Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Wyoming advisory committee tells U.S. Commission on Civil Rights local enforcement needed to address housing discrimination
Loading...
Summary
James O'Brien, chair of the Wyoming advisory committee, presented a 2024 committee report finding low HUD complaint counts, high rates of disability-based complaints and recommendations that the governor assign enforcement authority locally to improve access to remedies.
Chair Rochelle Garza opened the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights business meeting and turned to James O’Brien, chair of the Wyoming advisory committee, who presented the committee’s 2024 report on housing discrimination in Wyoming.
The committee’s report, approved by a majority in October 2024 with a dissent appended, concluded that Wyoming residents face enforcement hurdles because the Wyoming Fair Housing Act requires the governor to assign enforcement authority to a state agency and the governor had not done so. "We suggest that our governor assign enforcement authority to the Wyoming attorney general's office so that Wyomingites can go and report complaints locally," O'Brien said. He told commissioners that over the last 10 years HUD has received "only 200 complaints," which the committee described as low.
O’Brien highlighted three other findings: a Wyoming Realtors Association survey in which about 35% of respondents reported witnessing discriminatory housing practices; a high share of disability-based complaints (the report said roughly 70% of complaints to HUD); and renter reluctance to report discrimination because of fear of retaliation. He also described discrimination faced by residents of the Wind River Reservation seeking housing in bordering communities and said the committee identified roughly 100 reservation families who the report characterized as homeless due to difficulty obtaining housing in border towns.
The committee recommended state-level actions including (1) gubernatorial assignment of enforcement authority—preferably to the attorney general's office; (2) interpreting the Wyoming Fair Housing Act in parity with the Federal Fair Housing Act to allow Wyoming to seek HUD enforcement funds; (3) additional HUD compliance reviews of HUD‑funded housing in Wyoming, with a specific request for attention to Riverton; and (4) legislative and local action to remove unenforceable, legacy covenants from real estate records.
Commissioners asked about implementation plans. Vice Chair Victoria Nurse asked whether the committee had thought about next steps; O’Brien said the committee had sent materials to state legislative committees, met with the governor’s office, and engaged the Wyoming Realtors Association, which publicly supports local enforcement. Commissioner Jones criticized language in the appended dissent, calling a quoted passage "horrifying and inflammatory," while the chair and other commissioners commended the committee’s local focus.
The commission did not take formal action on the Wyoming report at this meeting; O’Brien concluded by thanking staff who supported the committee’s work and offering to answer follow-up questions.
