CASPER — Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock pleaded not guilty Friday in Casper Circuit Court to a criminal charge for failing to appear when subpoenaed by a state legislative subcommittee to answer questions related to her handling of the 2024 election.
Hadlock, 46, sat beside her defense attorney Ryan Semerad before Judge Cynthia Sweet and listened as Sweet read the charge against her.
The judge told Hadlock that the charge carries a potential penalty of up to six months in jail and a $100 fine.
Semerad told the judge that they would be requesting a jury trial.
Sweet asked Hadlock how she would plead to the charge.
“Not guilty,” the clerk said.
Natrona County Chief Deputy District Attorney Blaine Nelson said he and Semerad had talked about a bond for the misdemeanor charge. He noted her ties to the community and asked for a $500 personal recognizance bond.
Sweet agreed and told Hadlock to stay in touch with Semerad.
Both Semerad and Nelson said they anticipate motions and some briefs to be filed leading up to the trial.
“Once a trial date is set, we will put out a briefing schedule,” Sweet said.
The case stems from Hadlock’s failure to appear at a Sept. 29 legislative 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.
Not Available
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 Natrona County Sheriff’s Office investigator Sgt. Ken 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 Jividen with doctors' notes confirming the appointments.
Both documents were created Oct. 9, “after Sergeant Jividen’s interview with Hadlock,” the investigator wrote.
On Sept. 29, 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.
Other Weston County election workers testified but said they didn’t understand their testimonies to be stand-ins for Hadlock’s.
Wyoming law leaves 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.
Central Location
Knapp told Jividen during his investigation into the matter that the committee chose Natrona County for the location of the meeting because it was centrally located and “more feasible for all those scheduled to be in attendance to be present.”
In his signed affidavit, Jividen noted that he received a 38-page PDF from Hadlock that included her email correspondence with “individuals” about her not being able to attend the Sept. 29 meeting.
“Within the documentation, Hadlock did attempt multiple times to facilitate other individuals from her office to attend the meeting and provide testimony,” Jividen wrote.
Meanwhile, 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 from 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 issued a subpoena compelling Hadlock to meet about the election at its Sept. 29 meeting in Casper.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
