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25LSO-0445
2025
STATE OF WYOMING
25LSO-0445
ENGROSSED
3.0
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0324
State elected officials-employees at will and regulations.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Andrew and Neiman and Senator(s) Boner, Driskill, Kolb, Smith, D and Steinmetz
A BILL
for
AN ACT relating to state officers; specifying that employees of specified state officials are at-will employees; exempting employees of specified state officials from executive branch policies and plans; authorizing human resource officer positions; providing definitions; providing for the transfer of funds and positions; specifying applicability; and providing for an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1
.
W.S. 9
‑
1
‑
104 is created to read:
9
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1
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104.
Employees of state officials; at
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will employment; rules applicability.
(a)
As used in this section, "state official" means the secretary of state, the state auditor, the state treasurer and the superintendent of public instruction.
(b)
Except as otherwise provided in this section, the following shall apply to each employee of each state official:
(i)
Each employee shall be an at
‑
will employee;
(ii)
Each employee is hired by the applicable state official and serve at the pleasure of the state official;
(iii)
The employing state official retains the absolute right to terminate any employee of the state official at any time, with or without cause, except for a cause that violates applicable federal or state law;
(iv)
Employees of state officials are subject only to the policies, manuals, rules and statutory provisions governing employees of the state official. Employees of state officials are specifically exempt from the laws and personnel rules relating to employees of the executive branch, including the executive branch compensation plan, job classifications and personnel rules governing employee discipline, grievances and appeals. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to supersede a statute that expressly prescribes the employment conditions and salaries of specified employees of state officials.
(c)
The state officials shall be assisted by human resource officers.
The human resources officers authorized under this section shall be hired by a committee comprised of the state officials or their designees and housed within the office of the state auditor. The state auditor shall ensure that the human resources and payroll activities necessary for each state official are conducted promptly at their direction and in accordance with applicable state and federal law.
A human resource officer employed under this section shall keep all matters within a state official's office confidential as required by policies of the state official.
(d)
Nothing in this section shall be construed to:
(i)
Alter or impair any employment contract entered into before July 1, 2025;
(ii)
Make any employee of an state official an at
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will employment contract employee, unless a contract or agreement expressly provides that the employee is hired for an at
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will employment contract position.
Section 2
.
Nothing in this act shall be construed to alter, amend or impair any agreement or contract entered into before July 1, 2025.
Section 3
.
From existing appropriations and from existing employee positions authorized by the legislature, the state auditor shall transfer two hundred thirty
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six thousand seven hundred twenty dollars ($236,720.00) and two (2) full
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time legislatively authorized employee positions from the department of administration and information to the state auditor's office on the effective date of this act.
This appropriation and these positions are for purposes of hiring the human resource officers specified in W.S. 9
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1
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104(c), as created by this act, for the four (4) state officials. It is the intent of the legislature that this appropriation be doubled and included in the state auditor's standard budget for the immediately succeeding fiscal biennium.
Section 4
.
This act is effective July 1, 2025
.
(END)
1
HB0324