A state lawmaker’s recent living situation, in which he moved out of his district for several months in the past year, disqualifies him from running for reelection to his Riverton seat, the Fremont County clerk concluded this week.
However, the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office will ultimately decide whether Rep. Joel Guggenmos should be certified to run this year for another term in House District 55, Clerk Julie Freese wrote in a Thursday letter to the Republican state lawmaker.
“Should you consider running for re-election in House District #55, it is my position that you will not qualify because you will not have resided in House District [55] for 12 months on November 3rd, 2026 as is required by Article 3, Section 2 of the Wyoming Constitution,” Freese wrote to Guggenmos.
The Wyoming Constitution specifies that a candidate “who has not, for at least twelve months next preceding his election resided within the county or district in which he was elected” is not qualified to run for the Legislature.
Guggenmos told WyoFile on Friday he has not yet filed for reelection and is awaiting guidance from a personal attorney.
“I’m getting legal counsel just to make sure that I am not going to be getting myself in a pickle,” he said.
Meanwhile, it will be up to the Wyoming Legislature’s Management Council to decide whether Guggenmos ought to have declared a vacancy when he temporarily moved outside House District 55 starting last fall.
In September, Guggenmos moved into an RV parked outside his district after the cost of his family’s rental house abruptly increased, he told WyoFile earlier this month. In late April, Guggenmos moved back to his district and into more permanent housing, ending what he said was always intended to be a temporary circumstance.
At that point, however, a formal complaint had been filed against Guggenmos with the Fremont County Clerk’s Office, spurring a law enforcement investigation.
“I am requesting that the appropriate authorities investigate this matter and ensure that HD55 receives the representation it is entitled to,” Fremont County Democratic Party Chair Julie Twist wrote in a March 31 complaint, which WyoFile has reviewed. “If Guggenmos no longer resides in the district, he cannot effectively represent or remain accountable to the people who live here,” Twist wrote.
While state law requires that a vacancy be declared when a member no longer resides in the district from which they were elected, the Wyoming Constitution and Wyoming Supreme Court precedent complicate the matter.
The constitution “does not speak to maintaining residency through a member’s term of office,” according to a Legislative Service Office memo. The office acts as the Legislature’s nonpartisan staff and counsel, and has had to weigh in many times on the question of lawmaker residency.
Furthermore, the memo states that the constitution addresses vacancies in legislative offices, but does not “give an indication as to whether moving from a legislative district creates a vacancy.”
Meanwhile, the Wyoming Supreme Court “has adopted the view that statutory and constitutional provisions which tend to limit the candidacy of any person from public office must be construed in favor of the right of voters to exercise their choice and should be construed strictly and not extended to cases not clearly covered,” the memo states.
Either way, it will now be up to Wyoming lawmakers to decide what action, if any, to take against Guggenmos.
The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office concluded its investigation this month, finding that Guggenmos lived outside his district on Blue Spruce Lane in Riverton from September to April. The investigation also found that Guggenmos notified the Legislative Service Office ahead of his move and informed House Majority Floor Leader Scott Heiner, R-Green River, during the 2026 legislative session of his out-of-district living situation.
With the investigation now complete, Fremont County Clerk Freese forwarded the findings to the Management Council — keeping with Wyoming Constitution and Wyoming Supreme Court precedent that have left the House to decide whether one of its members is no longer qualified to serve with that body.
The investigation, however, raised another concern for the longtime clerk.
“This letter is in regard ot your status as the Wyoming State Legislator for House District #55 and to inform you that due to recent allegations and subsequent investigation, your recent living situation has disqualified you as a potential candidate for House District #55,” Freese wrote in a letter sent Thursday to Guggenmos.
Whether Guggenmos is qualified to run, Freese noted in her letter, will be up to someone else to decide.
“While these are the conclusions I have arrived at with the advice of counsel, filing for the House of Representatives is handled by the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office and that office will ultimately decide whether to certify you for the 2026 elections,” Freese wrote.
Guggenmos says he is waiting for advice from his attorney, but otherwise, intends to run for a second term. The candidate filing period is open through May 29.
“The way I look at it is, if there is a question about this, why not let the people decide?” Guggenmos told WyoFile Friday. “They’re the people, they have a voice, and if they are wanting the kind of representation that I offer, shouldn’t they have that option?”
The lawmaker also criticized Freese for what he called “political bias.”
“I am not too pleased with our county clerk,” Guggenmos said.
Freese, meanwhile, told WyoFile she simply reviewed the home addresses Guggenmos had provided in various records, such as his most recent financial disclosure form, and whether those addresses were within House District 55, which encompasses a swath of Fremont County, including most of Riverton.
The sheriff’s office investigation identified several home addresses associated with Guggenmos. Not all of them were in House District 55. Some of the addresses, including the lawmaker’s vehicle and voter registration records, were redacted in the report obtained by WyoFile because they are not public records.
Before his move, Guggenmos notified the Legislative Service Office to get its staff’s input. In response, they provided the lawmaker not with legal advice, but their standard legal memorandum on issues surrounding legislator residency.
Guggenmos told WyoFile on Friday that he had also had a conversation with the Secretary of State’s Office, “to get their input, see how they view things,” but he could not recall when the conversation occurred.
Secretary of State Chuck Gray, who spent much of Friday attending the meeting of a legislative committee that works on election issues, did not respond to WyoFile’s request for comment by publishing time.
