These rules do not extend or limit the jurisdiction of the district courts or the venue of actions in those courts.
Rule 82.Jurisdiction and venue unaffected
Group X: General Provisions · Last amended March 1, 2017 · Last verified July 14, 2026
In one sentenceRule 82 makes clear that the civil procedure rules are purely procedural — they do not change which district court has jurisdiction over a case or where venue is proper.
Full Text of Rule 82
Amendment History
Added February 2, 2017, effective March 1, 2017.
Plain-English Summary
Jurisdiction and venue are substantive questions answered by the constitution, statutes, and case law — not by the rulebook that governs how a lawsuit is conducted once it is filed. Rule 82 draws that line explicitly: nothing in the civil procedure rules expands a district court's power to hear a case that it otherwise lacks, and nothing in the rules narrows jurisdiction the court already has.
The same principle applies to venue. The rules do not create a right to sue in a particular county or take one away; venue is set by the statutes and legal doctrines that address where cases may properly be brought. Rule 82 exists mainly to prevent an argument that a procedural rule — say, one about pleading or service — was secretly meant to redraw the jurisdictional or venue map.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a civil procedure rule give a district court power over a case it would not otherwise have?
No. Rule 82 says the rules do not extend a court's jurisdiction. Jurisdiction depends on the sources of law that create it, not on procedural rules.
Can the rules take away jurisdiction a court already has?
No. Just as the rules cannot expand jurisdiction, they also cannot limit it. Rule 82 keeps procedure and jurisdiction in separate lanes.
Do the rules decide which county is the proper venue for a lawsuit?
No. Venue is governed by the statutes and legal principles that address where a case may be filed, not by the civil procedure rules themselves.
Why include a rule that mostly says what the rules do not do?
It heads off arguments that a procedural provision was intended to change jurisdiction or venue. By stating the limit directly, Rule 82 keeps those questions anchored to the law that governs them.
Does Rule 82 affect where a party should file a lawsuit?
Not directly. A party still looks to the applicable jurisdiction and venue statutes to decide where a case belongs; Rule 82 confirms the civil procedure rules are not part of that analysis.
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: rules do not change jurisdictionrules and venuejurisdiction versus procedure rulevenue not affected by rules