Senate kills House Bill 37

Alexis Barker
NLJ Reporter
 
A piece of legislation drafted in response to a lack of clarity in current state statute regarding residency requirements for elected officials that was revealed by a court case in Weston County last summer died in the Wyoming Senate on Tuesday.
After several constituents and legislators expressed mixed feelings over House Bill 37, the Senate Committee of the Whole amended the bill to change the requirements for county or district attorneys to living in the district instead of county, but in the end that wasn’t enough to overcome the concerns expressed about the bill. 
Rep. Tyler Lindholm, R-Sundance, explained to the News Letter Journal that he had created the bill after the Weston County election for county attorney last year. The bill would require those running for elected county positions to live in the county they are running in for one year before the election. 
According to the Wyoming Legislature Website, HB37 passed the third and final reading in the house by a vote of 38-19, with 3 excused, and the bill was then referred to the Senate Corporations Committee on Jan. 30. 
The website shows that amendments were placed on the bill requiring district attorneys to “be a resident of the judicial district in which the person seeks election for at least one year.” Meaning, that county attorneys for Weston County could reside in Campbell, Crook or Weston County.  Current Weston County Attorney Alex Berger presently resides in Campbell County.
The amended bill passed second reading in the senate on Feb. 11 and moved on to a third and final reading before being struck down on Tuesday morning by a 29-1 vote.