Wyoming Statutes

Wyo. Stat. § 18-3-602 (2026)

Qualifications, appointment, duties and salary

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section WY-LEGwyoleg.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
of undersheriff; deputies, reserve deputies, clerks,
stenographers and assistants; appointment of deputies for
special acts; appointment of deputies by county commissioners.

     (a) Each county sheriff may appoint an undersheriff who
shall be a bona fide resident of the county, qualify as required
by law for deputy sheriff and serve as sheriff in case of death,
resignation or other disability of the sheriff until the board
of county commissioners fill the vacancy. The person appointed
shall qualify in accordance with law and may receive an annual
salary fixed by the board of county commissioners at not less
than twenty-five percent (25%) of the annual salary of the
sheriff in their respective counties.
     (b) With the consent of the board of county commissioners
each county sheriff may appoint one (1) or more full-time
deputies who may receive an annual salary fixed by the board of
county commissioners at not less than twenty percent (20%) of
the sheriff's salary. The sheriff may also appoint other
assistants as necessary to properly administer the affairs of
the office.

     (c) In addition to the authority granted under W.S.
7-2-106, each county sheriff may also appoint special deputies
to perform particular acts, which shall be specified in each
appointment and for whose official acts he is responsible. Such
appointments are not required to be filed or revoked as in the
case of regular deputies. No county assessor shall be appointed
deputy sheriff.

     (d) In addition to the authority granted under W.S.
7-2-106, each county sheriff may employ temporary deputies and
assistants authorized by the board of county commissioners. The
compensation of these deputies and assistants shall be fixed by
the board of county commissioners.

     (e) In addition to the authority granted under W.S.
7-2-106, each board of county commissioners, when extraordinary
or unusual danger to life or property is in progress or is
threatened and the regular county officers cannot maintain
proper order, may appoint special deputy sheriffs only for the
duration of the extraordinary or unusual danger. Each special
deputy sheriff shall be:

          (i) An elector of the county and shall take an oath
to faithfully discharge the duties of the office;

          (ii) Subject to the orders of the county sheriff who
is responsible for their acts, unless otherwise ordered by the
board of county commissioners; and

          (iii) Compensated at a rate established by the board
of county commissioners.

     (f) Each county sheriff may appoint reserve deputy
sheriffs to assist the sheriff as necessary to properly
administer the affairs of the office. A reserve deputy sheriff
acting less than full-time in the service of the county shall
have peace officer authority, provided the reserve deputy
sheriff has qualified pursuant to W.S. 9-1-701 through 9-1-707.
The compensation for deputy reserve sheriffs shall be fixed     by
the board of county commissioners.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 1 case, 1992–1992 · leading case: State v. Stahl, 838 P.2d 1193 (Wyo. 1992).
State v. Stahl, 838 P.2d 1193 (Wyo. 1992). · cites it 2× “See generally, Wyo.Stat. § 18-3-602 (1977). . Four of our six sister states — Colorado, Idaho, South Dakota, and Utah — have statutes which specifically address the jurisdictional reach of a peace officer’s warrantless arrest authority.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.