Committee approves bill letting Chancery Court judge fill in on district and circuit dockets

The Judiciary Committee voted to advance House Bill 54, a bill that authorizes Wyoming’s Chancery Court judge to be assigned temporarily to district or circuit court dockets under specified circumstances. The committee approved an amendment that clarified statutory titles to include the chancery court in assignment provisions.

Alisa Butler, state court administrator for the Wyoming Judicial Branch, told the committee the bill is intended to provide consistency across trial court jurisdictions and to allow judges from circuit, district and chancery courts to contribute to each other’s dockets in situations such as illness, ethical conflicts, or concentrated workload. "This provides some consistency across all of our trial court jurisdictions where judges from each of those jurisdictions, circuit, district, and chancery, can all contribute, when necessary in another jurisdiction," Butler said.

The bill revises assignment language in Wyoming statute to explicitly allow assignment of a chancery court judge to a circuit or district docket when necessary. Committee discussion clarified several operational points: the Chancery Court is a business‑oriented court designed for expedited, bench trials rather than jury trials; district courts and the chancery court have concurrent jurisdiction for certain civil matters; a single full‑time chancery judge was sworn in earlier this year (testimony identified the swearing‑in as Jan. 2); and a chancery judge would not receive additional salary when covering another court but would receive per diem and travel reimbursements from the receiving court’s budget.

Representative Bratton offered an amendment to add "or Chancery Court Judge" to a statutory title on page 3; the committee adopted the amendment. Committee members asked about the statutory consent provision that historically applied when assigning circuit court judges to district court cases valued over $50,000; witnesses explained the dollar threshold originates from the circuit court’s limited jurisdiction and the bill’s changes were intended to preserve consent requirements while extending assignment flexibility to the chancery judge.

The committee also discussed judicial vacancy and emergency coverage procedures. Butler outlined the normal judicial appointment process: qualified applicants apply, the Judicial Nominating Commission interviews candidates and forwards three names to the governor, and the appointment process typically takes several months; in the interim the judicial branch uses other sitting judges to manage dockets.

After discussion and adoption of the title amendment, the committee moved the bill (motion by the vice chairman; second by Representative Webb). The clerk recorded 8 ayes and 1 no; the bill was advanced from committee.

What the bill would do and practical effects House Bill 54 would amend statutory assignment provisions so that chancery court judges may be temporarily assigned to circuit or district court dockets in specified circumstances (illness, conflict, workload, emergencies), subject to the qualifications and safeguards in statute. The bill clarifies that per diem and travel expenses for a judge assigned to another jurisdiction would come from the receiving court’s budget and that judges would not receive duplicate base salary for short‑term assignments. The committee adopted a technical amendment to ensure statutory titles explicitly reference chancery court assignments.

Votes at a glance - House Bill 54 (Chancery Court judge assignments): Moved by Vice Chairman Singh; seconded by Representative Webb. Committee roll call: 8 ayes, 1 no. Outcome: advanced from committee.

Next steps and context With committee approval, House Bill 54 will proceed to the full House for further consideration. Committee members and witnesses flagged implementation questions (consent and jurisdictional thresholds, docket management and temporary coverage processes) that may be considered in subsequent floor debate and by affected judicial administrators.