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The courts ruled people can sue cops for botched investigations. Lawmakers declined to weigh in

A divided Supreme Court ruling binding officers to a reasonable standard when investigating will stand after a House committee ditched the bill.

The Wyoming Supreme Court building in Cheyenne inscribed with the phrase "equality before the law." (Mike Vanata/WyoFile)

By Andrew Graham

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A Wyoming Supreme Court ruling allowing citizens to sue the government over negligent investigations by law enforcement will stand after a House committee declined to take up the issue Wednesday. 

Lawmakers on last year’s Joint Judiciary Committee, which oversees courts and law enforcement, narrowly voted to bring a bill to the new Legislature that would overrule the justices. If passed, House Bill 53, “Governmental claims-negligent investigations”, would have made it nearly impossible to sue the state if a flawed law enforcement investigation caused harm.

But the bill lost traction with new House members, as the Judiciary Committee declined to advance it. The measure is now dead, unless a lawmaker chooses to sponsor it individually. They’ll have to do so by a Jan. 29 deadline. 

The bill’s roots stretched back to a controversial 2019 Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation raid on a hemp farm. DCI officers seized the farmers’ crops and the Laramie District Attorney’s office charged them as marijuana traffickers, with major felonies. A judge quickly threw the case out, finding the crop was clearly hemp. 

The case has had long-running ramifications, with one of the DCI officers being accused of lying on the stand in a case that reached the Wyoming Supreme Court. 

One of the hemp farmers, who spent more than $50,000 on attorney fees to defend herself, sued the state for damages caused by the investigation. The lawsuit bounced from federal to state court after a federal judge found Wyoming statute wasn’t clear on whether state law enforcement officers have a legal duty not to conduct “negligent” investigations. The justices voted 3-2 that officers did and allowed the farmers’ suit to continue. It’s still pending.

The 2024 Joint Judiciary Committee voted 8-6 to bring the bill to the Legislature. Trial lawyers and the Legislature’s few Democrats opposed overruling the state Supreme Court. 

The right balance?

The bill appeared poised to bring an interesting question to the new House, which is dominated by conservative Republicans: Would they back law enforcement all the way, or would they be weary of giving authorities too much immunity to interfere in people’s lives, if there wasn’t ultimately a crime? 

Wednesday brought an answer — at least from the selection of Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee. When Chairman Art Washut, R-Casper, asked for a motion to move the bill to the House floor, he was met with silence.

In interviews with WyoFile, some Republicans said the bill gave police officers too much power. “Creating a blanket environment where peace officers don’t have to act reasonably to enforce the law, that I think goes a step too far,” Cheyenne Republican Daniel Singh said. Singh is in his second term, but his first on the Judiciary committee. 

“I want, of course, law and order, to protect justice,” he said, “but that is not a free pass for officers to conduct themselves in a way that would reflect poorly on this state.”

Rep. Daniel Singh, a Cheyenne Republican, at the start of the 2025 Legislative session. (Mike Vanata/WyoFile)

Rep. Lee Filer, R-Cheyenne, who returned to the House this year after a decade out of office, also said the bill weighed the scales too much in favor of law enforcement. “I believe citizens have the right to keep their government accountable,” Filer said. The bill “kind of closed the door.” 

Law enforcement chiefs worry the state Supreme Court ruling will quench detectives’ fire. The hemp case lawsuit has been followed by other lawsuits against law enforcement that make reference to negligent investigating,  Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police Executive Director Allen Thompson said. 


This article was originally published by WyoFile and is republished here with permission. WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.

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