Wyoming Public Records Act: Deadlines, Fees, and Appeals (2026)

The Wyoming Public Records Act, Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 16-4-201 through 16-4-205, opens government records to any person. Readily available records are released immediately, everything else within 30 calendar days, and a state ombudsman can order release and waive fees without a lawsuit.

This page addresses Wyoming state law. Records held by a federal agency are requested under the federal Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, which has its own 20 working day clock and its own fee categories. See our federal FOIA request guide for that process and the public records laws by state hub for the other 49 states.

Who Can Request Wyoming Public Records

Wyo. Stat. § 16-4-202(a) provides that all public records shall be open for inspection by any person at reasonable times during the business hours of the governmental entity, except as otherwise provided. There is no residency test, no citizenship test, and no press credential requirement.

Wyoming does define the vehicle for asking. An "application" under § 16-4-201(a)(ix) is a written request. Verbal requests may be treated as applications at the discretion of the entity's designated public records person, which is a practical reason to always put a Wyoming request in writing: a written application removes the discretion and starts the statutory clock on a documented date.

Wyoming Response Deadlines

Wyoming runs several different clocks depending on what the entity finds.

Record not in the entity's custody: seven business days. Under § 16-4-202(b), the designated public records person must notify the applicant within seven business days from acknowledged receipt that the records sought are unavailable to that entity, and must provide the name and contact information of the appropriate designated public records person if it is known.

Record in active use or in storage: seven business days. This one is easy to miss and it explains a lot of Wyoming silences. Under § 16-4-202(c)(i), if the records are in active use or in storage and therefore not available when you ask to examine them, the designated public records person must immediately forward the request to the custodian or authorized person who has personal custody and control of the records, and must notify you of the situation within seven business days from acknowledged receipt. So a request that lands on a records person who is not holding the file does not simply stall: the forwarding is immediate and the notice to you is on a seven business day clock.

Readily available records: immediately. Section 16-4-202(c)(ii) requires that a readily available public record be released immediately, so long as release does not impair or impede the entity's ability to discharge its other duties.

Everything else: 30 calendar days. Section 16-4-202(c)(iii) provides that all public records shall be released not later than 30 calendar days from the date of acknowledged receipt of the request, unless good cause exists preventing release.

The good cause path does not end the matter, and the two provisions that follow it do different jobs.

Section 16-4-202(c)(iv) handles the schedule. If good cause exists preventing release inside the 30 days, the records shall be released on a specified date mutually agreed to by the applicant and the entity. If no release date can be agreed on, the applicant may file a complaint with the ombudsman as provided by paragraph (v).

Section 16-4-202(c)(v) is the general review route, and it is broader than the sentence above suggests. Its text is that the applicant may at any time file a complaint with an ombudsman designated by the governor, or may petition the district court, for a determination as to whether the custodian has demonstrated good cause. You do not have to exhaust a negotiation first. In deciding, the ombudsman or district court may consider whether the records are privileged or confidential by law and whether release would impair or impede the entity's other duties, and the ombudsman or court shall review the records in camera and determine whether redaction would permit release. That in camera review is mandatory, not discretionary, which is unusually strong for a non-judicial channel.

In short, the entity does not get to be the final judge of its own delay.

Note that the clock runs from acknowledged receipt rather than from the date you send the request, which is another reason to file in a way that produces a dated acknowledgment.

What Wyoming Records Cost

Fees live in Wyo. Stat. § 16-4-204. As of August 2026, § 16-4-204(a) lets a person who has the right to inspect and copy a record request copies, printouts, or photographs for a reasonable fee to be set by the official custodian, and provides that where a specific fee for certified or other copies is prescribed by law, that specific fee applies. Two limits in the same section matter more than the dollar figure.

First, inspection is free. The last sentence of § 16-4-204(a) reads that nothing in the section shall be construed as authorizing a fee to be charged as a condition of making a public record available for inspection. If cost is the obstacle, ask to inspect rather than to receive copies.

Second, fees must be pre-authorized. Section 16-4-204(c) provides that after July 1, 2003, any fees or charges assessed by a custodian of a public record shall first be authorized by duly enacted or adopted statute, rule, resolution, ordinance, executive order, or other like authority. An entity that invents a charge on the spot is not applying the statute. Asking a custodian to identify the enacted authority for a fee is a fair and specific question.

One more provision is worth knowing when the entity is small. Under § 16-4-204(b), if the custodian does not have the facilities to make copies, the applicant shall be granted access to the records to make copies, printouts, or photographs, done while the records stay in the custodian's possession and control and under the custodian's supervision. The custodian may charge a reasonable fee for that supervision.

For electronic records, the reasonable costs of producing a copy, including programming and computer-service costs, are borne by the requester.

The Wyoming fee waiver path

Wyoming does not have a standing public-interest fee waiver the way federal FOIA does. What it has instead is discretionary waiver attached to dispute resolution, which is unusual among the states and genuinely useful.

Under § 16-4-203(f)(ii)(C), the ombudsman may waive any fees charged by the governmental entity. Under § 16-4-203(f)(i), a district court order compelling production may waive any fees charged by a state governmental entity. So in Wyoming, a fee fight is not a separate proceeding; it travels with the access dispute.

Note where those waiver powers sit. They are in § 16-4-203(f), the escalation track described below, not in the general § 16-4-202(c)(v) review route. That is a reason to keep the paper trail on a missed release date or an ignored ombudsman recommendation, because that is what opens the subsection that can erase the bill.

How to File a Wyoming Public Records Request

There is no statewide portal. Requests go to the designated public records person at the agency, county, city, school district, or special district holding the record.

1. Find the designated public records person. Section 16-4-202(a) requires that all applications for public records be made to that person, and § 16-4-202(e) requires every governmental entity to submit that person's name, business email, and business mailing address to the Department of Administration and Information for publication on the department's official website. Check that published list before guessing at an address.
2. Submit a written application. This removes the entity's discretion to treat your request as informal.
3. Request written acknowledgment of receipt, since the 30 calendar day and seven business day clocks run from acknowledged receipt.
4. Describe records by custodian, date range, and type. Wyoming entities are often small, and a tight description is usually the difference between a fast release and a good cause delay.
5. State whether you want inspection or copies. Inspection avoids fees entirely.

Our free FOIA request generator produces a Wyoming request letter with the correct citation and a request for acknowledgment of receipt, entirely in your browser.

If Wyoming Denies Your Request

Start by demanding the grounds. Under § 16-4-203(e), if the custodian denies access the applicant may request a written statement of the grounds for denial citing the law or regulation relied on. Get this in writing; it defines the fight.

From there Wyoming has two layers, and requesters routinely reach for the wrong one first.

The general route: § 16-4-202(c)(v)

This is the provision that applies to an ordinary denial or an unexplained delay. Its text is that the applicant may at any time file a complaint with an ombudsman designated by the governor, or may petition the district court, for a determination as to whether the custodian has demonstrated good cause. Two features make it the practical first move:

• You choose the forum, and you can choose the free one. An ombudsman complaint costs nothing and does not require a lawyer.
• In camera review is mandatory. The ombudsman or the district court shall review the records themselves and decide whether redacting privileged or confidential information would permit release, rather than accepting the entity's characterization of what is in the file.

The escalation: § 16-4-203(f)

Section 16-4-203(f) is often quoted as though it were the general denial remedy. It is not. By its own terms it is available to a person aggrieved by the failure of a governmental entity to release records on the specified date mutually agreed upon under § 16-4-202(c)(iv), or by the failure of an entity to comply with an order of the ombudsman under § 16-4-202(c)(v). In other words, it is what you use after the (c)(v) process has already produced a date or an order and the entity has ignored it.

What it adds is teeth, and it is where the ombudsman's operative powers are written down:

• District court show cause, § 16-4-203(f)(i). Apply to the district court of the district where the record is found for an order directing the custodian to show cause why he should not permit inspection, and to compel production. An order issued under this paragraph may waive any fees charged by the state governmental entity.
• Ombudsman complaint, § 16-4-203(f)(ii). The ombudsman may mediate the dispute between the entity and the person, prescribe timelines for release of the records, and waive any fees charged by the governmental entity.

So the sequence that matches the statute is: ask for written grounds under § 16-4-203(e), take a denial or an unjustified delay to the ombudsman or the district court under § 16-4-202(c)(v), and reach for § 16-4-203(f) if the entity then blows the resulting date or order.

Separately, Wyo. Stat. § 16-4-205 makes any person who knowingly or intentionally violates the Act liable for a penalty not to exceed $750. The penalty may be recovered in a civil action, and damages may be assessed by the court.

Police Records and Body Camera Footage in Wyoming

Wyoming is one of the states that addresses body camera footage directly in its records act, and the answer is more restrictive than most requesters expect.

Section 16-4-201(a)(xi) defines a "peace officer recording" as audio or video recorded by a peace officer on a body-worn device or a device attached to a vehicle while performing official business. Section 16-4-203(d)(xviii) then places that category on the discretionary-denial track rather than the open-access track.

Under that provision the custodian shall allow inspection by law enforcement personnel and public agencies for official business, or pursuant to a court order. The custodian may allow inspection in four further situations:

• by the person in interest;
• where the recording involves an incident of deadly force or serious bodily injury, as serious bodily injury is defined in Wyo. Stat. § 6-1-104(a)(x);
• in response to a complaint against law enforcement personnel, if the custodian determines that inspection is not contrary to the public interest; or
• in the interest of public safety.

The practical consequence is that a Wyoming footage request should be written to fit one of those categories explicitly. A person in interest should say so and identify the incident. A requester relying on the deadly force or serious bodily injury category should say so and cite § 6-1-104(a)(x). A general "please send me the video" request from an uninvolved member of the public has no default entitlement behind it.

What the Public Records Act Does Not Cover

Vital records are a separate system. Birth, death, and marriage certificates come from Wyoming Vital Statistics Services under eligibility rules that limit who may obtain a certified copy, not from a records act application. See Wyoming death records.

Land records are recorded and searched at the county clerk level. See Wyoming property records. Court case information, including outstanding warrants, comes from the courts rather than from the records act; see Wyoming warrant search.

Emergency call audio is its own question, and the answer varies with whether an investigation is open. We cover the general framework in are 911 calls public records.

This article is general legal information about Wyoming public records law as of August 2026. It is not legal advice, and RecordingLaw.com is not a law firm. Fee schedules and agency practices change. Consult an attorney licensed in Wyoming about a specific records dispute.