How Wyoming handles a case
What happens after an arrest anywhere in Wyoming: who decides release first, how fast a person sees a judge, which courts hear the case, and who runs the offices around them. Every county in the state works under these rules.
From arrest to court
- Who decides release first
A judicial officer, most often a circuit judge or circuit court magistrate, sets release at the initial appearance. For misdemeanors listed on the Supreme Court's bond schedule, a person may pay the scheduled amount without seeing a judge, and a person arrested for one must see a judicial officer within 12 hours or be cited and released.
W.R.Cr.P. 1, 3.1, 5, 46.1 and Uniform Bail and Forfeiture Schedule (2026 compilation)- Time to see a judge
An arrested person must be taken before a judicial officer without unnecessary delay, and a person arrested without a warrant must be released unless a judicial officer finds probable cause within 72 hours. A jailed person who asks in writing for release must get a decision within 72 hours.
W.R.Cr.P. 5(a), 46.1(a)(1)- Money bail
Money bail is allowed. Everyone is bailable by sufficient sureties except in capital cases where the proof is evident or the presumption great.
W.R.Cr.P. 46.1(a)- Pretrial risk assessment
Wyoming does not require a pretrial risk tool, and no statewide tool is in use.
Mapping Pretrial Risk, State Laws on RATs (secondary; used as a pointer)- Courts
District courts try felonies. Circuit courts hear misdemeanors and hold preliminary hearings in felony cases, and each city or town has a municipal court for violations of its ordinances.
Wyoming Judicial Branch, District CourtsWyoming Judicial Branch, Circuit CourtsW.S. 5-6-101- Judges and magistrates
The governor appoints district judges from three names sent by the Judicial Nominating Commission, and voters then decide in retention elections whether to keep them for six-year terms. Circuit judges are chosen the same way for four-year terms and must be lawyers. Circuit judges appoint magistrates with county approval, and part-time magistrates need no legal training.
Wyoming Judicial Branch, District CourtsWyoming Judicial Branch, Circuit CourtsW.S. 5-9-201 to 5-9-206, 5-6-103- Prosecutors
Each county elects a county and prosecuting attorney, except in judicial districts that have a district attorney. A judicial district must have an elected district attorney once any of its counties reaches 60,000 people, and other districts may create one.
W.S. 18-3-301W.S. 9-1-801, 9-1-802- Public defense
The Office of the State Public Defender, a state agency led by a public defender the governor appoints, runs public defense statewide.
W.S. 7-6-103Wyoming Office of the State Public Defender- Jails
The county sheriff keeps the jail and is responsible for running it.
W.S. 18-6-302
Read from the statutes and court rules cited, 2026-09-30. The pretrial section rests on a secondary summary. Which counties currently have a district attorney was not checked.