Weston County’s clerk of seven years resigned Thursday, one day after she was arrested and charged with two felonies, the chair of the local Republican Party, Kari Drost, has confirmed.
Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock’s resignation averts a civil trial that had been set for Monday, in which the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office sought to prove to a jury that she committed misconduct or malfeasance in office and should be removed from her post.
Hadlock’s attorney Ryan Semerad declined Thursday to comment on Hadlock’s resignation, but said, “I look forward to fighting back against the criminal charges filed against her.”
Hadlock was arrested and booked into the Weston County Detention Center late Wednesday morning. She made bond on her own recognizance roughly two hours later and was freed. Her felony elections violation case is still ongoing.
“She tendered her immediate resignation,” Weston County Commission Chair Nathan Todd said by phone Thursday. “We’re going to have a special meeting Tuesday to accept it (and) get that process started.”
Todd said that was the extent of his comments on the matter at this juncture.
In the 2024 general election in Weston County, faulty ballots from a third-party printer intermingled into the election, skewing the results of two unopposed races: one was the legislative race of House Speaker Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, and the other was a county commission race in which the number of contenders matched the number of open seats.
Neiman’s race appeared in Weston County as a drastic undervote.
Hadlock filed a post-election audit with the Wyoming Secretary of State’s office in which she reported no errors on a 75-ballot sample.
A later redo of that audit revealed 21 flawed ballots, court documents say.
Secretary of State Chuck Gray repeatedly announced at legislative committee meetings that he believed Hadlock either lied about performing the audit or lied about its results.
A group of Weston County electors, including Weston County GOP Chair Kari Drost, asked Gov. Mark Gordon to investigate Hadlock for misconduct or malfeasance in office, and to push for her removal. They didn’t include complaints about the audit, however.
Gordon declined last May, saying her conduct didn’t rise to the level required for a civil removal case.
The Legislature’s Management Audit Committee formed a subcommittee that summer to investigate the 2024 election. And in September, committee Chair Chris Knapp, R-Gillette, subpoenaed Hadlock to appear at a Sept. 29 meeting of that subcommittee.
When the summons was still an invitation, Hadlock had told legislative staffers she had a conflict on the date of the meeting and couldn’t make it.
Knapp upgraded the invitation to a subpoena, and when she didn’t show, the committee reported her, and the Natrona County District Attorney’s Office later charged her with skipping a legislative subpoena - a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and $100 in fines.
That case is ongoing in Casper Circuit Court.
Meanwhile, a group of Weston County electors filed new complaints, this time including the audit issue.
Reflecting on the audit issue and Hadlock’s failure to appear for a legislative subpoena, Gordon recommended her removal in January after the sequel complaint.
Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz reviewed Gordon’s recommendation, and filed a civil complaint for Hadlock’s removal in Weston County District Court, in February.
Kautz declined Thursday to comment on Hadlock’s removal.
Semerad and attorneys from Kautz’ office clashed this month over a number of legal disputes in Hadlock’s civil removal case, including whether Hadlock could subpoena the lawmakers who tried to summon her. Those were Knapp, and another legislator involved in Hadlock’s subpoena process: Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody.
District Court Judge Michael McGrady ruled, however, that those lawmakers were protected by an “absolute” legislative privilege due to a clause in the Wyoming Constitution saying legislators “shall not be questioned in any other place” for any speech or debate in “either house.”
As of Wednesday Hadlock’s attorney was still slated to subpoena Gray to the trial, however.
Then Came Wednesday
Also on Wednesday, special prosecutor and Natrona County District Attorney Dan Itzen filed the two-count felony case against Hadlock, in Newcastle Circuit Court.
It alleges she violated the election code as an official, and falsified election documents. Each is a felony punishable by up to five years and $10,000 in fines.
That case is still viable. It’s a different action from the civil removal case, and from the criminal misdemeanor case of subpoena-skipping.
The affidavit in the felony case says Weston County Sheriff Bryan Colvard asked the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) to investigate Hadlock’s handling of the 2024 election.
DCI Special Agent Matt Waldock wrote that on OCt. 25, 2024, the Secretary of State’s office emailed all Wyoming county clerks, including Hadlock, with detailed instructions on conducting post-election audits.
Those described how to use the Electionware software and listed a requirement to compare the ballot image to the cast-vote record, wrote Waldock.
Waldock and another agent interviewed Drost on Jan. 15, 2026, the document says.
Drost said that during an election judge training session leading up to the election, Hadlock had called post-election audits “stupid” and said she didn’t know why she needed to perform them, according to the affidavit.
Weston County Deputy Clerk Amber Green told those same agents, reportedly, that Hadlock that she’d “absolutely” heard Hadlock make that statement during an election judge training.
Green said she helped Hadlock with the post-election audit.
“Green advised she never observed the ballot image and questioned Hadlock (asking) ‘is this all you do?’” the document says. “Hadlock said ‘yes you just look at this.’”
Waldock wrote he presumes “this” refers to the cast-vote record.
The investigation revealed she “knowingly” filed a false post-election audit, the affidavit alleges.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
