Statutory provisions shall not apply whenever inconsistent with these rules, provided:
Rule 81.Applicability in general
Group X: General Provisions · Last amended March 1, 2017 · Last verified July 14, 2026
In one sentenceRule 81 explains how the civil procedure rules interact with special statutory proceedings, deferring to the statute where it is clearly incompatible with the rules and allowing either approach for matters like form or filing deadlines.
Full Text of Rule 81
(a) that in special statutory proceedings any rule shall not apply insofar as it is clearly inapplicable; and
(b) where the statute creating a special proceeding provides the form, content, time of service or filing of any pleading, writ, notice or process, either the statutory provisions relating thereto or these rules may be followed.
Amendment History
Added February 2, 2017, effective March 1, 2017. Petition for post-conviction relief was continuation of criminal case and not civil action, and it was not appropriate to apply the Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure to the extent urged. Specifically, the filing of the petition was Practice,” see 12 Wyo. L.J. 202 (1958).
Plain-English Summary
Wyoming statutes sometimes create their own special proceedings — types of cases with their own built-in procedures that do not look like an ordinary lawsuit. Rule 81 addresses what happens when those statutory procedures bump up against the general civil procedure rules. The baseline is that the statute controls whenever it truly conflicts with a rule, but only where the rule is clearly inapplicable to that kind of special proceeding — the rules are not pushed aside lightly.
For a narrower category of overlap, the rule gives parties a choice. If a statute creating a special proceeding spells out the form, content, or timing of a pleading, writ, notice, or filing, a party may follow either the statute's version or the matching civil procedure rule. That flexibility avoids technical traps where a statute and a rule prescribe slightly different mechanics for the same step.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as a "special statutory proceeding"?
It is a proceeding created by a specific statute that comes with its own procedural framework, as opposed to an ordinary civil action governed from the ground up by the civil procedure rules.
Does a statute always win over a civil procedure rule?
Not automatically. The rule yields to the statute only in special statutory proceedings, and only when the rule is clearly inapplicable to that proceeding — not whenever there is some minor friction between the two.
What if a statute sets its own deadline for filing a paper in a special proceeding?
Where the statute governs the form, content, or timing of a pleading, writ, notice, or filing, a party may follow either the statutory procedure or the corresponding civil procedure rule, whichever fits the situation.
Why does Wyoming need a rule like this at all?
Because many special proceedings existed before the modern rules and were built around their own statutory procedures. Rule 81 lets those statutes keep functioning without forcing an awkward, wholesale rewrite every time a general rule does not fit.
Can this rule be used to avoid the civil procedure rules in an ordinary lawsuit?
No. It applies specifically to proceedings created by special statutes, not to standard civil actions, which remain governed by the rules in the usual way.
Source & verification. Rule text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure, adopted by the
Supreme Court of Wyoming. Last verified July 14, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: special statutory proceedings rulestatute versus civil procedure rule conflictwhen statute controls over rulesspecial proceedings procedure