Chapter 5 - Grand Jury
CHAPTER 5 - GRAND JURY
ARTICLE 1 - IN GENERAL
7-5-101. Required court order for summoning.
A grand jury shall be summoned only when orderedby a judge of the district court.
7-5-102. Manner of summoning; term.
A grand jury shall be drawn, summoned andimpaneled in the same manner as trial juries in civil actions and shall servefor one (1) year following selection unless discharged sooner by the districtjudge.
7-5-103. Composition; qualifications; alternates.
(a) A grand jury shall consist of twelve (12) persons who shallpossess the qualifications of trial jurors as provided by W.S. 1-11-101.
(b) The district judge may direct the selection of one (1) ormore alternate jurors who shall sit as regular jurors before an indictment isfound. If a member of the grand jury becomes unable or disqualified to performhis duty he shall be replaced by an alternate juror.
7-5-104. Finding of indictment.
(a) No indictment shall be found unless the finding isconcurred in by at least nine (9) members of the grand jury.
(b) Not less than nine (9) jurors may act as the grand jury inwhich event it is required that all of them concur in finding an indictment.
(c) If an indictment is found as provided by this section theforeman of the grand jury shall endorse upon the indictment the words "ATrue Bill" and shall sign the indictment.
ARTICLE 2 - PROCEEDINGS
7-5-201. Appointment of foreman; oath of jurors.
(a) The district judge shall appoint one (1) of the jurors tobe foreman. The foreman is authorized to administer oaths to witnesses andshall sign indictments as provided by W.S. 7-5-104.
(b) Before entering upon their duties, an oath or affirmationshall be administered to the foreman and each of the jurors providing, insubstance, that each of them will:
(i) Diligently inquire into all matters coming before them;
(ii) Find and present indictments truthfully and without malice,fear of reprisal or hope of reward; and
(iii) Keep secret matters occurring before the grand jury unlessdisclosure is directed or permitted by the court.
7-5-202. Charging of duties; powers.
(a) After the grand jury is impaneled and sworn, the districtjudge shall charge the jurors as to their duties particularly to the obligationof secrecy which their oaths impose, and give them any information the courtdeems proper concerning any offenses known to the court and likely to comebefore the grand jury.
(b) The grand jury may:
(i) Inquire into any crimes committed or triable within thecounty and present them to the court by indictment; and
(ii) Investigate and report to the court concerning thecondition of the county jail and the treatment of prisoners.
7-5-203. Right of district attorney to appear before jury; presenceof other persons during deliberations.
(a) The district attorney, or the deputy or assistant districtattorney may appear before the grand jury for the purpose of:
(i) Giving information relative to any matter under inquiry;
(ii) Giving requested advice upon any legal matter; and
(iii) Interrogating witnesses.
(b) No person other than the grand jurors shall be presentduring the deliberations of the grand jury or when the jurors are voting.
7-5-204. Process for witnesses.
If requested by the grand jury or thedistrict attorney, the clerk of the court in which the jury is impaneled shallissue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses to testify before the grandjury.
7-5-205. Administration of oath or affirmation to witnesses.
Before any witness is examined by the grandjury, an oath or affirmation shall be administered to him by the foreman.
7-5-206. Proceedings upon refusal of witness to testify.
If a witness appearing before a grand juryrefuses, without just cause shown, to testify or provide other information, thedistrict attorney may take the witness before the court for an order directingthe witness to show cause why the witness should not be held in contempt. Ifafter hearing the court finds that the refusal was without just cause, and ifthe witness continues to refuse to testify or produce evidence, the court mayhold the witness in contempt subject to the punishment provided by W.S.1-12-108(a)(ii).
7-5-207. Secrecy of indictments against persons not under control.
The district judge may direct that anindictment shall be kept secret until the defendant is in custody or has givenbail, and in that event the clerk shall seal the indictment and no person shalldisclose the finding of the indictment except when necessary for the issuanceand execution of a warrant or summons.
7-5-208. Confidentiality.
(a) Disclosure of matters occurring before the grand jury,other than its deliberations and the vote of any juror, may be made to thedistrict attorney for use in the performance of his duties. The districtattorney may disclose so much of the grand jury's proceeding to law enforcementagencies as he deems essential to the public interest and effective lawenforcement.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (a) of this section, ajuror, attorney, interpreter, stenographer, operator of a recording device orany typist who transcribes recorded testimony may disclose matters occurringbefore the grand jury only when so directed by the court preliminarily to or inconnection with a judicial proceeding or when permitted by the court at therequest of the defendant upon a showing that a particularized need exists for amotion to dismiss the indictment because of matters occurring before the grandjury.
(c) No obligation of secrecy may be imposed upon any personexcept in accordance with this section and W.S. 7-5-207.
7-5-209. Presentation and filing of indictment.
Indictments found by the grand jury shallbe presented by the foreman to the court in the presence of the jury and filedwith the clerk.
ARTICLE 3 - STATE GRAND JURY
7-5-301. Petition for impaneling; determination by district judge.
If the attorney general or the governordeems it to be in the public interest to convene a grand jury which shall havejurisdiction extending beyond the boundaries of any single county, he maypetition the judge of any district court for an order in accordance with theprovisions of W.S. 7-5-301 through 7-5-309. The district judge may, for goodcause shown, order the impaneling of a state grand jury which shall havestatewide jurisdiction. In making his determination as to the need forimpaneling a state grand jury, the judge shall require a showing that thematter cannot be effectively handled by a county grand jury impaneled pursuantto W.S. 7-5-101 through 7-5-209.
7-5-302. Powers and duties; applicable law; procedural rules.
A state grand jury shall have the samepowers and duties and shall function in the same manner as a county grand jury,except for the provisions of W.S. 7-5-202(b)(ii), and except that itsjurisdiction shall extend throughout the state. The law applicable to countygrand juries shall apply to state grand juries except when the law isinconsistent with the provisions of W.S. 7-5-301 through 7-5-309. The supremecourt may promulgate any rules it deems necessary to govern the procedures ofstate grand juries.
7-5-303. Selection and term of members.
The clerk of the district court in eachcounty of the state, upon receipt of an order of the district judge of thecourt granting a petition to impanel a state grand jury, shall prepare a listof fifteen (15) prospective state grand jurors drawn from existing jury listsof the county. The list so prepared shall be immediately sent to the clerk ofthe court granting the petition to impanel the state grand jury. The districtjudge granting the order shall impanel the state grand jury from the listscompiled by the clerks of court. The judge preparing the final list from whichthe grand jurors will be chosen need not include the names of jurors from everycounty within the state having due regard for the expense and inconvenience oftravel. A state grand jury shall be composed of twelve (12) persons, but notmore than one-half (1/2) of the members of the state grand jury shall beresidents of any one (1) county. The members of the state grand jury shall beselected by the court in the same manner as jurors of county grand juries andshall serve for one (1) year following selection unless discharged sooner bythe district judge.
7-5-304. Summoning of jurors.
Jurors shall be summoned and selected inthe same manner as jurors of county grand juries.
7-5-305. Judicial supervision.
Judicial supervision of the state grandjury shall be maintained by the district judge who issued the order impanelingthe grand jury, and all indictments, reports and other formal returns of anykind made by the grand jury shall be returned to that judge.
7-5-306. Presentation of evidence.
The presentation of the evidence shall bemade to the state grand jury by the attorney general or his designee. In theevent the office of the attorney general is under investigation, thepresentation of evidence shall be made to the state grand jury by an attorneyappointed by the Wyoming supreme court.
7-5-307. Return of indictment; designation of venue; consolidation ofindictments.
Any indictment by the state grand juryshall be returned to the district judge without any designation of venue.Thereupon, the judge shall, by order, designate the county of venue for thepurpose of trial. The judge may order the consolidation of an indictmentreturned by a county grand jury with an indictment returned by a state grandjury and fix venue for trial.
7-5-308. Investigative powers; secrecy of proceedings.
(a) In addition to its powers of indictment, a statewide grandjury impaneled under W.S. 7-5-301 through 7-5-309 may, at the request of theattorney general, cause an investigation to be made into the extent oforganized criminal activity within the state and return a report to theattorney general.
(b) Disclosure of matters occurring before the grand jury,other than its deliberations and the vote of any juror, may be made to theattorney general and to any district attorney for use in the performance oftheir duties. Those officials may disclose so much of the grand jury'sproceedings to law enforcement agencies as they deem essential to the public interestand effective law enforcement.
(c) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, ajuror, attorney, interpreter, stenographer, operator of a recording device orany typist who transcribes recorded testimony may disclose matters occurring beforethe grand jury only when so directed by the court preliminarily to or inconnection with a judicial proceeding or when permitted by the court at therequest of the defendant upon a showing that a particularized need exists for amotion to dismiss the indictment because of matters occurring before the grandjury.
(d) No obligation of secrecy may be imposed upon any personexcept in accordance with this section. The court may direct that an indictmentshall be kept secret until the defendant is in custody or has given bail, andin that event, the clerk shall seal the indictment and no person shall disclosethe finding of the indictment except when necessary for the issuance andexecution of a warrant or summons.
7-5-309. Costs and expenses.
The costs and expenses incurred inimpaneling a state grand jury and in the performance of its functions andduties shall be paid by the state out of funds appropriated to the attorneygeneral for that purpose.