Fremont County to take part in program to impose tougher laws for domestic violence offenders with guns

LANDER — A new partnership between the Fremont County Attorney’s Office and the federal government will allow federal prosecution of domestic violence offenders in possession of firearms – which is against federal, but not state, law.

Fremont County is among 78 counties in the nation that are expected to take part in the program, under the authority of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022.

Federal prosecutors expect “significant prison sentences” will be imposed, and Fremont County Attorney Patrick LeBrun said the measure will help decrease local violence.

“We have a significant amount of domestic violence here,” LeBrun said in an interview. “And this is an opportunity that became available to us and we took it.”

The program will not place an extra prosecutor in the county attorney’s office but rather bestow federal prosecutorial powers to an attorney there.

LeBrun said with former deputy attorney and Riverton Mayor Tim Hancock taking another position outside the office, the county attorney’s office is currently hiring for a new lawyer who will take the reins on the federal program.

State and federal law are not in agreement when it comes to those convicted of domestic violence and firearms.

Federal law prohibits people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence charges from owning or purchasing a firearm, a measure that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016. That prohibition is not mirrored in state law, and LeBrun explained that when his office is made aware of a domestic abuser with a firearm, in “appropriate circumstances, we will try to make sure that the U.S. Attorney’s Office is aware.”

But that’s not the same as having federal prosecutor boots on the ground, which the program will bring.

“What it will do is it will give the county attorney’s office an additional tool, so that those people will face – at least be considered for facing – more serious consequences in the right cases,” he said.

Violating the firearms prohibition includes a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

“Prosecution of federal gun crimes committed by these offenders will result in significant prison sentences, which will make Fremont County safer by removing these violent offenders from the community and deterring others from unlawfully possessing or using guns,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Eric Heimann in a statement.

“Absolutely it will have a collateral impact,” LeBrun added. “Domestic abusers, they have violence in them, and so dealing with them more significantly in this arena is certainly going to have an impact on their committing violence against non-family members as well.”

Wyoming does allow people convicted of domestic violence, after five years, to apply for expungement and request that their gun ownership rights be reinstated.

LeBrun said the federal partnership is a voluntary one.

“We were invited (to participate) and accepted,” he explained.

The roll out, he noted, will begin “as soon as we find the right lawyer.”

This story was published on October 30, 2024.