Sheriff's Corner: Criminal Jurisdiction: What it is and Why it Matters

Back when I was a rookie patrol deputy, I remember being assigned an extremely complicated felony case, with numerous witnesses, suspects, allegations, and stories. Frankly, the whole thing was a bit of a mess. I remember trying to figure out where to even start my investigation as there were so many different components and varying accounts of what had happened. Luckily for me, shortly into my investigation, I discovered that the alleged crimes had actually occurred in Sweetwater County, our neighbors to the west. This fortuitous turn of events meant that the investigation would be taken over by the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, as the crimes had allegedly occurred in their criminal jurisdiction.

Criminal Jurisdiction is a critical component of our legal system, especially in a state as geographically diverse as Wyoming. Criminal Jurisdiction comes in many different layers, all the way from the international level (think the International Criminal Court, located in The Hague, Netherlands,) to the municipal level (Medicine Bow.) Here in Wyoming, we typically deal with four main categories of criminal jurisdiction: Federal, State, County, and Local (Municipal.) Jurisdictional boundaries on all levels tend to be defined geographically, with jurisdictions oftentimes overlapping. For example, the Rawlins Police Department has criminal jurisdiction within the City of Rawlins. As the City of Rawlins is located within Carbon County, the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office also has criminal jurisdiction within the City of Rawlins. As Carbon County is located within the state of Wyoming, the Wyoming Highway Patrol has criminal jurisdiction within Carbon County. See what I mean by overlapping?

The three main types of criminal jurisdiction we typically encounter are State, County, and Local (Municipal.) Federal jurisdiction does come into play, but not as commonly as the latter three. When it comes to Carbon County, the two most prevalent federal entities that we interact with regarding criminal jurisdiction are the United States Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM.) Both agencies employ law enforcement personnel who are responsible for law enforcement action within their geographical boundaries: in our county this includes the Medicine Bow National Forest and Bureau of Land Management land. Law enforcement personnel assigned to either of these agencies have criminal jurisdiction in National Forests and BLM lands outside of Carbon County and the state of Wyoming, as they operate on a federal level.

When it comes to criminal jurisdiction at a state level, the two most common examples are the Wyoming Highway Patrol (WHP) and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD.) WHP Troopers and WGFD Game Wardens have statewide jurisdiction, which means they can perform their duties across the state of Wyoming. A WHP Trooper may be assigned to the Rawlins Division, but as they operate as a state level entity, they can perform their duties anywhere in the state. Same goes for the WGFD Game Wardens. If needed, a Game Warden who lives in Saratoga can assist with an operation in Pinedale.

After state and federal, we come to county-wide criminal jurisdiction. This is where your local Sheriff’s Offices come into play. The Carbon County Sheriff’s Office has criminal jurisdiction within all 8,000 square miles of Carbon County including all municipalities, census designated areas, and unincorporated areas. This gives us broad geographic responsibility to respond to and patrol areas that are outside municipal limits (for example, Seminoe Boat Club,) and flexibility to assist our state and local law enforcement agencies within Carbon County (think Saratoga Police Department, WHP, etc.)

Last but certainly not least, we come to local, or municipal jurisdiction. These are your city police departments (Rawlins, Saratoga, etc.) and your local Marshal’s Offices (Medicine Bow, Hanna, etc.) Primary jurisdiction for local agencies are typically the municipalities within which they are located.

Policing rural Wyoming can be tough, especially with limited manpower and wide geographic responsibility. Luckily for us, Wyoming State Statute includes provisions that allows agencies to assist one another, typically by using Extraterritorial Memorandums of Understanding.

Criminal jurisdiction can sometimes seem like a murky concept, but hopefully this article was able to shed some light on how our local law enforcement agencies operate!

As always, thank you for reading. If you have any questions, please reach out to us. You can find us on Facebook at Alex Bakken-Carbon County Sheriff (https://www.facebook.com/bakkenforsheriff/) or email at ccsheriff@carbonwy.com.

Thanks!

-Alex