Clair McFarland
Clair McFarland is a general assignment reporter for Cowboy State Daily and is based in Riverton, Wyoming. She specializes in crime and court reporting and social issues coverage. Clair also writes a twice-monthly column on motherhood and country living.
Previously, Clair wrote for The Ranger, the Lander Journal and the Wind River News. She is an award-winning journalist, columnist and poet, who joined Cowboy State Daily on Valentine's Day, 2022.
Latest from Clair McFarland
Albany County Sheriff Denies ICE Numbers Saying He Has Helped Agency
Albany County Sheriff Aaron Appelhans says he has not honored requests from ICE to hold people for up to 48 hours past their release date for the agency to pick them up. ICE says his department has honored those requests - during the Biden administration.
Clair McFarlandOctober 31, 2026
Even Adjusting For Wealth, Teton County Race Is Most Expensive In Legislature
Even after adjusting for Teton County’s wealth, its contested House District 23 race is still the most expensive state legislative seat going into the general election. The Republican Party gave Rep. Liz Storer's GOP challenger $52,000.
Clair McFarlandOctober 31, 2026
Transgender Substitute Teacher Sues Evanston Schools Over Firing
A transgender substitute teacher who was fired from Uinta County School District 1 is suing the district, saying it violated the Constitution. The teacher had been tasked with supervising the boys' locker room in 2025.
Clair McFarlandOctober 30, 2026
Rep. Mike Yin Files Campaign Finance Complaints Against Wyoming Gov. Candidates
State Rep. Mike Yin filed election-finance complaints Wednesday accusing Wyoming gubernatorial candidates Rebecca Bextel, Brent Bien and Megan Degenfelder of accepting more than the legal limit for individual donations.
Clair McFarlandOctober 29, 2026
National Education Association Pours $1.8 Million Into Beating Prop. 1
The National Education Association has spent roughly $1.8 million working to oppose Prop. 1, the Wyoming ballot initiative to cut 50% of residential property tax on qualifying homes. “Why would they care?” about Prop. 1, asked a sponsor of the measure.
Clair McFarlandOctober 29, 2026
Northern Arapaho Tribe Tears Out Driveway Into Church, Plants Tribal Flags
Northern Arapaho Tribal leaders gouged out the driveway leading from a tribal road into a church property Thursday, then planted two of the tribe's flags. It's the latest outcry after the church pastor called out "idolatry" in tribal rituals.
Clair McFarlandOctober 29, 2026
Kash Patel Meets With 50 Wyoming Cops At War Memorial Stadium
FBI Director Kash Patel met with Wyoming law enforcement leaders in Laramie on Wednesday, then released a video montage touting the state as a law and order haven. "Wyoming is doing some of the best work in the country," Patel said.
Clair McFarlandOctober 29, 2026
GOP Teton Sheriff's Candidate Claims 'Retaliation' From Sheriff, May Sue
Eric Snow, the Republican candidate for Teton County Sheriff, says the Democratic incumbent Matt Carr's office has waged a retaliatory campaign against him throughout his campaign, and his attorney said they may sue. Carr denies the allegations.
Clair McFarlandOctober 29, 2026
Feds Tap Former Chuck Gray Deputy To Run DOJ Election Monitoring
U.S. Attorney Darin Smith announced Wednesday that Chuck Gray's former deputy will oversee a federal operation monitoring Wyoming’s general election next week. State authorities told the monitors they must stay at least 100 yards away from the polls.
Clair McFarlandOctober 28, 2026
Wyoming Gov Race: Barlow Out-Raises Bextel 4-1, Bextel Filing Amended Report
Wyoming campaign finance reports filed as of Wednesday morning show Eric Barlow has out-fundraised his opponent Rebecca Bextel in the gubernatorial race by nearly four-to-one. Bextel says her numbers are much higher and is filing an amended report.
Clair McFarlandOctober 28, 2026
Economists Say State Income Tax On The Table If Proposition 1 Passes
Wyoming economists say a state income tax is on the table if Prop 1 passes, because it's a targeted way to get back the huge tax discounts the initiative would give wealthy people. "It’s not a threat. It just makes income tax more logical,” said Sen. Cale Case.
Clair McFarlandOctober 28, 2026
Wyoming AG: State Law Bars DOJ Election Monitors From Polling Places
After the Trump administration sent DOJ election monitors to Cheyenne on primary election day, the Wyoming Attorney General said, in an opinion released publicly Tuesday, that the law doesn't authorize them to be in polling places and can be removed.
Clair McFarlandOctober 27, 2026
Judge Declines To Hold Sheriff Kozak In Contempt, Says He Didn't Willfully Withhold Documents
A Cheyenne-based judge has declined to hold Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak in contempt, after an immigration firm asked her to. Though the county was late in handing over documents for a Mexican National's case, officials didn't act "willfully," she said.
Clair McFarlandOctober 27, 2026
Wyoming GOP Chair Says Party Won't Endorse Barlow Or Bextel For Governor
Wyoming GOP Chair Bryan Miller said the party won't endorse Eric Barlow for governor because he didn't commit to the Republican platform, and won't endorse Bextel because she's not a Republican. He also said Checkgate "destroyed the Freedom Caucus."
Clair McFarlandOctober 27, 2026
Left-Leaning PAC Retracts False Mailers About Albany GOP Candidate
Better Wyoming Action & Research, a left-leaning PAC, has retracted about 20 copies of a false mailer it sent about GOP Albany County Sheriff candidate Daron Wyatt. “Even one of them being delivered with factually inaccurate information is an issue," Wyatt said.
Clair McFarlandOctober 26, 2026
Bextel Appears On Tucker Carlson To Tout Campaign, Says We Didn't Go To The Moon
Wyoming gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Bextel appeared on Tucker Carlson's show over the weekend and claimed Eric Barlow is a Democrat and is against fossil fuels. She also said the U.S. didn't land on the moon. "I'm not falling for it," she said.
Clair McFarlandOctober 26, 2026
I Made Feetloaf On Friday, A Gruesome Abomination Of Culinary Science
Clair McFarland writes: “I made feetloaf on Friday — a gruesome abomination of culinary science — as a Halloween prank. Joke’s on me, though, because my four teen boys and husband loved eating severed feet for dinner."
Clair McFarlandOctober 24, 2026
Glenrock Woman Says Converse County Library Fired Her Over Daughter's Facebook Post
Erin Wolfley is suing the Converse County Library saying she was fired because her daughter wrote a critical Facebook post about the library's working conditions. "It is ridiculously hot and the librarians are working in a 90 degree building," the daughter posted.
Clair McFarlandOctober 23, 2026
The Feud: Albany County Sheriff's Race Pits Two High-Profile And Combative Opponents
The Albany County Sheriff's race is a genuine feud. The two high-profile law enforcement officers sharply criticize each other. It casts the controversy of a high death rate in Sheriff Aaron Appelhans' jail against opponent Daron Wyatt's use of force history.
Clair McFarlandOctober 23, 2026
Legislative Candidate Loses Lawsuit Against University of Wyoming
Retired University of Wyoming professor Cam Wright, a candidate for the state Legislature, lost his high-profile lawsuit against UW in district court on Wednesday. The judge said that the evidence didn’t pose enough of a factual dispute for trial.
Clair McFarlandOctober 22, 2026
Challenger Wonders Why Albany County Coroner's DUI Arrest Didn't Hit The News
A candidate running for Albany County coroner is wondering why the DUI arrest of the sitting coroner last October never went public so he's raising it. Sally King "was too intoxicated to have driven to the scene of the dead body," the police report reads.
Clair McFarlandOctober 22, 2026