Wyo. Stat. § 14-6-201 (2026)

and interpretation.

     (a)   As used in this act:

          (i) "Adjudication" means a finding by the court or
the jury, incorporated in a decree, as to the truth of the facts
alleged in the petition;
          (ii) "Adult" means an individual who has attained the
age of majority;

          (iii) "Child" means an individual who is under the
age of majority;

          (iv)    Repealed By Laws 1997, ch. 199, § 3.

          (v) "Clerk" means the clerk of a district court
acting as the clerk of a juvenile court;

          (vi)    "Commissioner" means a district court
commissioner;

          (vii)    "Court" means the juvenile court established by
W.S. 5-8-101;

          (viii) "Custodian" means a person, institution or
agency responsible for the child's welfare and having legal
custody of a child by court order or having actual physical
custody and control of a child and acting in loco parentis;

          (ix) "Delinquent act" means an act punishable as a
criminal offense by the laws of this state or any political
subdivision thereof, or contempt of court under W.S. 14-6-242,
or an act violating the terms and conditions of any court order
which resulted from the criminal conviction of any child but
does not include a status offense;

          (x) "Delinquent child" means a child who has
committed a delinquent act;

          (xi) "Deprivation of custody" means transfer of legal
custody by the court from a parent or previous legal custodian
to another person, agency, organization or institution;

          (xii) "Detention" means the temporary care of a child
in physically restricting facilities pending court disposition
or the execution of a court order to place or commit a child to
a juvenile detention facility;

          (xiii)    "Judge" means the judge of the juvenile court;

          (xiv)    "Legal custody" means as defined in W.S.
14-3-402(a)(x);
          (xv)     "Minor" means an individual who is under the age
of majority;

           (xvi)    Repealed By Laws 1997, ch. 199, § 3.

          (xvii) "Parent" means either a natural or adoptive
parent of the child, a person adjudged the parent of the child
in judicial proceedings or a man presumed to be the father under
W.S. 14-2-504;

          (xviii) "Parties" include the child, his parents,
guardian or custodian, the state of Wyoming and any other person
made a party by an order to appear, or named by the juvenile
court;

          (xix) "Probation" means a legal status created by
court order following an adjudication of delinquency or of a
status offense where a child is permitted to remain in his home
subject to supervision by a city or county probation officer,
the department or other qualified private organization the court
may designate. A child is subject to return to the court for
violation of the terms or conditions of probation provided for
in the court order;

           (xx)    Repealed By Laws 1997, ch. 199, § 3.

          (xxi) "Residual parental rights and duties" means
those rights and duties remaining with the parents after
custody, guardianship of the person or both have been vested in
another person, agency or institution. Residual parental rights
and duties include but are not limited to:

                   (A)   The duty to support and provide necessities
of life;

                   (B)   The right to consent to adoption;

               (C) The right to reasonable visitation unless
restricted or prohibited by court order;

               (D)       The right to determine the minor's religious
affiliation; and

                   (E)   The right to petition on behalf of the
minor.
          (xxii) "Shelter care" means the temporary care of a
child in physically unrestricting facilities pending court
disposition or execution of a court order for placement or
commitment;

          (xxiii) "Status offense" means an offense which, if
committed by an adult, would not constitute an act punishable as
a criminal offense by the laws of this state or a violation of a
municipal ordinance, but does not include a violation of W.S.
12-6-101(b) or (c) or any similar municipal ordinance;

          (xxiv) "Juvenile detention facility" means any
facility which may legally and physically restrict and house a
child, other than the Wyoming boys' school, the Wyoming girls'
school, the Wyoming state hospital or other private or public
psychiatric facility within the state of Wyoming. "Juvenile
detention facility" does not include any residential treatment
facility which is operated for the primary purpose of providing
treatment to a child. A juvenile detention facility may be
housed within an adult jail or correction facility if the
facility otherwise meets the requirements of state law;

          (xxv) "Department" means the Wyoming department of
family services;

          (xxvi) "Another planned permanent living arrangement"
means a permanency plan for youth sixteen (16) years of age or
older other than reunification, adoption, legal guardianship or
placement with a fit and willing relative;

          (xxvii) "Qualified individual" means a person who
meets the requirements of 42 U.S.C. § 675a(c)(1)(D);

           (xxviii) "Qualified residential treatment program"
means a program that meets the requirements of 42 U.S.C. §
672(k)(4);

          (xxix)   "This act" means W.S. 14-6-201 through 14-6-
252.

     (b) This act shall be known and may be cited as the
"Juvenile Justice Act".

     (c) This act shall be construed to effectuate the
following public purposes:
          (i) To provide for the best interests of the child
and the protection of the public and public safety;

          (ii) Consistent with the best interests of the child
and the protection of the public and public safety:

               (A) To promote the concept of punishment for
criminal acts while recognizing and distinguishing the behavior
of children who have been victimized or have disabilities, such
as serious mental illness that requires treatment or children
with a cognitive impairment that requires services;

               (B) To remove, where appropriate, the taint of
criminality from children committing certain unlawful acts; and

               (C) To provide treatment, training and
rehabilitation that emphasizes the accountability and
responsibility of both the parent and the child for the child's
conduct, reduces recidivism and helps children to become
functioning and contributing adults.

          (iii) To provide for the care, the protection and the
wholesome moral, mental and physical development of children
within the community whenever possible using the least
restrictive and most appropriate interventions;

          (iv) To be flexible and innovative and encourage
coordination at the community level to reduce the commission of
unlawful acts by children;

          (v) To achieve the foregoing purposes in a family
environment whenever possible, separating the child from the
child's parents only when necessary for the child's welfare or
in the interest of public safety and when a child is removed
from the child's family, to ensure that individual needs will
control placement and provide the child the care that should be
provided by parents; and

          (vi) To provide a simple judicial procedure through
which the provisions of this act are executed and enforced and
in which the parties are assured a fair and timely hearing and
their constitutional and other legal rights recognized and
enforced.

     (d)   Repealed by Laws 2024, ch. 52, § 2.