Commission approves temporary wage bumps and a library maintenance rehire; county attorney reports prosecutor hire

Fremont County commissioners on Sept. 23 approved short-term personnel actions and heard personnel updates from county staff.

Temporary pay for youth services supervisors: Commissioner discussion led to approval of a temporary wage increase for two youth services supervisors who picked up duties after a director’s departure. One commissioner moved to increase pay "to in the 600 each" (commission discussion recorded $600 each) retroactive to Aug. 1 and continuing until a new director is hired. The motion was seconded and passed. Commissioners said the increase is intended to compensate interim staff for added responsibilities and to continue until a permanent director is in place.

Library maintenance rehire: Anita Marple, library director, asked commissioners to approve rehiring a full-time custodial and maintenance staff person for the Riverton branch after a resignation. The position is budgeted in the 2025–26 library budget. Marple said the position is essential for custodial, maintenance and groundskeeping work at Riverton and assists at other branches. Commissioners moved to approve the rehire; the motion passed. Marple gave the committee the salary information as follows: she said the full-time position is in the approved 2025–26 budget at a base salary of $33,440 with a total employee cost of $63,597. During the motion there was a conflicting spoken figure in the transcript; commissioners approved the rehire but the recorded dialogue includes inconsistent base salary numbers. The transcript shows both $33,440 (presented as budgeted base salary) and a later readback that sounded like $32,400.

County attorney hiring update: County Attorney Michael Wyatt said the candidate the office had been monitoring for the Riverton prosecutor position passed the bar, accepted an offer and is expected to start around Oct. 6 or Oct. 7. Wyatt said one juvenile attorney position remains open and that he is contacting the University of Wyoming College of Law to build recruiting channels for junior attorneys.

Why it matters: The temporary pay decision affects current department budgets and compensates interim employees; the library rehire restores staffed maintenance capacity at a branch and the prosecutor hire affects staffing of the county attorney’s office and local prosecution capacity.

Details and next steps: Commissioners directed that the temporary wage increase be applied retroactively to Aug. 1 and continue until a new director is hired. The library position will be filled as budgeted and the county attorney will continue recruitment for the remaining vacancy.

Ending: The county will implement the temporary wages and proceed with hiring for the library and prosecution positions; commissioners did not record a roll-call vote in the transcript beyond the approving voice votes.