Cheyenne Newspapers, Inc., d/b/a the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, a Wyoming corporation v. City of Cheyenne, Wyoming, 386 P.3d 329

In 2012 Cheyenne City Council adopted Resolution No. 5508 creating the Employee Investment Study Implementation Team (EIS Team) to consider and prepare implementation alternatives for a contractor’s compensation and classification study.
Resolution No. 5535 formally referred the completed Mercer Study to the EIS Team and set deadlines for the Team to prepare an implementation plan for the Governing Body.
The EIS Team included two city council members, the mayor, city staff, and employee representatives; its charge was advisory and temporary.
Cheyenne Newspapers, Inc. (Tribune‑Eagle) sued, seeking a declaratory judgment and injunction that the EIS Team must hold public meetings under the Wyoming Public Meetings Act (Wyo. Stat. §§ 16‑4‑401 to 408).
The district court granted summary judgment for the City, holding the EIS Team was not an “agency” under the Act because it was created by resolution rather than by constitution, statute, or ordinance; the Supreme Court affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the EIS Team is an “agency” subject to the Wyoming Public Meetings Act	The EIS Team is a committee created by City action and thus must comply with the Act; alternatively it was created “pursuant to” statutory authority to set/pay salaries	The EIS Team is an impermanent, advisory committee created by resolution and not an agency under the Act; “pursuant to” should be read narrowly	The EIS Team is a committee but was created by resolution, not by constitution/statute/ordinance, and was not created “pursuant to” statute; therefore it is not an agency under the Act

Continental Western Ins. Co. v. Black, 361 P.3d 841 (Wyo. 2015) (standard of review for summary judgment)
Felix Felicis L.L.C. v. Riva Ridge Owners Ass’n, 275 P.3d 769 (Wyo. 2016) (summary judgment de novo review)
Sky Harbor Air Serv., Inc. v. Cheyenne Reg’l Airport Bd., 368 P.3d 264 (Wyo. 2016) (affirmation on any legal ground in record)
Robert L. Kroenlein Trust ex rel. Alden v. Kirchhefer, 357 P.3d 1118 (Wyo. 2015) (statutory construction principles)
Allsop v. Cheyenne Newspapers, Inc., 39 P.3d 1092 (Wyo. 2002) (liberal construction of open‑government statutes explained)
Decker v. State ex rel. Wyo. Med. Comm’n, 191 P.3d 105 (Wyo. 2008) (impermanence as a factor in agency status)
Gronberg v. Teton County Housing Authority, 247 P.3d 35 (Wyo. 2011) (body created pursuant to statute where statute prescribes formation and powers)
City of Casper v. Holloway, 354 P.3d 65 (Wyo. 2015) (court will not insert omitted statutory language)