KLS Keeping Law Simple Legislation in plain English

Straight-ahead summaries built from the official bill text. We keep the source links front and center and leave the decision up to you.

Back to Wyoming

SF0108 • 2017

Lawsuits challenging state legislative acts.

AN ACT relating to civil procedure; specifying the properly named party for actions challenging legislative acts; providing for removal of incorrect names; providing legislative findings; specifying applicability; and providing for an effective date.

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Mgt Council
Last action
2017-03-08
Official status
enrolled
Effective date
3/6/2017

Plain English Breakdown

The plain English breakdown is still being put together. The official documents below are already here.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

SF0108HS001

Standing Committee • HRules

Adopted

Plain English: Adopted Standing Committee by HRules

  • This amendment summary is using official source text because generated interpretation was skipped for this run.
  • The official amendment text was available, but an easy plain-English summary could not be produced automatically during the last sync.
SF0108SS001

Standing Committee • SRules

Adopted

Plain English: Adopted Standing Committee by SRules

  • This amendment summary is using official source text because generated interpretation was skipped for this run.
  • The official amendment text was available, but an easy plain-English summary could not be produced automatically during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2017-03-08 Governor

    Governor Signed SEA No. 0070

  2. 2017-03-08 LSO

    Assigned Chapter Number

  3. 2017-03-03 House

    H Speaker Signed SEA No. 0070

  4. 2017-03-02 Senate

    S President Signed SEA No. 0070

  5. 2017-03-01 LSO

    Assigned Number SEA No. 0070

  6. 2017-03-01 Senate

    S Concur:Passed 28-2-0-0-0

  7. 2017-02-28 Senate

    S Received for Concurrence

  8. 2017-02-28 House

    H 3rd Reading:Passed 49-11-0-0-0

  9. 2017-02-27 House

    H 2nd Reading:Passed

  10. 2017-02-24 House

    H COW:Passed

  11. 2017-02-23 House

    H Placed on General File

  12. 2017-02-23 House

    H12 - Rules:Recommend Amend and Do Pass 12-0-1-0-0

  13. 2017-02-03 House

    H Introduced and Referred to H12 - Rules

  14. 2017-01-30 House

    H Received for Introduction

  15. 2017-01-26 Senate

    S 3rd Reading:Passed 28-2-0-0-0

  16. 2017-01-25 Senate

    S 2nd Reading:Passed

  17. 2017-01-24 Senate

    S COW:Passed

  18. 2017-01-23 Senate

    S Placed on General File

  19. 2017-01-23 Senate

    S12 - Rules:Recommend Amend and Do Pass 5-0-0-0-0

  20. 2017-01-20 Senate

    S Introduced and Referred to S12 - Rules

  21. 2017-01-20 Senate

    S Received for Introduction

  22. 2017-01-19 LSO

    Bill Number Assigned

Official Summary Text

Bill Summary

Bill No.:
SF0108
Effective
:
Immediately

LSO No.:
17LSO-0382

Enrolled Act No.:
SEA No. 0070

Chapter No.:
[Chapter Number_RO]

Prime Sponsor:
Management Council

Catch Title:
Lawsuits challenging state legislative acts.

Subject:
Naming of the Legislature, legislative bodies and legislators in lawsuits
based on legislative actions
.

Summary/Major Elements:

This bill specifies
in any action challenging any official act of the legislature as a whole and naming the legislature or any member thereof as a party, the proper party shall be "The Legislature of the State of Wyoming."

In any such action challenging an official act of either body of the legislature or a committee of the legislature the proper party is the app
ropriate body or committee of "T
he Legislature of the State of Wyoming".

In any action challenging any official act of a member of the state legislature, the legislator is to be designated only by the legislative office held unless the action seeks relief from actions of the legislator other than actions taken in his official capacity.

The bill provides
the right not to be named individually in the lawsuits stated above is a substantive right and not merely an issue of procedure.

The bill contains legislative findings, including as members of a part-time citizen legislature, being named a defendant in lawsuits can negatively impact a person's occupation or other business interests and thus discourage people from seeking these part-time offices.

The above summary is not an official publication of the Wyoming Legislature and is not an official statement of legislative intent. While the Legislative Service Office endeavored to provide accurate information in this summary, it should not be relied upon as a comprehensive abstract of the bill
.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
ORIGINAL
Senate
ENGROSSED
File No
.
SF0108

ENROLLED ACT NO. 70,

SENATE

SIXTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2017 General
Session

AN ACT relating to civil procedure; specifying the properly named party for actions challenging legislative acts; providing for removal of incorrect names; providing legislative findings; specifying applicability; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1
.

W.S.
1
‑
35
‑
109
is created to read:

1
‑
35
‑
1
0
9
.

Legislature
and legislators
as party to
actions; properly naming party
.

(
a
)

In any action challenging any official act of the legislature
as a whole
and naming the legislature or any member thereof as a party
, the proper party shall be "The Legislature of the State of Wyoming."
In a
ny
such
action challenging an official act of
either
body of the legislature
or a committee of the legislature the proper party shall be t
he appropriate body
or committee
of "the Legislature of the State of Wyoming".

(
b
)

In any action challenging any official act of a member of the state legislat
ure
, the legislator shall be
designated
only by the
legislative
office held unless the action seeks

relief from actions of the legislator other than act
ion
s taken in his official capacity.

(
c
)

Any individual named in an action in which the
proper
party is the legislature or a body of the legislature
or who has otherwise been improperly named
has the substantive right to
petition the court to have his name removed from the action.

(
d
)

Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to
r
equire naming the legislature as a party when the claim or cause of action arises from the enforcement
or operation
of any law
.

Section
2.

Wyoming has a part-time citizen legislature. State legislators often engage in other occupations and businesses. Being named as a defendant to a lawsuit can negatively impact a person's occupation or other business interests.

The naming of a state legislator
individually
for actions
taken by the legislature as a whole, or by a body of the legislature, or for official actions taken as a state legislator can negatively impact legitimate interests of the individual and
may
discourage persons from seeking state legislative offices. The legislature
finds that the right not to be named individually for actions taken in an official capacity, or for actions taken by a legislative body, is not a matter of procedure, but a substantive right.

Section
3
.

W.S.
1
‑
35
‑
1
0
9 shall apply to any action pending or initiated on or after the effective date of this act.

Section
4
.

This act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

(END)

Speaker of the House

President of the
Senate

Governor

TIME APPROVED: _________

DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the
Senate
.

Chief Clerk

1