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After cutting its municipal court in 2020, Sundance is searching to find a new option

J. Stephen Conn
/
Flickr via CC BY-NC 2.0

The City of Sundance (population 1,032) is considering options for municipal court after several years of not having a municipal court judge. Municipal courts have authority over misdemeanor crimes or petty offenses committed in their city or township. This came as the town requested permission to have municipal cases be heard in circuit court at the Crook County Courthouse and not Sundance City Hall as part of a cost-saving measure that was undertaken in 2020. Another cost-saving measure that was taken was disbanding the police department. However, the proposed solution for the municipal court didn’t work out as planned, but so far there seems to be no major negative outcomes of disbanding the police department.

“We paid fairly high fees to have a municipal judge, and unfortunately, because we don't have a surplus of lawyers in our area, we ended up retaining people out of Gillette, and then we paid [a lot]. The mobilization just became kind of a large thing,” said Sundance Mayor Paul Brooks.

The city hosted a judge one day per week to hear municipal cases, of which there were not a lot, Brooks added. This contributed to the decision to transfer these cases to circuit court.

The city also disbanded its police department in 2020 as another cost-saving measure and contracted with the Crook County Sheriff’s Department for police services. This decision took effect on Jan. 1, 2021 and centered on Sundance’s existing officers being at retirement age. The sheriff’s department also received reduced funding from the state, which was a reason to streamline resources needed for policing between the county and city. The elimination of the police department meant a municipal court wasn’t needed, due to the low number of citations and the lack of funds from them to support a municipal court.

The city’s resources were also a factor in the decision. Brooks said that small communities often lack funds to put people in jail or to hold them there, so anyone held in custody for more serious crimes ends up under the county attorney’s office under circuit court. They also haven’t issued any citations in the last two years.

One solution was to have former Crook County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Castano take on the city’s caseload. The Sundance city attorney then petitioned the Wyoming Supreme Court, which oversees circuit courts, to make the change. But there hasn’t been a definite answer from them. A delay that Brooks partly attributed to the appointment of Castano to the Sixth Judicial District of District Court, which serves Campbell, Crook, and Weston counties. The solution for now is to have a judge from Gillette conducts municipal court proceedings, which they already do in Moorcroft and Upton. If need be, one of the major current long-time solutions would have the City of Sundance pay for mileage for a judge to come and conduct proceedings there if required.

“They've [the Wyoming Supreme Court] never said yes or no, they've basically said, ‘Why are you interested in doing this?’” he said. “We actually thought we would get this thing done and that they [the Supreme Court] would say ‘Here are a few cases,’ and life would be good.”

Sundance estimated that they would save $12,500 by getting rid of the court and about $75,000 for contracting law enforcement services to the county.

There hasn’t been a transfer of cases to circuit court and there haven’t been any citations issued since the police department and court were dissolved. The Sundance City Council gave the public works director the ability to act as the city’s ordinance officer, with support from the sheriff’s department if necessary. They’re responsible for enforcing city ordinances. Crimes such as DUIs and breaking and entering are taken care of by the sheriff’s office and circuit court due to their nature of being more serious crimes that violate existing state laws.

“In a big town, you guys have layers of staff and so forth where things get filtered through,” Brooks said. “But in a small town you don't have that, you see these people at the grocery store, you see these people at the post office. I mean, people know me, and so it's always kind of been my policy, or it's always been my policy that we talk to them first. I've never had a nuisance complaint issued. I've never had the lawyer write a letter until I personally talked to them because I feel like kind of the job of small town mayor as much as anything is to keep the peace, not become heavy handed in government.”

However, some issues still exist. These include dogs being at large in town and causing issues with pets of other residents, in addition to not being able to police vendors often along with disputes among neighbors. Brooks added that if these disputes escalate, the sheriff’s department can step in, though that is rare.

Smaller communities are largely dependent on the state for their funding and aren’t sustainable themselves if their populations are at approximately 2,200 residents or less, he added.

Hugh Cook is Wyoming Public Radio's Northeast Reporter, based in Gillette. A fourth-generation Northeast Wyoming native, Hugh joined Wyoming Public Media in October 2021 after studying and working abroad and in Washington, D.C. for the late Senator Mike Enzi.
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