The Wyoming Constitution

Constitutions set up the structure of government and specify the rights of citizens. Even though the Wyoming Constitution addresses similar matters as those in the much briefer U. S. Constitution, it is subordinate to the U. S. Constitution and must conform to it as well as to United States laws and treaties.[1] Wyoming laws and administrative rules derive from the Wyoming Constitution and, consequently, those measures in conflict with the Wyoming Constitution, as determined by the Wyoming Supreme Court, are invalid.

The Wyoming Constitution, like that of most states, contains five elements: provisions for the organization and operation of government; a “declaration of rights”; the process for amending the document; miscellaneous provisions; and the “schedule.” The Wyoming Constitution contains 21 articles and, unlike the United States Constitution, amendments are not separated and defined specifically from among the articles. (Article 15 alone has been amended no fewer than 13 times).

The Wyoming Constitution, like its United States counterpart, specifies certain freedoms for citizens. The Wyoming Declaration of Rights is contained in 37 sections in Article 1. Many of these were either copied from the Bill of Rights in the U. S. Constitution or heavily drawn from the language of those amendments. Exact language and specificity does vary between these parts of the two documents. Wyoming’s Declaration issues broader limitations on the role of government and much of the language sets forth general principles rather than particular individual rights. An example is the broadly stated first clause of Article I, Section 1: “All power is inherent in the people…”

The Wyoming Declaration of Rights also sets forth particular political and civil rights. For example, Section 23 states: “The right of the citizens to opportunities for education should have practical recognition. The legislature shall suitably encourage means and agencies calculated to advance the sciences and liberal arts.” The Declaration establishes substantive guarantees such as prohibition of ex post facto laws. (Section 35). Also included in the Declaration are procedural due process requirements such as the prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure (Section 4) and assurance that there be no suspension of habeas corpus (Section 17).

The Declaration, like the rest of the Wyoming Constitution, contains greater detail than the language in the U. S. Constitution. For instance, Section 16 states that “No person arrested and confined in jail shall be treated with unnecessary rigor. The erection of safe and comfortable prisons, and inspection of prisons, and the humane treatment of prisoners shall be provided for.” (This is contrasted with the “cruel and unusual punishment” clause in the 8^th Amendment of the U. S. Constitution).

Just as in the rest of the document, several provisions in the Declaration of Rights deal with issues not addressed by the U. S. Bill of Rights. The most obvious example is Sec. 31, specifying the control of water.

Articles 2-5, 12-17 set up the structure of government, including the three distinct branches of legislative, executive and judicial departments.[2] The bulk of the document, in fact, relates to the branches of government.

Contrasting Article 3 with the corresponding article in the U. S. Constitution (Article 1) reveals the similarities in the two documents. Article 3 specifies the structure of the legislature, sets forth the requirements for service, apportionment, length of terms, time and place of sessions and even such details as determining a quorum, keeping a journal and limiting each bill to one subject. Included in the article is a section providing strong evidence of the state’s rural agricultural character in 1889—Section 39 specifically prohibits aid to railroads. Concern with bribery is apparent from the fact that Sections 42-44 states how offending members are to be expelled for such matters. Sections 47-50 specify how apportionment is to be accomplished. Initiative and referendum, not a part of the original constitution and added more than 75 years after the constitutional convention, is described in Section 52.

The Wyoming Constitution is much easier to amend than the U. S. counterpart. The required steps to amend the Wyoming document are set forth in Article 20. A two-thirds vote is required in each house before the amendment is published (“for at last twelve consecutive weeks, prior to said election, in at least one newspaper of general circulation, published in each county”) and submitted to the voters in the next general election. One peculiar aspect of the Wyoming amendment process has spelled the doom for a number of the more than 100 amendments proposed over the past century.[3] An amendment is approved if the majority of voters vote in favor of it. This has been defined by the Wyoming Supreme Court as requiring, not a plurality of voters marking “yes” to the amendment, but fifty percent plus one of all voters casting ballots in that general election who vote “yes” to the amendment. Consequently, there have been occasions when an amendment had more “yes” votes than negative ones, but failed because it did not capture the majority of votes. (Not voting, in essence, is a “no” vote on the amendment).

Even though the Wyoming Constitution actually contains an article (19) that is titled “Miscellaneous,” there are additional “miscellaneous” articles in the document. One of these, Article 8 Irrigation and Water Rights, is relatively unusual in state constitutions. Among the provisions is the statement that the State of Wyoming owns all of the waters within the state’s borders. Another “miscellaneous” article, Article 9—Mines and Mining, indicates the significance of that industry to Wyoming at the time the constitutional convention was convened. A curious provision in the original Article 9, and not amended out until 1978, specified that “No boy under the age of fourteen years and no woman or girl of any age shall be employed or permitted to be in or about any coal, iron or other dangerous mines….” This was a paternalistic provision that, to the late 20^th century mind, contrasts rather sharply with the language of equal rights contained in Article 6.

The “schedule” simply spelled out the process under which the territorial governmental structure was to be incorporated into state government. Review of this section has little but historical value.

The listing of the signers of the Wyoming Constitution contains a number of interesting names. M. C. Brown, president of the Wyoming Constitutional Convention, had served as first mayor of Laramie. A decade after his service in the convention, he was appointed a federal judge in Alaska. During investigations over corruption and judicial misconduct in the early 1900s, Brown resigned, returning to Laramie where he practiced law until his death.[4]

[1] Wyoming Constitution, Article 1, Sec. 37, states: “The State of Wyoming is an inseparable part of the federal union, and the constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land.”

[2] In the Wyoming Constitution, Article 2, powers of the government are divided into the three distinct departments.

[3] I have not included an exact count because it seems that new amendments are proposed to the voters nearly every election year.

[4] Curiously, Brown died the same day as banker Edward Ivinson.