Senate panel OKs bill allowing district courts to change venue, adds savings clause and court rulemaking authority

Senate File 79, a two-page bill to allow district courts to transfer civil cases filed in the wrong venue and preserve the plaintiff's original filing date, was advanced by the Senate Judiciary Committee after debate and an amendment.

The legislation would permit a district court, on its own motion or on request of a party, to order a change of venue and include a savings clause so that the original filing date applies if a case is transferred. "What this says is if you happen to file in the wrong in the wrong venue and the court orders it to be changed or transferred ... your original filing date is the filing date for the cause of action," said Senator Barry Grego, who presented the bill.

Former Senator Nicholas described problems that have arisen under current practice: filings made just before the statute of limitations can be dismissed when a case is found to have been filed in an incorrect county, and the physical record (the "case jacket") historically impeded transfer. "We want to make sure you get the benefit of the time that you first filed," Former Senator Nicholas said, urging language that preserves plaintiffs' rights while allowing courts to administratively transfer cases in the electronic-filing era.

Alisa Butler, state court administrator for the Wyoming Judicial Branch, urged adding rulemaking authority so the courts can adopt procedures to implement the change. Butler told the committee the proposed language mirrors other provisions in the Code of Civil Procedure and would let the Supreme Court adopt rules for administering transfers. "Constitutionally the court has that authority now ... but this does allow for that extra level of basically authority to allow the courts to adopt rules specific to this statutory change," Butler said.

Committee members discussed whether the bill should cover other trial courts (for example, chancery courts) and whether the statute should say the court "shall" rather than "may" transfer a case in some circumstances. Senator Grego and Former Senator Nicholas said the savings clause was the bill's central feature and that many implementation details are best delegated to court rulemaking to avoid an unwieldy statute.

The committee adopted an amendment (moved by Senator Crago) to make explicit that the Supreme Court may adopt rules governing proceedings under the section, with the word "section" replacing "article" in the draft language. The committee then voted on Senate File 79; the roll call recorded four ayes, one excused. The committee record shows the bill was moved by Senator Cole.

Votes at a glance: The committee adopted the Supreme Court rulemaking amendment and voted 4–0 (1 excused) to advance Senate File 79 to the floor.

Background: The bill references venue provisions in the Code of Civil Procedure (Title 1, Chapter 5) and aims to align statutory procedure with electronic filing and the statewide jurisdiction of Wyoming courts.

Future steps: The committee indicated staff and the Judicial Branch would work on precise statutory language and possible inclusion of other trial courts before the bill moves forward.