Wyoming Treasurer: Waiting To Hear From Court On Lawsuit

Wyoming Treasurer Mark Gordon says he is waiting to hear about any developments in a lawsuit he filed last year over the Capitol Reconstruction Project.

Gordon's suit was filed against the Capitol Building Restoration Oversight Group. That group includes Governor Matt Mead as well as key legislative leaders.

The suit, which was filed in Laramie County District Court on May 16, 2016, claims the state Treasurer was wrongly excluded from the legislation authorizing the project and that the contracts awarded for the project needed to be approved by the Treasurer.

The suit says the fact those things were not done is a violation of article 3, section 31 of the Wyoming Constitution.

That section says contracts for repairing and furnishing the "halls and rooms" of the capitol must be approved by the governor and the treasurer.

The Wyoming Attorney General's office last year issued an opinion saying the constitutional provision applies to routine repairs, not major reconstruction projects. Gordon says he disagrees with that opinion and thinks the issue is important in terms of the balance of powers among state elected offices.

The lawsuit isn't asking for any money or a stop to the reconstruction project, but simply a ruling to provide some guidelines on similar situations that may come up in the future.

The case is pending before District Court Judge Thomas Campbell in Cheyenne.

A different lawsuit against the Capitol Building Restoration Oversight group claiming bids for work on the project were improperly awarded was dismissed by Laramie County District Court Judge Catherine Rogers a few months ago. That suit had been filed by Evanston resident Karl Allred and former state Rep. Gerald Gay.