The state legislative subcommittee tasked with investigating a botched election last year in Weston County met Monday to draft a report – but did so behind closed doors.
A longtime legislator said that while that likely doesn’t run afoul of state law, it’s best practice to conduct those meetings in public.
Last week, the subcommittee on the Weston County Election met for more than 6 hours after it had subpoenaed Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock to appear.
Two women who’d participated in the hand count in the 2024 general election appeared and spoke, but subcommittee members, including chair and Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, and state Sen. Bob Ide, R-Casper, lamented that a huge purpose of the meeting depended on Hadlock’s appearance.
Rodriguez-Williams wrote in a Monday text message to Cowboy State Daily that subcommittee members met virtually that day to work on a draft report to submit to the Management Audit Committee later this month.
The subcommittee members told Cowboy State Daily last week of the work meeting set for Monday; but the event was not publicly streamed as most legislative meetings are.
Rep. Jayme Lien, R-Casper, told Cowboy State Daily that a report was being drafted but would not be made public until that committee meets later this month.
Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, who is not part of the subcommittee but has been in the Wyoming Legislature since 1993, told Cowboy State Daily that Monday’s meeting probably did not violate the state’s Open Meetings Act, but it’s best to hold holding such matters in public.
The longtime legislator can only remember two times he has met in executive session, he said.
What The Law Says
The state’s open meetings law, under Title 16, describes that local, county, and state governments “are public meetings, open to the public at all times, except as otherwise provided.”
Some reasons for descending into executive session include litigation discussions, national security, discussing real estate transactions, disciplinary action against personnel, security planning, and others.
But Case said that the state legislature is exempt from many provisions of the law, and a memo from the state’s Legislative Service Office (LSO) in 2006 says the state’s legislature and judiciary are not explicitly highlighted in the state statute.
Still, the memo says that this is a policy decision and the legislature, whether in or out of session, should make concerted efforts to conduct business in public.
“Holding public meetings which insures that all affected people are permitted an opportunity to be heard on issues that are important to their lives is essential to the effective performance of the duties of governmental bodies,” the memo reads.
What Happened Monday
Subcommittee members, investigating the actions of Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock, were mum about what was put into the report Monday.
The members are part of the Management Audit Committee, which is scheduled to meet in Casper on Oct. 21 at 8:30 a.m.
Case said that subcommittees typically give advance notice of such meetings, but there can be variation depending on who is in what committee.
“Subcommittees are a different breed of cat, they’re a little bit more flexible,” he said.
It’s possible that subcommittee members met privately to discuss their legal options since Hadlock did not respond to their initial subpoena, Case added.
Could The Law Change?
Even though the legislature is not beholden to the open meetings law, there are rules and policies that guide lawmakers as they conduct business, he said.
Case detailed his two forays into executive session, in more than three decades of serving in the legislature.
One was conferring with lawyers about the ramifications of taxing electricity sales in the state, and the other was a topic he could not recall, sitting on the appropriations committee.
“It’s extremely rare,” Case said.
Rep. Ann Lucas, R-Cheyenne, drafted a bill this past session specifying that video of each “meeting of management council, the joint appropriations committee, the management audit committee, a joint interim committee, a select committee or task force that is staffed by the legislative service office” should be made available to the public.
But the House did not approve it for introduction, and it died.
Case said the topic of open meetings, and when exemptions should occur with the legislature, is an ongoing discussion.
“We hear complaints around the state that local boards do too much in executive session … but there always needs to be an emergency out [or exemption],” he said.
