Wyoming Lawmakers Use Subpoena Power To Demand Answers For Faulty Town Audits

A Wyoming legislative committee on Wednesday voted to subpoena leaders of two small towns and one special district — to have them explain slow progress following audits that range from criminally suspicious to somewhat problematic.

Critics of the rare subpoena call it an inappropriate gesture when an invitation, which does not carry criminal penalties for noncompliance, may summon those leaders just as effectively.

Proponents of it voiced outrage at the spotty audit reports and slow progress remedying them.

And some of the people who are being subpoenaed by the legislative Management Audit Committee voiced surprise during Wednesday interviews, saying they’ve been working to fix the issues unearthed in the audits.

Rep. Jayme Lien, R-Casper, questioned Wyoming Department of Audit Director Justin Chavez about recent noncompliance reports.

Lien later called for the subpoena of the mayors, clerks and treasurers of the towns of Manderson and Bear River. She also sought to subpoena the Fremont County Clerk to answer questions on behalf of a special district, Riverton Recreation District 25.

A Legislative Service Office staffer interjected, saying traditionally, legislative committees try to invite people to appear before using the power of subpoena on them.

The committee majority voted in favor of the subpoena motion.

Lien in a follow-up text to Cowboy State Daily’s request for additional comment said it is time for accountability.

“The power of the legislature to subpoena government has not traditionally been used,” Lien wrote. “And some entities have seemingly chosen to flout the law and put the people’s money — and trust — at risk. I made the motion so we could get a better idea of the financial situations in these localities as they have had years to correct the matters at hand.”

Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, mirrored those sentiments during the committee meeting after she seconded Lien’s motion.

“I’m deeply disturbed by some of these audits we have been provided,” said Rodriguez-Williams. “It’s absolutely, I’ll say it again, mind-boggling when you have a state-funded town, or entity such as the recreation district that receives state funds, giving the Department of Audit and the legislative body, essentially the middle finger.”

‘Inappropriate’

Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, called the subpoenas inappropriate. He voted against Lien’s motion and told Cowboy State Daily he heard Rep. Trey Sherwood, D-Laramie, do so as well.

“It’s just completely, completely out of the blue, and wildly inappropriate to start with a subpoena, when in general the public is just willing to show up and answer questions when we ask them nicely,” said Rothfuss in a Wednesday interview.

People who don’t comply with the subpoena can face up to six months in jail and $100 in fines for people who don’t comply.

The last legislative committee subpoena was about 13 years ago, during impeachment proceedings for then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill, Rothfuss recalled. That was via a unique, “quasi-judicial process,” he added.

Rothfuss said that in his 15 years in the Wyoming Legislature he could recall no other committee issuing a subpoena.

“It’s just wildly inappropriate and irresponsible. And certainly unprecedented in my time in the legislature,” Rothfuss said.

The Legislature’s longest-serving member, Sen. Charlie Scott, R-Casper, could not be reached by publication time.

Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, who has been in the Wyoming legislature since 1993, agreed with Rothfuss that the move is unprecedented, and said the committee majority was “kind of going rogue.”

Fremont County Clerk Julie Freese, moreover, isn’t the right person to subpoena on behalf of the Riverton Recreation District, which falls under the school district’s purview, added Case.

Calling The Cops On This One

The problem audits Lien’s motion referenced range from spotty to criminally suspicious in nature.

The Department of Audit has referred the Manderson town census report to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, after 16 law violations were found, according to a May 28 letter and narrative by the agency.

The narrative casts the town’s books as wholly inaccurate.

Cash revenues, expenditures, courts, utilities, and loan information all were incorrectly reported for fiscal year 2022; and the town didn’t maintain its supporting documentation as required by law, the attached narrative says.

“Large financial discrepancies were unable to be traced to their origin by the audit team due to the lack of documentation and institutional knowledge,” the narrative says, adding that there are significant weaknesses in internal controls that “permeated through the town” and little to no oversight from the town’s governing body.

“The overall tone at the top of the organization showed a lack of accountability which resulted in accounting errors and left the Town highly vulnerable to fraud,” it says.

On the census, the town’s cash was underreported by $276, 695; its revenues by $428,925 and its expenditures by $313,830, says the narrative. 

Manderson Mayor Rod Patrick, who was sworn in two years ago, declined Wednesday to comment to Cowboy State Daily.

One-Horse Town

The Department of Audit in its 2025 letters to the town of Bear River and the Riverton Recreation District used gentler language, focusing on needs for improvement and not mentioning the Division of Criminal Investigation at all.  

A letter the department sent Wednesday to the town of Bear River gives a breakdown of the town’s progress in correcting deficiencies following an audit report issued in 2021.

Eleven of the 14 “findings” of problematic practices were still considered problematic as of that letter.

A lack of segregation of duties, improperly managed utilities, and inaccuracies in the census report remains, among other problems, says a chart attached to the department’s letter.

Bear River Clerk and Treasurer Barbara Couture told Cowboy State Daily that some of these issues boil down to running a tiny town (of about 500 people) with a one-person administrative staff, and that she’s been working diligently and cooperating with the Department of Audit to fix what she can.

For example, said Couture, the lack of “segregation of duties” is because she’s the only person on staff to perform the administrative duties. 

“I’m the only one here in this small little office. I share everything with the mayor and council but I do everything," she said. "There isn’t a segregation of duties. They’re right.”

Couture voiced surprise upon hearing the legislative committee was subpoenaing her, especially in light of what she called a smooth and productive working relationship with the Department of Audit.

“I don’t know what to say about that,” said Couture. “I think that’s kind of petty.”

We Asked For This

The department in a Feb. 26 letter used similar language toward Riverton Recreation District No. 25, writing that the district failed to correct six of the nine issues from an April 2021 audit report.

Those issues include things like a lack of written policy and procedures for reimbursements, disaster recovery, expenditure and cash; and a lack of policies regarding the census reporting.

“The board was unaware of the due date; therefore, the Census was not submitted on time for over 20 years,” says the attached narrative. “There was no board review which led to inaccuracies.”

Like Couture, the recreation board’s treasurer, Cody Beers, voiced surprise at the subpoena, which he learned about in a phone interview with Cowboy State Daily.

“I’ve been working with the Department of Audit for months, and in a very friendly way, both ways,” said Beers, who became treasurer in 2024. “We’re volunteers. We’re doing everything we can to get everything done.”

The original audit underpinning the February letter, which he said happened in 2020, was a voluntary audit to help the entity do its paperwork correctly.

“And the Department of Audit has been nothing but wonderful in teaching me and others how to do the paperwork,” said Beers, adding, “We exist to help groups involved in recreation, and young people involved in recreation. We have a long history of doing just that; and we’re going to keep doing that.”

Case said special districts, especially when comprised by volunteers, often lack oversight.

In the past, said Case, he’s sought to give local governments like county commissions more statutory oversight over them.

That proposed legislation didn’t progress with the legislature, he said, but Freese helped him with those efforts when he undertook them years ago.

Teeth

Chavez concurred with legislators that his department lacks enforcement authority over some audit failures.

It can scrutinize financial information and issue a report; it can audit problematic entities more frequently. For census reporting failures the department can withhold funds, but not for audits, said Chavez.

“We don’t have a lot of authority to make anything happen if they still don’t comply (with our recommendations),” he said.

The department only refers audit reports to DCI if it suspects criminal activity, Chavez added.

Tom Lubnau, a former Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives, told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday that if the committee is issuing a subpoena to enforce the law, its exceeded its purview as a branch of government.

“If they’re doing it to understand why people aren’t following the laws and to make better laws that’s one thing,” said Lubnau. “But if they’re doing it as an enforcement mechanism, that’s another.”

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.