Public access courts bill fails sponsorship vote in Wyoming Judiciary Committee

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Wyoming’s Judiciary Committee voted 8-4 Tuesday against sponsoring House Bill 93 for the 2027 general session, a bill that would have required court records and audio or video recordings to be publicly available online at no cost through an online portal.

The bill was introduced during the 2026 legislative session but failed to receive the two-thirds introduction requirement.

All court materials such as pleadings, motions, filings, orders, judgments, evidence and case metadata would have been included, as well.

There would have been exceptions to access, such as proceedings in juvenile court, adoption proceedings and court records, cases and proceedings involving minors with some exemptions. Other exceptions would concern sexual assault offenses to protect victims.

Courts would have been required to provide either real-time video or audio of each hearing or proceeding free of charge to the public and maintain an archive of these recordings.

If voted into law, $100,000 would have been appropriated from the general fund to the Wyoming Supreme Court to implement this bill through June 2028.

This story was published on August 13, 2026. 

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