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HB0250 • 2021

Ban on sanctuary cities and counties.

AN ACT relating to cities, towns and counties; banning the implementation of immigration sanctuary policies by cities, towns and counties; providing penalties; requiring certification of compliance; requiring a report; and providing for an effective date.

Labor
Inactive

Wyoming marks this bill as inactive, which usually means it is no longer moving in the current session.

Sponsor
Representative Gray
Last action
2021-04-07
Official status
inactive
Effective date
3/1/2021

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide details about penalties or enforcement mechanisms beyond withholding of funds, which is mentioned but lacks specifics in the provided text.

Ban on Sanctuary Cities and Counties

This act bans cities, towns, and counties in Wyoming from implementing policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration officials and requires them to report their compliance.

What This Bill Does

  • Bans cities, towns, and counties from making policies that stop local officials or employees from working with federal immigration officers.
  • Requires local governments to prove they are following this rule.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Cities, towns, and counties in Wyoming
  • Local officials and employees of cities, towns, and counties

Terms To Know

Immigration status information
Information about a person's legal right to be in the United States.
Policy
A rule or practice made by local government leaders.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if local governments do not report their compliance.
  • It is unclear how the state will enforce this ban on sanctuary policies.
  • This bill was marked as inactive and did not become a law in Wyoming's current session.

Bill History

  1. 2021-04-07 House

    H:Died in Committee Returned Bill Pursuant to HR 5-4

  2. 2021-03-23 House

    H No report prior to CoW Cutoff

  3. 2021-03-08 House

    H Introduced and Referred to H09 - Minerals

  4. 2021-03-04 House

    H Received for Introduction

  5. 2021-03-03 LSO

    Bill Number Assigned

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
21LSO-0119
2021
STATE OF WYOMING
21LSO-0119
Numbered
2.0

HOUSE BILL NO. HB0250

Ban on sanctuary cities and counties.

Sponsored by: Representative(s) Gray, Baker, Jennings, Knapp and Neiman and Senator(s) Hicks, Salazar and Steinmetz

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to cities, towns and counties; banning the implementation of immigration sanctuary policies by cities, towns and counties; providing penalties; requiring certification of compliance; requiring a report; and providing for an effective date.

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

Section 1
.

W.S. 15
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1
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132 and 18
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2
‑
116 are created to read:

15
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1
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132.

Prohibition on immigration sanctuary policies by cities and towns; certification of compliance.

(a)

No governing body of a city or town, whether acting through its governing body or by an initiative, referendum or any other process, shall enact, adopt, implement or enforce any policy that prohibits or restricts local officials or employees from communicating or cooperating with federal officials or law enforcement officers with regard to reporting immigration status information while the local official or employee is acting within the scope of their official duties.

(b)

Any governing body of a city or town that acts in violation of this section shall be subject to the withholding of all state and state administered federal funding, unless otherwise specifically provided by law.

(c)

As used in this section:

(i)

"Federal officials or law enforcement officers" means any person employed by the United States government for the purpose of enforcing or regulating federal immigration laws and any peace officer as defined
in W.S. 7
‑
2
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101(a)(iv) when the person or peace officer is acting within the scope of their employment for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration laws or preserving homeland security;

(ii)

"Immigration status" means the legality or illegality of an individual's presence in the United States as determined by federal law;

(iii)

"Immigration status information" means any information which is not confidential or privileged by law including any statement, document, computer generated data, recording or photograph that is relevant to immigration status or the identity or location of an individual who is reasonably believed to be illegally residing within the United States or who is involved in international or domestic terrorism as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2331;

(iv)

"Local official or employee" means any elected or appointed official, supervisor or managerial employee, contractor, agent or peace officer acting on behalf of or in conjunction with a city or town;

(v)

"Policy" means any regulation, rule, policy or practice adopted by the governing body of a city or town.

18
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2
‑
116.

Prohibition on immigration sanctuary policies by counties; certification of compliance.

(a)

No governing body of a county, whether acting through its governing body or by an initiative, referendum or any other process, shall enact, adopt, implement or enforce any policy that prohibits or restricts local officials or employees from communicating or cooperating with federal officials or law enforcement officers with regard to reporting immigration status information while the local official or employee is acting within the scope of their official duties.

(b)

Any governing body of a county that acts in violation of this section shall be subject to the withholding of all state and state administered federal funding, unless otherwise specifically provided by law.

(c)

As used in this section:

(i)

"Federal officials or law enforcement officers" means any person employed by the United States government for the purpose of enforcing or regulating federal immigration laws and any peace officer as defined in W.S. 7
‑
2
‑
101(a)(iv) when the person or peace officer is acting within the scope of their employment for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration laws or preserving homeland security;

(ii)

"Immigration status" means the legality or illegality of an individual's presence in the United States as determined by federal law;

(iii)

"Immigration status information" means any information which is not confidential or privileged by law including any statement, document, computer generated data, recording or photograph that is relevant to immigration status or the identity or location of an individual who is reasonably believed to be illegally residing within the
United States or involved in international or domestic terrorism as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2331;

(iv)

"Local official or employee" means any elected or appointed official, supervisor or managerial employee, contractor, agent or peace officer acting on behalf of or in conjunction with a county;

(v)

"Policy" means any regulation, rule, policy or practice adopted by the governing body of a county.

Section 2.

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)

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HB0250