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25LSO-0289
2025
STATE OF WYOMING
25LSO-0289
ENGROSSED
3.0
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0224
Prohibiting foreign adversary property ownership.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Banks, Allemand, Andrew, Angelos, Hoeft, Neiman, Riggins, Singh, Strock, Styvar, Tarver, Webber and Winter and Senator(s) Boner, Brennan, French, Hutchings, Laursen, D, McKeown, Pearson and Steinmetz
A BILL
for
AN ACT relating to property; restricting foreign adversary ownership of land and other interests in Wyoming as specified; providing definitions; authorizing enforcement of ownership restrictions as specified; providing a civil penalty; requiring the inclusion of notices of foreign ownership in assessment schedules and tax statements; specifying applicability; requiring rulemaking; and providing for a contingent effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1
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W.S. 34
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104 is created to read:
34
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104.
Restriction on foreign adversary ownership of land; definitions; registration; penalty; enforcement.
(a)
As used in this section:
(i)
"Land" means any interest in real property or real estate and any surface, subsurface, airspace or mineral interest in Wyoming;
(ii)
"Foreign adversary" means:
(A)
A business entity, whether or not incorporated, in which a majority interest is owned, held or controlled directly or indirectly by foreign persons or by a foreign government defined as:
(I)
Any country that has been designated as a state sponsor of terrorism under federal law; or
(II)
Any country that has been designated as a foreign adversary under 15 C.F.R. § 791.4.
(B)
A foreign person, including a person who is a nonresident alien, and who is a citizen of:
(I)
A country that has been designated as a state sponsor of terrorism under federal law; or
(II)
A country that has been designated as a foreign adversary under 15 C.F.R. § 791.4.
(b)
No foreign adversary, or any agent, trustee or fiduciary thereof, shall purchase or otherwise acquire any interest in land in Wyoming except for a personal residence for personal use that is located on not more than one (1) acre of land.
(c)
A foreign adversary, or any agent, trustee or fiduciary thereof, that acquires any interest in land in Wyoming on or after July 1, 2025 pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, shall register the ownership with the office of homeland security in accordance with the following:
(i)
The registration shall be in a form and manner prescribed by the office of homeland security;
(ii)
The registration shall contain the name of the owner, the location of the land, the number of acres of the land or the nature of the interest in the land and, if the owner is an agent, trustee or fiduciary of a foreign adversary, the name of any principal;
(iii)
The initial registration shall be made not later than sixty (60) days after July 1, 2025 or within sixty (60) days of acquisition of the interest in land, whichever is later;
(iv)
The registration shall be updated annually on or before March 31 of each year.
(d)
A foreign adversary, or any agent, trustee or fiduciary thereof, who fails to register, timely register or update registration annually as required by subsection (c) of this section shall be liable for a civil penalty of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) for each day that the prohibited person, or any agent, trustee or fiduciary thereof, is not in compliance with subsection (c) of this section.
(e)
Each county clerk shall report to the office of homeland security and the division of criminal investigation if a foreign adversary, or any agent, trustee or fiduciary thereof, purchases or acquires any interest in land in the county in violation of this section within fifteen (15) days of the purchase or acquirement of the interest in land.
(f)
The office of homeland security and the division of criminal investigation shall report any violation of this section to the attorney general if the office of homeland security or the division of criminal investigation finds that a foreign adversary, or any agent, trustee or fiduciary thereof, has acquired or holds title to or any interest in land in violation of this section or has failed to register or update registration as required by subsection (c) of this section.
(g)
The attorney general may take any action necessary to enforce the provisions of this section, including initiating an action in the district court of any county in which the interest in land is located for a court order for a civil judgment against the foreign adversary in the amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) for each day that the foreign adversary, or any agent, trustee or fiduciary thereof, is not in compliance with subsection (c) of this section. Any civil penalty collected shall be credited to the general fund.
Section 2.
W.S. 39
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103(b)(viii) and 39
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107(b)(i)(C) are amended to read:
39
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103.
Imposition.
(b)
Basis of tax. The following shall apply:
(viii)
Every assessment schedule sent to a taxpayer shall contain the property's estimated fair market value for the current and previous year, or, productive value in the case of agricultural property. The schedule shall also contain the assessment ratio as provided by paragraph (b)(iii) of this section for the taxable property, the amount of taxes assessed on the taxable property from the previous year, an estimate of the taxes which will be due and payable for the current year based on the previous year's mill levies and, if the property is a single family residential structure, an estimate of the taxes that will be avoided if the property is eligible for the exemptions under W.S. 39
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105(a)(xliii) and (xliv).
The schedule shall also contain information stating that foreign adversary ownership of land in Wyoming is prohibited as provided by W.S. 34
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104 and describing the requirement to register foreign adversary ownership of any interest in land, including a personal residence for personal use that is on not more than
one (1) acre, with the office of homeland security as provided by W.S. 34
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104.
The schedule shall contain a statement of the process to contest assessments as prescribed by W.S. 39
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109(b)(i);
39
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107.
Compliance; collection procedures.
(b)
The following provisions shall apply to the payment of taxes, distraint of property and deferral:
(i)
The following shall apply to the payment of taxes due:
(C)
Annually, on or before October 10 the county treasurer shall send a written statement to each taxpayer by mail at his last known address or, if offered by the county and upon request of the taxpayer, by electronic transmission of the total tax due, itemized as to property description, assessed value and mill levies. The notice shall contain information, including contact information, of any property tax relief program authorized by state law and, if the property is a single family residential structure, the taxes that will be avoided pursuant to the exemptions under W.S. 39
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105(a)(xliii) and (xliv).
The notice shall contain information stating that foreign adversary ownership of land in Wyoming is prohibited as provided by W.S. 34
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104 and describing the requirement to register foreign adversary ownership of any interest in land, including a personal residence for personal use that is on not more than one (1) acre, with the office of homeland security as provided by W.S. 34
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104.
Failure to send notice, or to demand payment of taxes, does not invalidate any taxes due;
Section 3.
Except as provided in W.S. 34
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104(b) and (g), as created by section 1 of this act, nothing in this act shall be construed to divest, extinguish or sever any interest in or claim to real property or real estate, surface, subsurface, airspace or mineral interests in Wyoming.
This act shall apply to land purchases made on or after the effective date of this act.
Section 4.
The office of homeland security and the division of criminal investigation shall promulgate all rules necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
Section 5
.
This act is effective upon passage of an amendment to Article 1, Section 29 of the Wyoming Constitution, as proposed by 2025 House Joint Resolution 2 or a similar future resolution.
(END)
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HB0224