Wyoming’s elected officials disclose potential conflicts of interest

This story is part of our Sunshine Week coverage — shining light on the importance of public records and open government — March 16-22.

The Wyoming Ethics and Disclosure Act requires elected officials in Wyoming’s executive branch — the governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state auditor and superintendent of public instruction — and all members of the Wyoming Legislature to file financial disclosure forms with the secretary of state.

These forms, due each year by Jan. 31, help to uphold the state’s prohibition on elected officials using their office for private gain. Lawmakers and state executives who hold 10% or greater interest in a company must disclose any contracts that business has with the state for more than $5,000.

Those convicted of violating the Ethics and Disclosures Act face fines up to $1,000.00 and removal from office.

WyoFile requests and shares these documents every year to help the public monitor for potential conflicts of interest.

Only a handful of lawmakers and state execs have contracts with the state exceeding $5,000.

Gov. Mark Gordon listed grazing leases with the state, Rep. Ken Clouston, R-Gillette, provides athletic training services to Gillette College and the Campbell County School district, and Sen. Barry Crago, R-Buffalo, listed legal services he provides to the town of Kaycee. While Sen. Cale Case does not have a contract with the state, he disclosed that the Inn at Lander, which he co-owns, often supplies lodging, food and meeting rooms to elected officials and various other state entities.

Sen. Mike Gierau, D-Jackson, was the only lawmaker whose form was missing from WyoFile’s Feb. 3 public records request to the secretary of state’s office for the disclosures.

When asked about the missing form, Joe Rubino, the secretary of state’s chief policy officer and general counsel, said when the office received Gierau’s form it simply stated “same as last year.” Because statute requires disclosure of the pertinent information each year, Rubino said, the office does not consider Gierau’s form complete.

“I wrote ‘same as last year’ because the day before [it was due] I broke my arm,” Gierau told WyoFile. “I fell on the back stairway going to a roll call vote and broke my arm right above my wrist.”

Unable to write well, Gierau said he filled it out “truthfully and honestly,” using a shortcut, so he wouldn’t have to fill in all the information again.

He disagrees with the secretary of state’s interpretation that his form is not complete. His 2024 form is listed below along with every other official’s 2025 financial statements and code of ethics forms. WyoFile received these documents through a public records request. See something fishy? Missing? Let us know at editor@wyofile.com.

Wyoming House

Wyoming Senate

Wyoming executive offices

Gov. Mark Gordon

Secretary of State Chuck Gray

Superintendent Megan Degenfelder

State Auditor Kristi Racines

State Treasurer Curt Meier

Correction: This story was updated to include Sen. Jim Anderson’s form which was left out due to reporter error. —Ed.

Join the Conversation

1 Comment

WyoFile's goal is to provide readers with information and ideas that foster constructive conversations about the issues and opportunities our communities face. One small piece of how we do that is by offering a space below each story for readers to share perspectives, experiences and insights. For this to work, we need your help.

What we're looking for:

Your real name — first and last.
Direct responses to the article. Tell us how your experience relates to the story.
The truth. Share factual information that adds context to the reporting.
Thoughtful answers to questions raised by the reporting or other commenters.
Tips that could advance our reporting on the topic.
No more than three comments per story, including replies.

What we block from our comments section, when we see it:

Pseudonyms. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish, and we expect commenters to do the same by using their real name.
Comments that are not directly relevant to the article.
Demonstrably false claims, what-about-isms, references to debunked lines of rhetoric, professional political talking points or links to sites trafficking in misinformation.
Personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats.
Arguments with other commenters.

Other important things to know:

Appearing in WyoFile’s comments section is a privilege, not a right or entitlement.
We’re a small team and our first priority is reporting. Depending on what’s going on, comments may be moderated 24 to 48 hours from when they’re submitted — or even later. If you comment in the evening or on the weekend, please be patient. We’ll get to it when we’re back in the office.
We’re not interested in managing squeaky wheels, and even if we wanted to, we don't have time to address every single commenter’s grievance.
Try as we might, we will make mistakes. We’ll fail to catch aliases, mistakenly allow folks to exceed the comment limit and occasionally miss false statements. If that’s going to upset you, it’s probably best to just stick with our journalism and avoid the comments section.
We don’t mediate disputes between commenters. If you have concerns about another commenter, please don’t bring them to us.

The bottom line:

If you repeatedly push the boundaries, make unreasonable demands, get caught lying or generally cause trouble, we will stop approving your comments — maybe forever. Such moderation decisions are not negotiable or subject to explanation. If civil and constructive conversation is not your goal, then our comments section is not for you.

Roberta Dominguez says:

March 20, 2025 at 8:31 am

Why aren’t legislators disclosing their hoards of cryptocurrency, even as some of them are trying to legitimize these sketchy, unregulated securities which are used to hide transactions and commit fraud?