Wyo. Code R. 015-0011-2
Effective Date: 12/06/2005 to Current
Rule Type: Current Rules & Regulations
Reference Number: 015.0011.2.12062005
Section 1. Purpose. The purpose of the Attorney General's Special Prosecution Account (hereinafter, the 'SPA') is to provide financial assistance to individual counties in the State of Wyoming to help defray the costs of prosecuting individual criminal cases where the costs of prosecution are extraordinarily high or unusually expensive.
Section 2. Authority. The Attorney General's rule-making authority for the SPA is authorized by Senate Enrolled Act 102 of the Fifty-Eighth Wyoming Legislature.
(a) 'Special Prosecution Account,' or 'SPA,' is the account established by Senate Enrolled Act 102 of the Fifty-Eighth Wyoming Legislature, from which money will be disbursed to counties to fulfill the purpose of the Act.
(b) 'Extraordinary actual costs of prosecution' and 'unusually expensive,' as that term relates to 'extraordinary actual costs of prosecution,' mean actual costs of prosecution in a particular criminal case that exceed, to a pronounced degree, a level of costs that would normally be expected in a felony case that is subject to trial before a jury.
(c) 'Supporting budget information' means, in the context of a prosecuting attorney's written application for disbursement of funds from the SPA, such detailed information from the prosecuting attorney's operating budget as will give the Attorney General, in his judgment, a reasonably accurate picture of the prosecuting attorney's current and future budget status as it relates to his ability to effectively prosecute the case in question, and will allow the Attorney General to make informed decisions as between competing requests.
(d) 'Actual prosecution expenses' and 'actual costs of prosecution' mean all actual, necessary, and appropriate expenses of prosecution of an eligible criminal case including, but not limited to, expenses associated with lay and expert witnesses, travel, sequestration of a jury, scientific testing and analysis, and temporary personnel expenses related to the case. It does not include ordinary and routine expenses of the prosecuting attorney's office that exist independently of the prosecution of the case in question.
(e) 'Projected costs of prosecution' means such 'actual prosecution expenses' as defined in subsection (d) above, as are reasonably anticipated by the prosecuting attorney to be required in the future to take a particular criminal case to trial. It does not include ordinary and routine expenses of the prosecuting attorney's office that exist independently of the prosecution of the case in question.
Section 4. Eligible applicants. Any district attorney or any county and prosecuting attorney may apply in writing to the Wyoming Attorney General to receive funds from the SPA for the purpose of prosecuting a criminal case in the county where he presides as the prosecuting authority. Each application shall follow the procedure set forth in Section 7 below.
Section 5. Eligible cases. All criminal cases charged or chargeable as felonies under the laws of the State of Wyoming are eligible for consideration for disbursement of funds.
Section 6. Eligible expenses. The extraordinary actual costs of prosecution in an eligible case may be reimbursed from the SPA. Additionally, the Attorney General, at his discretion, may commit funds from the SPA up to a specified dollar amount to cover projected costs of prosecution in an eligible case.
Section 7. Application procedure. An eligible applicant may submit a written application to the Wyoming Attorney General. The application shall clearly set forth the facts and circumstances of the case for which SPA funding is sought, including the projected costs of prosecution, as defined in Section 3(e) above. The application shall also include supporting budget information, as defined in Section 3(c) above. The Attorney General will not accept or process any application that is not signed by a district attorney or county and prosecuting attorney.
Section 8. Application evaluation and award of funds. The Attorney General will use his discretion to decide whether a case is eligible to receive funds from the SPA and how much will be awarded, if anything. In exercising his discretion, the Attorney General may consider such factors as seriousness of the crime involved, local budget circumstances for the prosecuting attorney making the application, the amount of extraordinary actual costs of prosecution or projected costs of prosecution involved in the particular case, the availability of funds in the SPA, the competing needs of other applicants for funds from the SPA, prior awards of funds from the SPA to the applicant, and such other facts and circumstances deemed relevant to the decision by the Attorney General. The Attorney General is not obliged to award funds in every eligible case. The Attorney General may award less than the full amount requested by the prosecuting attorney in an eligible case. The Attorney General will attempt to announce his decision on the eligibility of cases and the award of funds, if any, within thirty days of receipt of the prosecuting attorney's written application. In the event that the Attorney General requires more information from the applicant, he may request more information from the applicant, who will respond to the request within a reasonably prompt time. In cases where the Attorney General requests more information from the applicant, the Attorney General's thirty day period for decision will commence from the date of receipt of the additional information.
Section 9. Disbursing funds. Funds shall be disbursed from the SPA to the applicant upon a showing that the applicant has expended, or has been contractually obligated to expend, the amount to be disbursed. The Attorney General may disburse an award in a single disbursement or multiple disbursements, as he finds appropriate. Disbursement shall be requested on a form supplied by the Attorney General. In the case of projected costs of prosecution, the Attorney General may set aside or reserve funds in the account to satisfy such costs.
Section 10. Compelling circumstances exception for the extraordinary case. In deciding whether a particular case is an eligible case under these rules, or in deciding how much to award in a particular case, the Attorney General has discretion to waive any one or more of these rules in an extraordinary case where the reasons for waiver are compelling and waiver will serve the ends of justice and the purpose of the Act. In such cases, the Attorney General shall give his reasons for waiving enforcement of the rules, in writing, to the Joint Appropriations Committee of the Wyoming Legislature. However, the Attorney General has no discretion to waive application or enforcement of Section 11 of these rules.
Section 11. Funds not available to the Attorney General's Office. Funds in the SPA shall not be used for expenses of the Attorney General's Office.
Section 12. SPA funds not available to supplant other funds. Funds from the SPA shall not be used by the counties or the district attorneys and county and prosecuting attorneys for purposes not specified in the Act or these rules, nor will SPA funds be used to supplant funds from other sources.