FRIDAY, August 14, 2026|
Photo – Wyoming’s House Chamber – Bigfoot99 file photo
Wyoming’s judges and clerks of court opposed a bill mandating online access to all public legal proceedings.
During the August 4th Board of Carbon County Commissioners meeting, IT Director Matt Webster announced that he had received an email from IT staff around the state regarding House Bill 93, titled The People’s Right to Judicial Transparency. Webster said that if the bill passes, it will require courts to make documents publicly available online.
House Bill 93 directs every municipal, county, and state court in Wyoming to publish non‑exempt court records to a free, publicly searchable database. The measure also mandates that all public court proceedings be recorded and made available online at no cost. The proposal was originally introduced to the Wyoming House of Representatives during this year’s legislative session but failed to secure the votes needed for further consideration.
Despite its defeat in February, House Bill 93 was discussed again during Tuesday’s Joint Judiciary Committee meeting. Legislative Service Office Deputy Legal Administrator Brian Fuller reviewed the measure and explained that under the proposed bill, all publicly available court documents must be uploaded online. However, Fuller said certain sensitive records are exempt from the requirement.
In addition to written documents, Fuller said the bill also requires each court to stream real‑time video or audio online at no cost and to post those feeds on the court’s website and maintain an archive of the recordings. He said the bill allocates $100,000 to implement those requirements.
Joint Judiciary Committee Chairman Art Washut opened the floor to public comment. Carbon County District Court Judge Dawnessa Snyder testified against House Bill 93. Judge Snyder said sensitive or confidential information is required to be redacted from public documents, but that doesn’t always happen. She raised concerns about those details ending up online.
House Bill 93 also requires all public court proceedings to be livestreamed online. Judge Snyder said Colorado issued a similar mandate last year. However, when the policy was put into practice, she said malicious actors would hijack the broadcast.
Judge Snyder said the Colorado court system is also experiencing an issue where people are recording the streams and posting them online.
In contrast to House Bill 93, Colorado courts are not mandated to record and archive public proceedings. Judge Snyder said Wyoming lawmakers must weigh the benefit of livestreaming cases against the harm it may cause to court users.
She voiced support for increased judicial transparency but noted that the states’ judges and clerks of court believe that House Bill 93 requires additional work before moving forward.
Sixth Judicial District Court Judge Matthew Castano also spoke in opposition to House Bill 93. Judge Castano said he already livestreams his court proceedings, but he does not archive them. He cautioned that saving the recordings could enable individuals not connected to a case to use them against the participants.
Judge Castano also said a searchable database of court documents and recordings would allow data-miners to harvest that information and sell it to outside entities, including third-party marketing firms.
Natrona County Representative Jayme Lien asked Judge Castano what happens when confidential information is inadvertently broadcast during a case. Judge Castano confirmed that it occurs but said there’s not much anyone can do about it.
Later in the meeting, Carbon County Clerk of District Court Mara Sanger testified that other states have implemented public online databases, including Colorado, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Idaho. Clerk Sanger said North Dakota courts were overwhelmed by requests and eventually limited what information was available online.
A register of actions is the official list of filings, orders, and procedural steps in a court case. District Court Clerk Sanger said most states only offer registers of action online. If an individual wants any of the documents listed in the register, they must contact the clerk’s office. Sanger also noted that a computer connected to Wyoming’s Public Access and Search System, or PASS, can be found in the Carbon County Courthouse in Rawlins. Through PASS, users can view non‑confidential court records at no charge.
Sanger said implementing House Bill 93 would require additional staffing, training, and financial support for the state’s clerks of court.
Casper Mayor Ray Pacheco estimated that creating a searchable online archive of his city’s court records would require Natrona County to hire at least one new employee at a cost of between $60,000 and $90,000 a year. Mayor Pacheco said the proposed measure only allocates $100,000 to the state’s courts to make the required changes, but the financial burden will continue long after the funding is gone.
The fiscal notes section of House Bill 93 states that the Wyoming Supreme Court also doesn’t believe $100,000 is enough to meet the bill’s requirements. The Court wrote that roughly $2.8 million will be needed to cover its administrative impact.
Due to privacy concerns and the difficulty and cost of implementing the measure, the Joint Judiciary Committee chose not to bring House Bill 93 up for another vote during the 2027 legislative session.
