribe by ordinance such costs in all trials before municipal courts as may be necessary or deemed expedient. However, the costs shall not exceed ten dollars ($10.00). All costs collected shall be turned into the treasur…

Postponement of trial for violation of city ordinance; recognizance generally. If a person charged with a violation of a city ordinance is held to appear for examination or trial before a municipal judge, the judge may postpone the trial of the case to a certain day. The judge ma…

Postponement of trial for violation of city ordinance; sureties or deposit may be required; breach of recognizance; procedure where offense not cognizable before judge. When a person is ordered by the municipal judge to enter into a recognizance, he may at the discretion of the m…

Execution on judgments. Upon assessment of any fine and costs for the conviction of a violation of any ordinance of a city or town, judgment shall be entered against the defendant in favor of the city or town. If the judgment is not paid within ninety (90) days from the date of t…

Detention of juvenile offenders. (a) No minor charged with violating a municipal ordinance defined as a status offense under subsection (b) of this section shall be detained in a jail. (b) As used in W.S. 5-6-112 and 5-6-113: (i) "Juvenile detention facility" means any facility w…

Incarceration of juvenile offenders. (a) No minor convicted of a status offense shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment. (b) A minor convicted of a misdemeanor or of violating a municipal ordinance, other than a status offense, for which a term of imprisonment is authorized,…

Special probation for minor defendants. As a condition of probation or suspension of sentence, the court may require a defendant who is a minor to successfully complete a juvenile service program offered under the Community Juvenile Services Act.

Process extends throughout the state. A municipal judge may issue a statewide bench warrant for violation of a municipal ordinance which contains the same elements as a comparable state statute. The municipality in which the court issuing the statewide bench warrant exists is res…

Suspension of fines on conditions. (a) Notwithstanding W.S. 7-13-302 through 7-13-305, when imposing a fine for breach of an ordinance that is punishable by fine only, a municipal judge may suspend all or part of the fine for a specified period, not to exceed six (6) months, duri…

Jurisdiction of municipal judge; change of venue prohibited; exception for certain civil penalties. (a) Except as provided by subsection (b) of this section, a municipal judge has exclusive jurisdiction over all violations of ordinances of the city. The municipal judge shall hear…

Powers and duties of municipal judge generally; court to open every day except Sunday. (a) The municipal judge shall be a conservator of the peace and his court shall be open every day except Sundays to hear and determine all cases cognizable before him. No act shall be performed…

Appeal. In all cases before the municipal court arising under ordinances of the city, wherein the fine assessed exceeds the sum of ten dollars ($10.00) or the imprisonment ten (10) days, an appeal may be taken by the defendant to the district court in and for the county in which …

Fines and penalties to be paid to city treasurer; report of cases; failure to comply with section. All fines and penalties collected and arising from a breach of a city ordinance shall be deposited with the city treasurer, and the municipal judge shall report at the end of each c…

Duty of municipal judge as to trial generally. When a person is brought before the municipal judge upon warrant, the judge shall hear and determine the complaint alleged against the defendant.

Summoning and enforcing attendance of witnesses. It shall be the duty of said justice to summon all persons whose testimony may be deemed material as witnesses at the trial, and to enforce their attendance by attachment if necessary.

Cases in municipal court. Cases in the municipal court for violations of city ordinances shall be tried and determined by the court without the intervention of a jury, and the trial of such cases before the court shall be conducted in all respects, not herein otherwise provided f…

Assessment of punishment. (a) If the defendant is found guilty, the municipal judge shall declare and assess punishment and render judgment accordingly. (b) Repealed by Laws 1988, ch. 11, § 2.

Continuances; verbal notice to witnesses as to new date of trial valid as summons. When a trial shall be continued by the judge, it shall not be necessary to summon any witnesses who may be present at the continuance, but the judge shall verbally notify such witnesses as either p…

Punishment regulated by ordinance; maximum fine and imprisonment. (a) Any person convicted by a municipal judge of any offense under any ordinance of the city shall be punished by fine or imprisonment or both as provided by ordinance. Except as provided in subsection (b) of this …

Working prisoners; credit for work done. Whenever the defendant is sentenced to imprisonment for the violation of a city ordinance, he may be put to work for the benefit of the city, if it is determined that adequate supervision is available, for the term of his imprisonment, and…

Punishment of persons convicted before judge; maximum penalty permitted; power to punish for contempt. (a) A person convicted before a municipal judge shall be fined and imprisoned as provided by ordinance. Except as provided by W.S. 15-1-103(a)(xli) or subsection (c) of this sec…

Appeals from municipal court. Appeals from the judgment or sentence of a municipal court may be taken to the district court in the same manner as is now provided by law for appeals from circuit courts in criminal cases, and shall be dealt with by the courts as criminal cases.

Disposition of fines and penalties. All fines and penalties collected, arising from a breach of the ordinances of the town, shall be paid into the town treasury. If a town enacts an ordinance prescribing a court automation fee as provided in W.S. 5-6-108(a)(i), up to ten dollars …

Citizens qualified to try causes where town a party. No person shall be an incompetent judge, justice or juror by reason of his being an inhabitant or freeholder in such town, in any action or proceedings in which such town may be a party in interest.

General duties of clerk; under direction of court. The clerk of each of the courts shall exercise the powers conferred and perform the duties enjoined upon him by statute and by the common law; and in the performance of his duties he shall be under the direction of his court.

Precipe for writs and process. All writs and orders for provisional remedies and process of every kind shall be issued by the clerks of the several courts; but before they are issued, a precipe shall be filed with the clerk demanding the same.

Filing, preserving and use of papers; electronic record retention permitted. The clerk shall file together and carefully preserve in his office, all papers delivered to him for that purpose in every action or proceeding. He shall not permit the papers to be taken from his office …

Clerk's indorsement of papers. The clerk shall endorse upon every paper filed with him the date of the filing thereof, and upon every order for a provisional remedy, and upon every undertaking given under the same, the date of its return to his office.

Clerk to record proceedings of court. The clerk shall record the proceedings of the court.

Duties prescribed for clerks of district court applicable to all clerks. The provisions prescribing the duties of clerks of the district court shall, so far as they are applicable, apply to the clerks of other courts of record.

Establishment; judges; courts of record. Courts are established in each county of the state known as the "Juvenile Court of .... County, Wyoming." The district court judges of the state shall be the judges of the juvenile courts in the counties of their respective districts. Each…

Jurisdiction. (a) The juvenile court has general jurisdiction in all matters and proceedings commenced therein or transferred to it by order of the district court concerning: (i) Any minor alleged to be delinquent as defined in W.S. 14-6-201; (ii) Any minor alleged to have commit…

Definitions; construction of provisions. (a) As used in this act unless the context otherwise requires: (i) "Felony" means a criminal offense for which the penalty authorized by law includes imprisonment in a state penal institution for more than one (1) year; (ii) "Misdemeanor" …

Circuit court established; funding. (a) Pursuant to the provisions of section 10 of article 5 of the Wyoming Constitution, a circuit court is hereby established for each judicial district of the state of Wyoming enumerated in W.S. 5-3-101, and the boundaries of each circuit court…

Number and location of judges. (a) The legislature shall from time to time authorize the number and location of circuit court judges. (b) The supreme court may, based on caseload studies, determine where within a circuit the circuit court judge shall reside.

Extending jurisdiction to try misdemeanors committed in violation of city or town ordinances. The governing body of any city or town situate within a judicial district in which a circuit court is established may petition the supreme court to extend the jurisdiction of the circuit…

Disposition of money collected for violations of city or town ordinances; disposition of fines and penalties under general state laws. All money collected by a judge of a circuit court for violations of ordinances of a city or town shall be paid into the general fund of the city …

Supreme court to adopt rules; establish fees and court costs; rules of civil and criminal procedure to govern courts. The Wyoming supreme court is hereby vested with management and supervisory powers over the circuit courts of the state of Wyoming, and shall, by rule of the supre…

Name of court; presider. The circuit court shall be called the "Circuit Court of the .... (Number of the Judicial District) Judicial District, .... (Name of County) County, State of Wyoming" which shall be a court of record. The circuit court shall be presided over by a circuit j…

Term of judges. The terms of circuit court judges shall be four (4) years. Each judge selected under the provisions of article 5, section 4, of the Wyoming Constitution shall serve for one (1) year after his appointment and until the first Monday in January following the next gen…

Judges to be nonpartisan; nomination and appointment. Judges of the circuit court shall be nonpartisan, shall be nominated and appointed and retained as provided by article 5, section 4, of the Wyoming Constitution.

Qualifications for appointment. (a) To be eligible for appointment to the office of judge of a circuit court, a person shall be: (i) A qualified elector of the state; and (ii) Authorized to practice law in Wyoming.

Appointment to fill vacancies in office. Vacancies occurring in the office of judge of a circuit court shall be filled as provided by article 5, section 4, of the Wyoming Constitution.