CHEYENNE —A lawsuit over a subpoena issued by a legislative committee could clear up questions about the extent of lawmakers’ power over local officials.
The subpoenas issued by the remote and musty Management Audit Committee are the first ever issued by a legislative committee in recent history.
Their rarity makes the lawsuit special.
As I have reported earlier, my recollection is that the Management Audit Committee came about in the 1970s because of legislators’ concern about how or whether state agencies were putting their new laws into effect as they intended.
But when the committee’s small staff did conduct audits, their work received a lot of push-back from the executive branch. The agencies claimed they were over-reaching, particularly into finances.
It ended up a tiff between the legislative and executive branches. The committee’s work continued, but on a much reduced scale to the point where it was considered for termination in recent years.
Enter the hard right Freedom Caucus, whose members now control this committee. They decided to dust off the old statute and to aggressively exercise all the powers they have as a committee.
Clearly, they did have authority to issue subpoenas under the statute W.S. 28-8-107.
Unfortunately, in my view, the Freedom Caucus members were reckless and overly aggressive in their decision to issue subpoenas to local officials over some questionable audit findings.
In doing so they damaged the valuable and sometimes fragile relationship the Legislature has had with local governments.
It was built over years on mutual respect.
Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper, the longest serving legislator, who joined the House in 1979 before moving on to the Senate, is a former Management Committee member.
He said he cannot remember any legislative committee, let alone the Management Committee, subpoenaing anyone to testify.
It is not necessary, he said in a phone interview last week.
“Why bother?” Scott said. “Just ask them.”
Scott mentioned the availability of the internet and Zoom to join committees with citizens in the state.
But in most instances, subpoenas demand that a subject appear in person.
Unlike a simple invitation, a subpoena can be daunting since it is a legal order for someone to appear, with consequences if the person refuses to show up.
Yet the willingness to appear that Scott mentioned was evident in the response of local officials who attended a Management Audit Committee meeting this fall.
Rather than showing outrage at the subpoenas, the local officials seemed hurt and defensive.
At any rate, the subpoena that prompted the lawsuit was issued to Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock, who defied the committee’s subpoena to appear and answer questions regarding errors in the November 5th, 2024 election.
That miscount prompted Secretary of State Chuck Gray to call for Hadlock’s removal as county clerk.
Gov. Mark Gordon determined the charge was serious, but not enough to require removal from office
Hadlock pleaded not guilty to the subpoena misdemeanor charge in Natrona County District Court.
Her attorney, Ryan Semerad, filed a motion claiming the subpoena was illegal, and should have been handled as an election code violation.
As such, it should have gone to the state’s attorney general, the local county prosecuting attorney of the county involved, or the county sheriff, for determination, according to published sources.
In other words, the committee was meddling in a case far outside its perimeters of power.
State law, moreover, gives the Legislative Service Office authority over committee investigations, amid strict confidentiality, contrary to the very public investigation of Hadlock.
In his arguments for dismissing the case, the defense attorney covered all bases.
Even if the committee possessed any authority to act as it did, the motion said, the committee violated Hadlock’s due process rights by serving her with a subpoena that required her to travel 165 miles to Cheyenne to provide testimony in person, after receiving general short notice.
Contact Joan Barron at 307-632-2534 or jmbarron@bresnan.net
