CASPER — After the Weston County clerk failed to show for a Wyoming legislative committee’s subpoena, the panel chair on Tuesday said he would seek a court order compelling her to testify at a later meeting.
Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock did not appear for the Sept. 29 meeting — to which she was subpoenaed — of a legislative subcommittee tasked with investigating her office’s mishandling of two races in the 2024 general election.
If the Natrona County District Attorney’s Office prosecutes her and she’s convicted, she could face up to six months in jail and $100 in fines for that.
Management Audit Committee Chair Rep. Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette, confirmed to his committee Tuesday that he would seek a court order to compel Hadlock to appear at a later meeting of the subcommittee that falls under his panel’s supervision.
If she doesn’t show for the meeting once ordered, she may be found in contempt of court.
Under the Wyoming rules of criminal procedure, additional jail time and fines are possible for indirect criminal contempt.
Rep. Jaymie Lien, R-Casper, asked Knapp during the committee’s Tuesday meeting in Casper whether he’d allow the subcommittee on the Weston County investigation to meet once more before the legislative session, which begins Feb. 9, and call for a court order to compel Hadlock’s appearance.
“My answer is yes, I will allow that to happen,” said Knapp.
In what Knapp called an informal poll, the committee members present (Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, and Sen. Troy McKeown, R-Gillette, were not), all members voted in favor of the extra meeting.
Lien asked whether there’d be time to get a court order and compel Hadlock’s attendance before the session.
Legislative Service Office senior staff attorney Josh Anderson said he wasn’t sure.
“From my knowledge, I don’t’ think this has ever occurred before,” he told the committee.
The Botched Election
Gov. Mark Gordon this spring and summer investigated whether he should ask the attorney general to initiate a removal-from-office proceeding against Hadlock, after some residents of Weston County complained that she’d committed misconduct.
The governor found that although Hadlock’s office botched the 2024 general election in her county — which warped two uncontested elections — her conduct didn’t constitute the “willful negligence” or “malicious intent” that could drive a prosecution for removal for office.
Gordon also said he was not eager to infringe on the autonomy of Weston County voters by removing their elected official from his statewide office.
Wanting to dig deeper, the legislative Management Audit Committee in July issued a subpoena compelling Hadlock to meet with a subcommittee on her election at its Sept. 29 meeting in Casper.
Hadlock did not appear that day, risking a criminal penalty of up to six months in jail and $100 in fines.
Natrona County District Attorney Dan Itzen told Cowboy State Daily on Monday afternoon that an investigative affidavit by the Natrona County Sheriff’s Office is on his desk, and he’s reviewing it.
That leaves the question of whether Hadlock will be charged criminally still tentative.
What The Law Says
Wyoming’s law around legislative subpoenas says that when a person fails to appear, the presiding officer of the body — in this case Knapp — “shall” certify that violation to the “appropriate” district attorney for prosecution.
Knapp did call for Hadlock’s prosecution as the statute requires, according to statements lawmakers made during the September and October meetings.
The law also says that “in the case of refusal to obey” the subpoena, the presiding officer “shall” apply to the district court that oversees the region where the meeting is held — in this case, Natrona County District Court — to compel the witness’s appearance before the committee.
It does not specify whether a conviction of dishonoring a subpoena is first required to prove that “refusal to obey.”
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
