Wyoming Lawmakers Working on Bill To Allow Recall Of Local Officials.

A bill that is being drafted for the 2027 session of the Wyoming Legislature would allow voters to recall city officials.

The proposed bill may be amended to include the recall of county commissioners, according to a Laramie County lawmaker.

You can read the working draft of the ''recall of elected municipal officials" bill here. It's under consideration in the legislature's Corporations, Elections, and Political Subdivisions Committee.

The measure, as currently written, would allow voters to petition for the removal of municipal officials serving four-year terms. The number of signatures required to trigger a recall vote would depend on how many voters are eligible to cast votes for the office.

Amount Of Signatures Required Would Vary

If the number of voters is 2,500 or fewer, 40 percent of eligible voters must sign a petition to trigger a recall vote. If the number of voters is between 2,500 and 10,00, the petition requires 25 percent of registered voters. If over 10,000 people are eligible t vote for the office, a petition would need 15 percent of eligible voters.

The petition would also need a general statement of the reasons for recalling the official. And each petition could only call for the recall of one official. A petition to remove, for example, an entire city council on a single petition would not be allowed.

If enough eligible voters are found to have signed the petition by the county clerk's office, a recall election would be scheduled for between 91 and 120 days after the petition is certified unless a regular election is already scheduled for that time.

If a regular election is slated, the question would be on the regular election ballot. If it isn't scheduled for that time, a special election would be called, again between 91 and 120 days after certification

.While the draft of the bill only pertains to city officials, Rep. Ann Lucas [R-Laramie County] says she wants to amend the bill to include county commissioners.

The Wyoming Constitution only allows for the recall of city officials under a "city commission' form of government. But no Wyoming community is currently governed by a city commission.

Rep. Lucas says the Corporations Committee was scheduled to consider the bill at it's meeting this week. But she says it ended up being moved back to next month. That. meeting is slated for November 17 at 8:30 in Capitol Extension Room W006.