(1) Time. — Any party may move to transfer trial within 15 days after the last pleading is filed.
(2) Transfer. — The court shall transfer the action to another county for trial if the court is satisfied that:
(A) there exists within the county where the action is pending such prejudice against the party or the party’s cause that the party cannot obtain a fair and impartial trial, or
(B) that the convenience of witnesses would be promoted thereby.
(3) Hearing. — All parties shall have an opportunity to be heard at the hearing on the motion and any party may urge objections to any county.
(4) Transfer. — If the motion is granted the court shall order that the action be transferred to the most convenient county to which the objections of the parties do not apply or are the least applicable, whether or not such county is specified in the motion.
(5) Additional Motions to Transfer. — After the first motion has been ruled upon, no party may move for transfer without permission of the court.
(6) Upon Transfer. — When a transfer is ordered:
(A) The clerk shall transmit to the clerk of the court to which the action has been transferred all papers in the action or duplicates thereof.
(B) The party applying for the transfer shall within 14 days pay the costs of preparing and transmitting such papers and shall pay a docket fee to the clerk of court of the county to which the action is transferred.
(C) The action shall continue in the county to which it is transferred as though it had been originally filed therein.
(7) The presiding judge may at any time upon the judge’s own motion order a transfer of trial when it appears that the ends of justice would be promoted thereby.
(1) Peremptory Disqualification. —
(A) Motion. — A party may peremptorily disqualify a district judge from acting in a case by filing a motion to disqualify the assigned judge.
(B) Time for Filing Motion by Plaintiff. — The motion shall be filed no later than fourteen (14) days after:
(i) the entry of a notice assigning the judge as described in sub-section (H) or
(ii) the entry of an order re-assigning the matter to another judge, whichever occurs later.
(C) Time for Filing Motion by Defendant. — The motion shall be filed no later than:
(i) The time of filing defendant’s first responsive pleading or W.R.C.P. 12 motion; or
(ii) Fourteen (14) days after the entry of an order re-assigning the matter to another judge, whichever occurs later.
(D) Parties Added Later. — One added as a party to an action after the filing of the first responsive pleading or W.R.C.P. 12 motion by a defendant cannot peremptorily disqualify a judge.
(E) Subsequent Motions or Additional Claims. — No party may move to disqualify a judge peremptorily upon the filing of any additional claims, whether counterclaims, crossclaims, or otherwise, or upon subsequent motions filed in the same docket number.
(F) One Time Challenge. — In any matter, a party may exercise the peremptory disqualification only one time and against only one judge.
(G) Criminal and Juvenile Proceedings. — This rule, and the proce- dures set forth herein, shall not apply to criminal cases or proceedings in juvenile court.
(H) Initial Notice of Assignment. — No later than five (5) days after a complaint is filed, the clerk of court shall enter a notice of assignment of judge.
(I) Conduct of Proceedings. — Unless otherwise ordered by the newly assigned District Judge, all proceedings, except for final trial on the merits, may be conducted by telephone or videoconference.
(2) Disqualification for Cause. —
(A) Grounds. — Whenever the grounds for such motion become known, any party may move for a change of district judge on the ground that the presiding judge
(i) has been engaged as counsel in the action prior to being appointed as judge,
(ii) is interested in the action,
(iii) is related by consanguinity to a party,
(iv) is a material witness in the action, or
(v) is biased or prejudiced against the party or the party’s counsel.
(B) Motion, Affidavits and Counter-Affidavits. — The motion shall be supported by an affidavit or affidavits of any person or persons, stating sufficient facts to show the existence of such grounds. Prior to a hearing on the motion any party may file counter-affidavits.
(C) Hearing. — The motion shall be heard by the presiding judge, or at the discretion of the presiding judge by another judge. If the motion is granted, the presiding judge shall immediately call in another judge to try the action.
(3) Effect of Ruling. — A ruling on a motion for a change of district judge shall not be an appealable order, but the ruling shall be entered on the docket and made a part of the record and may be assigned as error in an appeal of the case.
(4) Motion by Judge. — The presiding judge may at any time on the judge’s own motion order a change of judge when it appears that the ends of justice would be promoted thereby.
(5) Probate Matters. — In any controverted matter arising in a probate proceeding, a change of judge, or in cases where a jury is demandable, a transfer of trial, or both, may be had for any cause authorizing such change in a civil action. The procedure for such change shall be in accordance with this rule. Except for the determination of such controverted matter, the judge having original jurisdiction of such probate proceeding shall retain jurisdiction in all other matters in connection with said proceeding.
Added February 2, 2017, effective March 1, 2017; amended April 2, 2019, effective July 1, 2019; amended March 15, 2022, effective June 1, 2022. Advisory Notes. — Subsection (E) clarifies that parties may not peremptorily disqualify a judge after the judge has already made any decision in the case. In the Matter of Estate of trict Courts whether initiated by a “Petitioner,” Meeker, 2017 WY 75, ¶ 19, 397 P.3d 183, 188 (Wyo. 2017), the Wyoming Supreme Court held that a party making a will contest could disqualify a judge under the rule because the will contest was a separate action from the pending probate matter. The Wyoming Supreme Court has also held that a custody modification petition, even though filed under the same docket number as the original divorce action, “is considered a separate and distinct proceeding.” Goss v. Goss, 780 P.2d 306, 310 (Wyo. 1989). However, in denying a petition for writ of review, the Wyoming Supreme Court in Hendrickson v. Casey, Case No. 02-140, held that a party to a modification petition could not peremptorily disqualify the judge who heard the permit peremptory disqualifications in criminal and juvenile cases. The Court stated in relevant part: “Wyoming is in the minority of States that permit peremptory challenges of judges. R. Flamm, Judicial Disqualification: Recusal and Disqualification of Judges, 789-822 (2d ed. 2007) (state-by-state review of statutes and court rules). The peremptory disqualification rule dates back to 1975. While no clear statement of intent was provided by the Court when the peremptory disqualification rules were initially adopted, we conclude that its purpose was to allow attorneys to remove judges selectively when they had concerns that a certain judge may have attitudes that, while not sufficient to support a motion to remove a judge for cause, created concerns for that party that the judge may have a predisposition in that particular case. It was never intended to allow wholesale removal of a judge from all cases in which that attorney may be involved. Throughout its history, Rule 21.1(a) (and its predecessor cases on a district court’s docket and, conse- W.R.Cr.P. 23(d)) has been the subject of intermittent misuse by individual attorneys who utilized it to remove a particular judge from many or all of their cases before that judge. That misuse resulted in this Court suspending the rule and reconsidering its efficacy. In the most recent example, a prosecutor invoked
Rule 40.1(a) lets a party move, within 15 days after the last pleading is filed, to transfer trial to another county. The court must grant the transfer if it finds prejudice in the current county so strong that a fair trial is not possible there, or if moving the case would serve the convenience of witnesses. Everyone gets a chance to be heard and to object to any proposed destination county, and if the motion succeeds, the court sends the case to whichever convenient county draws the fewest or weakest objections — regardless of whether that county was even named in the motion. Only one such motion gets ruled on as of right; after that, a party needs the court's permission to try again. Once transferred, the case proceeds in the new county as if it had been filed there from the start, and the moving party covers the cost of preparing and sending the file plus a docket fee. A presiding judge can also order a transfer on their own initiative whenever it would serve the ends of justice.
Rule 40.1(b) covers changing the judge. A party can peremptorily disqualify a judge — no reason required — by filing a timely motion: within 14 days of the notice assigning the judge for the plaintiff, or by the time of the defendant's first responsive pleading or Rule 12 motion for the defendant. Each side gets only one such challenge, against only one judge, and someone joined as a party after the defendant's first response cannot use it. The peremptory route does not apply in criminal or juvenile cases, and once a newly assigned judge takes over, most proceedings short of the final trial can be handled by phone or videoconference unless that judge orders otherwise.
Separately, Rule 40.1(b)(2) allows disqualification for cause — where the judge was counsel in the case before taking the bench, has an interest in the outcome, is related to a party, is a material witness, or is biased. That motion needs a supporting affidavit, and the other side can file counter-affidavits before the presiding judge (or another judge at the presiding judge's discretion) rules on it. A ruling on a for-cause motion is not itself appealable right away, but it goes on the docket and can be raised as error later on appeal. As with venue, a judge may order a change on their own motion when justice calls for it, and the same procedures extend to contested probate matters.