The Weston County Clerk has been formally charged with the crime of dodging a legislative subpoena to a subcommittee formed to investigate her handling of the 2024 election.
Becky Jo Hadlock, 46, is scheduled for a Casper Circuit Court hearing Nov. 14.
In a case that became publicly available this week, the Natrona County District Attorney's Office charged Hadlock late last month with failing to appear for a legislative subpoena.
She could face up to six months in jail and $100 in fines if convicted of failure to appear. However, she could also face lesser penalties, including a deferral, probation, or any other sentence under the maximum, if convicted.
The case affidavit, signed Oct. 13 by Natrona County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Sgt. Ken Jividen, details part of the saga.
How We Got Here
The Management Audit Committee first announced July 9 that it was subpoenaing Hadlock to appear for a subcommittee meeting investigating her handling of the 2024 general election in Weston County.
That subpoena was issued Sept. 23. Hadlock was allowed to appear in person or via virtual link, court documents say.
Hadlock wrote to the Legislative Service Office (LSO), that she was sending other people in her place, but that she had a scheduling conflict.
In an Oct. 8 interview with Jividen, Hadlock explained the conflict, saying she schedules all her appointments for the same week to avoid having many appointments over a longer timeframe, the affidavit says.
She had a doctor’s appointment at about 8 a.m. in Newcastle the day of the meeting, then had to get her mother to an appointment in Gillette later that morning, Hadlock reportedly told Jividen.
On Oct. 10, Hadlock provided to Jividen doctor’s notes confirming the appointments. Both documents were created Oct. 9, “after Sergeant Jividen’s interview with Hadlock,” the investigator wrote.
Hadlock’s attorney, Ryan Semerad, declined Thursday to comment on the case.
Please Come Forward
Subcommittee Chair Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, called Hadlock’s name multiple times the morning of the meeting, held in the Thyra Thomson building in Casper.
Silence followed.
Other Weston County election workers testified, but said they didn’t understand their testimonies to be stand-ins for Hadlock’s.
Wyoming law left little wiggle room after that.
“Any person having been subpoenaed as a witness by the authority of the … committee … Is guilty of a misdemeanor,” says state statute 28-1-110(a).
The next two sections of that law impose mandates on Management Audit Committee Chair Rep. Christopher Knapp, R-Gillette, under whose authority the subpoena was issued.
The “presiding officer” — Knapp — “shall certify that failure or violation to the appropriate district attorney for prosecution of the matter in the appropriate court,” says statute 28-1-111.
While that section doesn’t specify which district attorney and court are appropriate, 28-1-112 gives some context. It requires Knapp to apply to the district court overseeing the region in which the meeting was held for an order requiring the witness to appear before the committee.
Knapp said in an Oct. 21 public meeting he’d be willing to apply for such an order.
Cowboy State Daily could not locate a motion by Knapp or the Management Audit Committee to the Natrona County District Court by publication time.
Knapp did not immediately respond to text messages seeking comment.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
