The mayor of the 180-person town of Superior, Wyoming, is criticizing his county sheriff, saying the elected law enforcer doesn’t patrol the town enough and has been unwilling to furnish security for its municipal court.
Two more mayors in other small, far-flung Sweetwater County towns voiced partial (but not whole) agreement with those sentiments in later interviews with Cowboy State Daily.
Superior Mayor Dominic Wolf approached the Sweetwater County Commission during its public meeting Tuesday, saying the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office does not patrol the town enough, and the sheriff has been unwilling to work with him to remedy the situation.
The commission did not act on Wolf’s concerns, with some board members noting that the sheriff is the elected head of his own department.
Sweetwater County Sheriff John Grossnickle and a department spokesman both countered Wolf’s claims in a later interview with Cowboy State Daily, saying the mayor’s frustrations stem from misunderstanding, miscommunication and the tough realities of serving the nation’s eighth-largest county by area with a force 33% short of trained staff.
Mayor’s Ask
Wolf told Cowboy State Daily he’s not asking for 24-hour policing from the sheriff’s office, “just asking for a little bit of police presence.”
He wants the sheriff’s office to oversee Superior’s municipal court “to make sure no one is out of control,” and he hopes for additional patrols in the town, he said.
Wolf said Grossnickle scuttled the mayor’s attempts at striking an agreement between the town and the sheriff’s office, essentially backing out of negotiation talks without explanation.
“It seemed like everything was moving smoothly,” said Wolf. “I just wanted him to get involved with my community resource officers so we can intel (exchange information) and they know what’s going on out here.”
Wolf told the commission Tuesday that drug use is becoming a problem locally, and added that the sheriff’s office does not have a dedicated drug-enforcement team but relies in part on the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation.
Drug enforcement is one of DCI’s specific duties.
Town authorities don’t know what to do with the occasional disorderly conduct incidents, said Wolf.
He also cited an alleged break-in, saying the sheriff’s office never responded.
The sheriff’s office in turn said it was never called to the incident.
Wolf told Cowboy State Daily he would try to follow up with the alleged victim for clarification.
But Those Are Town Codes
Jason Mower, spokesman for Sheriff John Grossnickle, told Cowboy State Daily that Wolf has been “changing the goal posts” on the issue of policing the small town and that he underrepresented to the commission just how expansive his request for enforcement was.
By Mower’s account, Wolf asked for additional patrols, a municipal court bailiff and for a deputy to enforce town ordinances — but conveyed that Superior did not intend to pay for those extras as part of Wolf’s proposed agreement.
Those are “extras” in Wyoming because the state’s system has been for county sheriffs to enforce state laws, not city, in their respective counties, unless certain town councils enter into an agreement with them to enforce town ordinances as well, he said.
That’s unrealistic considering the sheriff’s office’s current staffing levels, Mower said.
Technically, he added, the “governing body” of Superior is the town council, not the mayor, so propositions for an intergovernmental agreement would have to come from the council.
“He expected that because the town is in the county of Sweetwater and we are the county sheriff’s office we should effectively be able to serve as the town of Superior’s private police,” said Mower. “Entering into a (memorandum or letter of understanding) to act as an incorporated town’s private police force is also a slippery slope because doing so would also invite other municipalities to expect that we provide the same services for them. Where does it stop?”
Mower contended additionally that the sheriff’s office does patrol Superior and other small towns. But the agency doesn’t want to sign an agreement with the town promising extras the office is potentially not staffed to give, and open the taxpayers up to a breach of contract lawsuit — especially if Wolf does not expect to pay for the extras, said Mower.
In a follow-up text, Wolf rebutted again, saying he never demanded a "free" agreement, but wanted to see "what it will cost if anything."
He noted Superior is receiving $42,000 in impact funds for a recent project, but said that’s not enough to keep an officer funded.
Well, Sorta
Cowboy State Daily interviewed the mayors of Granger and Wamsutter, two other small incorporated communities in Sweetwater County.
Each voiced concerns with patrol levels, but neither was willing to echo Wolf entirely.
Granger Mayor Anselmo Valerio Jr. said his town cannot afford a police officer of its own and is about a half hour’s drive from the larger city of Green River, where the law enforcement presence is more concentrated.
Valerio added that he sees both sides of the issue.
The town has 50-60 residents, and maybe one of them would be willing and capable to effect a citizen’s arrest if absolutely necessary, he said.
But Valerio couldn’t point to any severe criminal incidents in recent history.
“We’ve been fairly lucky in the past couple years,” he said. “Everyone kind of looks out for everyone.”
Sometimes town residents call the sheriff’s office, and deputies’ responses have been “really good with us so far.”
This School
Wamsutter Mayor Larry “Chip” Roney said his interactions with deputies have been 99% positive. He pointed to a 2022 incident in which a man with documented mental health issues tried to get into the local Desert Elementary School despite being trespassed from the location.
Roney, who also serves as the school’s principal, said it took sheriff’s deputies an hour and 11 minutes to respond, and they reportedly did not call the Wyoming Highway Patrol for backup.
“I’m confident the call was made, but (theorize) the nearest trooper was somewhere equal to or farther away than our ETA,” said Mower. “That is a relatively common occurrence, which it’s then incumbent for the primary agency to hurry as fast as they safely can.”
The suspect was charged and arrested, but not sentenced until spring 2024 after the court paused his case for mental health evaluations.
The man came back to the school earlier this month and alarmed at least one student, Roney said, adding that the man was unarmed both times.
But this time, a deputy arrived to handle the suspect within about 20 minutes, Roney said.
Roney alluded vaguely to another deputy encounter that he deemed unpleasant.
But when pressed on what he would like to receive from the sheriff’s office, Roney was noncommittal.
“I don’t even know,” he said. “Because I don’t know enough about, I can’t speak intelligently enough about his roles and responsibilities.”
Wamsutter received over $1 million in impact funds for a recent project, which was earmarked for a town marshal, according to Mower.
Roney did not immediately respond to a follow-up request for confirmation.
The Tally
Mower furnished figures regarding the sheriff’s office’s call volumes regionally from Jan. 1 through Sept. 9.
The office has received 16,433 calls for service total, which includes both dispatch and 911 calls.
Of those, 481 were for the town of Wamsutter or vast surrounding areas, including the Red Desert, he said. That’s 3% of the total.
The Granger-area calls totaled 169, or 1%. The Superior calls amounted to 0.6%. The town of Bairoil and surrounding areas had 21 calls, or 0.1%, he said.
And the calls to those remote areas aren’t worse for their severity, Mower added.
He said the sheriff’s office patrols those areas, but doesn’t have the staff to place dedicated deputies in each tiny town for daily surveillance.
Sheriff Grossnickle also spoke with Cowboy State Daily. He was emphatic that the sheriff’s office always responds when called.
“We do have enforcement in these outlying towns, and we don’t ignore calls,” said Grossnickle. “I’m always willing to work with somebody as long as it’s reasonable, and they understand where we’re coming from also.”
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
