Wyoming Court Records

Wyoming Court Record Lookup

Wyoming WY court records are public documents and available to anyone who performs Wyoming court records search. Court documents are essential to accomplishing many things, from collecting a judgment to clearing a driving record to enroll in a court-ordered treatment program. Find out WY criminal records, warrants, traffic violations and more through performing court records search.

Local courts

Non-criminal traffic issues and violations of municipal ordinances such as trespassing, health code, or animal welfare cases are heard in municipal courts. These courts are established by local governments.

Trial courts

Circuit courts are located in each county. These courtrooms hear civil cases with up to $50,000 in value, small claims, forcible entry, domestic violence or protective order cases, misdemeanors, and preliminary hearings on felony cases.

Probate, criminal, and civil and family law cases, including WY child support cases, are heard by Wyoming’s district courts, which are the general trial courts of the state. Mentioned Wyoming courthouses also hear appeals of circuit and municipal court cases, which can be accessed via Wyoming court case lookup.

These Wyoming court records online are available to anyone who runs a records search. Juvenile cases and court records that name victims of certain crimes may be restricted from public access due to confidentiality laws.

Circuit courts received nearly 3,000 criminal cases in a recent year as well as almost 1,800 probate, 2,600 domestic relations, and 1,700 mental health cases.

Appellate court

The state supreme court is the only appellate court for disputed decisions from lower courts. The court’s five justices also administer and oversee the state bar.

Federal court

Multi-state lawsuits, bankruptcies, and violations of federal law are handled by U.S. District Courts, which are the federal courts located in each state. Records of federal court can be accessed by conducting Wyoming court record lookup.

Wyoming Notable Court Cases

A very notable case originating in Wyoming is that of Mike Hickey and Mark Hopkinson and the murder of four innocent people. Hopkinson came back to Bridger Valley, Wyoming after a football scholarship went south due to a knee injury and he subsequently served time in a federal prison for a drug conviction. Later, in 1977, Hopkinson was due to fight with a sewer board over refusal to pay hookup fees. The night before his deposition, an attorney involved in the litigation was killed in a house explosion, along with his wife and son.

A girl by the name of Kellie Wyckhuyse also went missing approximately one year prior to the explosion. However, a witness came forward by the name of Jeff Green and claimed Mike Hickey killed the missing girl and Hopkinson was involved in the attorney's house bombing.

Green's body was later found in Bridger Valley. He was tortured and burned before being killed by a gunshot to the neck, just shortly before he was scheduled to testify to the grand jury against Hopkinson. Although Hopkinson was serving an unrelated sentence in federal prison in California at the time, it was later proven that he orchestrated the murder via phone calls.

Mike Hickey ultimately confessed to murdering the missing girl, Wyckhuyse, saying Hopkinson knew about the murder but agreed to keep quiet in exchange for Hickey blowing up the attorney's house and $2,000. Authorities offered Hickey 20 years and protection from Hopkinson in exchange for his testimony against him. Hopkinson was given the death penalty for Green's murder and was executed in 1992. Mike Hickey was released in 1999, and now lives a quite life on a ranch with his family in Lonetree, Wyoming.