Chapter 2 - Corporate Powers And Duties
CHAPTER 2 - Corporate Powers and Duties
18-2-101. General powers.
(a) Each organized county in the state is a body corporate andpolitic. The powers of the county shall be exercised by a board of countycommissioners which may:
(i) Sue and be sued;
(ii) Purchase property for the use of the county and acquirereal property at tax sales, as provided by law;
(iii) Sell or convey property owned by the county, when it is inthe best interests of the county;
(iv) Make contracts and perform other acts relating to theproperty and concerns of the county in the exercise of its corporate oradministrative powers;
(v) Exercise other powers as provided by law;
(vi) Establish a surface water drainage system, utilities anddrainage management; and
(vii) Repealed By Laws 1999, ch. 22, 2.
(viii) Declare and abate nuisances which the commission determinesto be a threat to health or safety as provided in W.S. 18-2-115. No personshall create, continue or permit nuisances to exist in violation of a finalorder issued pursuant to W.S. 18-2-115. Any resolution passed by a board ofcounty commissioners pursuant to this paragraph is enforceable, in addition toother remedies provided by law, by injunction, mandamus or abatement. Whoeverfails to comply with a final order shall be assessed a civil penalty of up toone hundred dollars ($100.00) per day for each day the violation continues. Noresolution issued pursuant to this paragraph shall regulate any permittedindustrial facility or oil and gas or mining operations necessary to theextraction, production or exploration of the mineral resources. Nothing in thisparagraph shall be construed to impair or modify any rights afforded to farm orranch operations pursuant to the Wyoming Right to Farm and Ranch Act.
18-2-102. Property.
Anyproperty conveyed to a county, is the property of the county.
18-2-103. Buildings generally.
Eachcounty shall provide and maintain a suitable courthouse, jail and othernecessary county buildings.
18-2-104. Joint city and county buildings.
(a) Any county and its county seat, acting through the board ofcounty commissioners and the city or town council respectively may agree forthe joint purchase or construction and use of:
(i) A building to be used as a county courthouse and city hall,to be known as a city and county building;
(ii) A public auditorium, athletic fields, civic center or othercommunity buildings, which may be designated as a memorial to the veterans ofthe United States of America as the board and council may determine.
(b) The county and its county seat shall each contribute to thecost of purchase or construction of any facility specified in subsection (a) ofthis section in such amounts as they agree.
(c) The county commissioners and the city or town council shallfix all details and control of construction, maintenance and management and thedivision of the expense of maintenance and management of facilities specifiedin subsection (a) of this section by agreement, and the agreement shall bindboth parties until modified or rescinded by mutual agreement.
(d) All laws relative to raising funds and issuing bonds bycounties, cities or towns for purchasing or constructing county courthouses andjails and city and town halls, respectively, are applicable for the facilitiesspecified in subsection (a) of this section.
18-2-105. County, city or local housing authority; authority toestablish senior citizen center; receiving state and federal monies;contracting for services.
Aboard of county commissioners, cities or local housing authorities designatedby said counties or cities may establish and maintain senior citizen centers toprovide transportation, information, recreation facilities and other serviceswhich will enable senior citizens to maintain their independence and to avoidinstitutionalization as long as possible. A board of county commissioners,cities or local housing authorities designated by said counties or cities mayreceive both state and federal monies for the establishment and maintenance ofthese facilities. A board of county commissioners, the mayor and council or theboard of commissioners of a local housing authority may provide these servicesor contract with public or private organizations or individuals for theservices.
18-2-106. Senior citizen advisory commission.
Aboard of county commissioners, the mayor and council or the board ofcommissioners of a local housing authority may appoint an advisory commissionfor senior citizens. The composition of the advisory commission, theappointment and terms of its members and provisions for its organization andprocedures shall be determined by the board of county commissioners. A membermay be removed for cause by the board of county commissioners or other appointingbody. The board shall fill any vacancy by appointment for the unexpired term.
18-2-107. Cooperation with other agencies for funding and operation ofsenior citizen centers.
Thecounty, city or local housing authority may cooperate with other agencies asprovided in W.S. 16-1-101, for the operation and funding of senior citizencenters.
18-2-108. Joint establishment, operation, contracts and agreements offacilities by local governments; sharing of costs; issuance of bonds;limitation on expenditures.
(a) Each county, municipality, school, hospital or otherspecial district, or any two (2) or more of them may enter into contracts oragreements to jointly establish and operate recreation facilities, water,liquid or solid waste facilities, police protection agency facilities, fireprotection agency facilities, transportation system facilities, public schoolfacilities, airports, public health facilities, community college facilities,hospital and related medical facilities, courthouse, jail and administrativeoffice facilities or any combination thereof, and public access roads toschool, hospital or other special districts where not otherwise provided bylaw.
(b) Each county, municipality, school, hospital or otherspecial district, or any two (2) or more of them may enter into contracts oragreements to jointly purchase, lease, construct and operate facilities andequipment used in joint operations permitted under this section and may issuetheir bonds for such purpose as provided by law.
(c) The costs of the joint operations and joint use ofmachinery and facilities specified in this section shall be shared among thecontracting parties as determined by their governing boards but no cost shallbe incurred nor monies expended by any contracting party which will be inexcess of limits prescribed by law for expenditures by it.
18-2-109. Name in which county shall sue or be sued.
Inall suits or proceedings the county shall sue or be sued as the "board ofcounty commissioners of the county of . . . . . . . . . . ," but thisshall not prevent county officers when authorized by law from suing in theirname of office for the benefit of the county.
18-2-110. Commissioners to receive service of process and employattorney in behalf of counties.
Inall legal proceedings against the county process shall be served on the boardof county commissioners or any member thereof and they may in the absence ofthe county attorney employ an attorney to defend them, for which they may makean appropriation from the general county fund.
18-2-111. Judgment against county to be paid by tax levy; whenexecution to issue.
Except as provided in W.S. 1-39-101 through1-39-121 when a judgment is rendered against the board of county commissionersor any county officer the judgment shall be paid by a tax levied for thatpurpose and when collected shall be paid by the county treasurer to thejudgment creditor upon the delivery of a proper voucher. Execution may issue onthe judgment if payment is not made within sixty (60) days after the timerequired for the payment of county taxes to the county treasurer.
18-2-112. Contracts for human services.
A county may contract for treatment andpreventive services for the mentally ill, substance abuser and developmentallydisabled as provided in W.S. 35-1-611 through 35-1-627.
18-2-113. Prohibition of towing by a county.
(a) As used in this section, "towing service" meansthe transportation or recovery of privately owned vehicles or the disposal ofabandoned, privately owned vehicles by use of a motor vehicle altered, designedor equipped to tow or render assistance for vehicles by means of a crane,hoist, tow bar, tow line or dolly.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, acounty shall not purchase or use equipment purchased by the county to engage ina towing service.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, a countymay purchase or use equipment to engage in a towing service if there is noprivately owned commercial towing service operating in the county that is ableand willing to perform a towing service at a reasonable cost.
(d) Nothing in this section prohibits the use of a countyvehicle which is otherwise engaged in authorized activities, from providingassistance to stranded motorists.
18-2-114. Prohibitions; amateur radio antenna regulation.
No county shall enact or enforce anordinance or regulation that fails to conform to the limited preemptionentitled "Amateur Radio Preemption, 101 FCC 2d 952 (1985)" issued bythe federal communications commission. An ordinance or regulation adopted by acounty with respect to amateur radio antennas shall conform to the limitedfederal preemption which states local regulations that involve placement,screening or height of antennas based on health, safety or aestheticconsiderations shall be crafted to reasonably accommodate amateurcommunications. No ordinance or regulation adopted by a county under thissection shall establish a maximum height for an amateur radio antenna of lessthan seventy (70) feet above ground.
18-2-115. Nuisance abatement; procedures.
(a) A board of county commissioners shall, by resolution,establish standards for determining when a site may be declared a nuisanceunder W.S. 18-2-101(a)(viii).
(b) A board of county commissioners may issue an orderdeclaring a property to be a nuisance under W.S. 18-2-101(a)(viii) and shallprovide written notice to the owner or occupant of the property describing withspecificity the nature of the nuisance and the steps required for abatement. The order shall be in writing, shall state the grounds for the order and shallbe filed in the office of the clerk of the district court of the county inwhich the property is situated. A copy of the order shall be served in accordancewith the Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure upon the owner or occupant with awritten notice that the order has been filed and shall remain in force, unlessthe owner or occupant files his objections or answer with the clerk of thedistrict court within twenty (20) days. A copy of the order shall be posted ina conspicuous place upon the property.
(c) Within twenty (20) days of service of an order issued undersubsection (b) of this section, the owner or occupant may file with the clerkof the district court and serve upon the board of county commissioners issuingthe order, an answer denying the existence of any of the allegations in theorder. If no answer is filed and served, the order shall become a final orderdeclaring the site a nuisance and fix a time when the order shall be enforced. If an answer is filed and served, the court shall hear and determine the issuesraised as set forth in subsection (d) of this section.
(d) The court shall hold a hearing within twenty (20) days fromthe date of the filing of the answer. If the court sustains all or any part ofthe order, the court shall issue a final order and fix a time within which allor any part of the final order shall be enforced.
(e) An appeal from the judgment or final order of the districtcourt may be taken by any party to the proceeding in accordance with theWyoming Rules of Appellate Procedure.