2010 Wyoming Statutes
Title 19 - Defense Forces And Affairs
Chapter 12 - Military Courts And Justice

CHAPTER 12 - MILITARY COURTS AND JUSTICE

 

ARTICLE 1 - STATE MILITARY CODE

 

19-12-101. Military courts generally.

 

 

(a) The military courts of this state are general courts-martial, special courts-martial and summary courts-martial, and are constituted and have cognizance of the same subjects and possess like powers as similar courts provided by the laws and regulations governing the armed forces of the United States, as limited by federal law and regulations applying to the national guard not in federal service. The court shall, as far as practicable, follow the forms and modes of procedure prescribed for the similar courts except that the word "governor" shall be substituted for the word "president" whenever appearing in those laws and regulations. The prosecution in a general, special or summary courts-martial of the militia of this state shall be in the name of the state. The governor, upon advice of the adjutant general, shall promulgate or publish regulations covering military courts not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of this state.

 

(b) To the extent its provisions are not inconsistent with this chapter, the provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the Military Rules of Evidence, the Rules for Courts-Martial and the United States Manual for Courts-Martial are adopted by the state of Wyoming and shall apply to any member when in state active duty status or active state service status in the same manner as the Uniform Code of Military Justice applies when the member is in active federal service.

 

(c) The maximum punishment that may be imposed by any courts-martial shall not exceed that authorized in title 32 of the United States Code although a greater punishment may be authorized by the Appendix Twelve of the United States Manual for Courts-Martial.

 

(d) This article applies territorially and extraterritorially to all persons in the military forces of the state when not subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and while in a duty status or during a period of time when the member was under lawful order to be in a duty status. The processing charges and all proceedings, including trial, may be conducted without regard to the duty status of the accused.

 

19-12-102. Apprehension.

 

(a) Apprehension means the taking of a member into custody.

 

(b) Any person authorized by this code, Chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code, or by regulations issued under either code to apprehend persons subject to this code, any marshal of a courts-martial appointed pursuant to the provisions of this code and any civil officer or peace officer of this state having authority to apprehend offenders under the laws of the United States or this state, may do so upon reasonable belief that an offense has been committed and that the person apprehended committed the offense.

 

19-12-103. Warrant of arrest; issuance; contents; service.

 

(a) A warrant of arrest for the purposes of securing the presence of accused at any courts-martial proceeding or in execution of a sentence of confinement may be issued by a special or general courts-martial convening authority.

 

(b) The warrant issued under this article shall:

 

(i) Be in writing and in the name of the state of Wyoming;

 

(ii) State the date and county of issuance, including the court in which documents are to be filed;

 

(iii) State the name and rank of the person to be arrested;

 

(iv) State the offense charged against the person to be arrested;

 

(v) Command that the person against whom the complaint was made be arrested, conducted to a designated civil or military facility under the control of the state or federal government, placed into custody as directed and booked; and

 

(vi) Be signed by an authorized officer of the military department.

 

(c) The warrant shall specify the amount of bail and the nature of any bond.

 

(d) The warrant shall be directed to all peace officers in the state and provost marshal of the armed forces of the state or the federal government. Such officers shall have the power and authority to conduct the arrested person to the designated facility without regard to territorial jurisdiction.

 

19-12-104. Convening general, special or summary courts-martial.

 

 

(a) General courts-martial may be convened by:

 

(i) The governor;

 

(ii) The adjutant general.

 

(b) Special courts-martial may be convened by:

 

(i) The adjutant general;

 

(ii) The commanding officer of a camp or encampment;

 

(iii) The commanding officer of any army group, air wing, detached army battalion, detached air group or corresponding unit of the national guard.

 

(c) Summary courts-martial may be convened by:

 

(i) Any person who may convene a general or special courts-martial;

 

(ii) The commanding officer of a company, battery, squadron or other detachment of the national guard.

 

19-12-105. Prosecutions; appeal.

 

(a) All prosecutions under W.S. 19-12-101 shall be by courts-martial or appropriate civilian court proceeding, with the judge advocate general having sole power to determine by which method to proceed.

 

(b) Upon the filing of a complaint in a district court or circuit court of a county wherein the offense is alleged to have occurred, the judge thereof or a magistrate therein may issue warrants.

 

(c) In all matters wherein the Uniform Code of Military Justice requires the action of a military judge, a qualified military judge or in the absence of a qualified military judge the county or district court judge shall so serve and be empowered to so act.

 

(d) Unless the state is represented by a staff judge advocate, the district or county attorney shall represent the state and prosecute all cases commenced in the courts.

 

(e) No sentence of dismissal from the service or dishonorable discharge imposed by a national guard courts-martial shall be executed until approved by the governor. The governor may suspend or set aside part or all of any sentence he deems appropriate.

 

(f) When prosecution has been by general courts-martial, after final judgment, sentencing and approval by the governor, the defendant may appeal to the supreme court of Wyoming in the same manner as appeals from circuit courts to district courts to the supreme court of Wyoming in criminal cases.

 

(g) When prosecution has been by summary or special courts-martial, after final judgment, sentencing and approval by the convening authority, the defendant may appeal to the district court of the county in which the courts-martial was held in the same manner as appeals from circuit courts to the district courts in criminal cases.

 

(h) When prosecution has been in the circuit courts, after final judgment and sentencing, the defendant may appeal to the district court in the same manner as in other criminal cases.

 

(j) In the event the pool of eligible court members is insufficient to properly impanel the courts-martial, active and reserve members of the United States armed forces may be requested to so serve.

 

19-12-106. Disobedience of order to appear before courts-martial; issuance of subpoena; warrant of attachment; service of warrants; neglecting or refusing to obey subpoena or order; confinement of prisoners.

 

 

(a) When a person served with a copy of courts-martial charges disobeys a written order from the convening authority to appear before the courts-martial at a time and place specified, the commander in chief, adjutant general, president of the courts-martial or summary court officer may issue a warrant for the arrest of the person to bring him before the court for trial. The convening authority may confine him in the county jail where the court is convened if confinement is deemed advisable to insure the presence of the alleged offender for trial, or may release the accused on the furnishing of bail in an amount deemed sufficient to insure his presence for trial.

 

(b) The commander in chief, adjutant general, president of the courts-martial or summary court officer may issue subpoenas, subpoena duces tecum and other orders compelling the attendance of witnesses and the production of evidentiary matters.

 

(c) When a person has been subpoenaed to appear as a witness before any courts-martial and has been paid or tendered the fees and mileage required by law, or a member has been ordered to appear as a witness, and either fails or refuses without justifiable excuse to appear, the commander in chief, adjutant general, president of the courts-martial or the summary court officer may issue a warrant of attachment to apprehend and bring the witness before the court to testify as required by the subpoena or order.

 

(d) Service of warrants, subpoenas and other process issued by the commander in chief, adjutant general, president of any courts-martial or summary court officer on any person shall be made by the sheriff, undersheriff or deputy sheriff of the county wherein the court is convened or of the county wherein the person to be served may be found, or it may be served in any county by any officer of the national guard when ordered to do so by the commander in chief, adjutant general, president of the courts-martial or summary court officer. The individual making service shall endorse the facts of service on the original process and return it to the officer who issued the process.

 

(e) Any person who willfully and without justifiable excuse neglects or refuses to obey a subpoena or order is guilty of a misdemeanor and may be prosecuted in any court of this state as for other misdemeanors. Upon conviction the offender shall be fined not more than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), imprisoned in the county jail not to exceed six (6) months, or both.

 

(f) The sheriff shall keep in confinement any prisoner turned over to him for safekeeping upon written orders of the governor, adjutant general, president of a courts-martial or summary court officer.

 

19-12-107. Members of courts-martial deemed on duty; pay and allowances; witnesses subject to subpoena; witness fees and allowances.

 

 

(a) Members of a courts-martial and members of the national guard ordered to appear before a courts-martial or other court, and members of the national guard tried by courts-martial or other courts and acquitted, shall be deemed on duty by order of the governor and shall receive the same pay and allowances as provided for members of the national guard when in service by order of the governor.

 

(b) Witnesses other than members of the national guard are subject to subpoena by a courts-martial and shall receive the same fees and allowances as provided for witnesses before the district courts of this state.

 

19-12-108. Confinement in county jail; fines.

 

 

(a) Where punishment by a courts-martial is imprisonment for one (1) year or less, confinement shall be in the county jail of the county wherein the court is convened. The sheriff shall accept the prisoner upon receipt of written order promulgating the sentence of the court.

 

(b) Where punishment by a courts-martial is imprisonment for more than one (1) year, the prisoner shall be remanded to the custody of the department of corrections in the same manner as civilians convicted of criminal offenses classified as a felony.

 

(c) Fines imposed by a courts-martial, at the option of the president of the courts-martial or the summary court officer, may be collected in the following manner:

 

(i) By forfeiture of pay or allowances, or both, due or to become due from the state or the United States;

 

(ii) By immediate payment of the fine in full, in cash, to the president of the courts-martial or summary court officer who shall forthwith remit the same to the adjutant general to be paid into the state treasury; or

 

(iii) Upon failure of the convicted person to forthwith pay the fine in cash when so ordered, by the commitment of the person to the county jail of the county wherein the court is held until the fine is paid or until one (1) day is served for each dollar of the fine imposed.

 

19-12-109. Immunity of national guard member; commission of felony or lesser crime by such member.

 

 

(a) Members of the Wyoming national guard, while in active state service, are immune from service of civil subpoena to compel attendance as a witness unless the commanding officer of the member permits the service of the subpoena when in the judgment of such commanding officer the presence of the member is not required in the performance of military duties.

 

(b) When any felony against the laws of Wyoming is alleged to have been committed by any member of the national guard while in active state service, upon presentation of proper warrant he shall be arrested by the military authorities and immediately surrendered to the proper civil authorities of the county wherein the warrant was issued.

 

(c) When any crime not a felony against the laws of Wyoming or any municipal subdivision thereof is alleged to have been committed by a member of the national guard while in active state service, upon presentation of the proper warrant he shall be arrested by the military authorities and at the convenience of the military authorities but before termination of his active state service be surrendered to the proper civil authorities of the county or municipality wherein the warrant was issued.

 

(d) Nothing herein grants immunity from service of warrants issued upon a charge or complaint alleging the violation of one (1) or more of the offenses set forth in W.S. 19-12-110 nor shall any such immunity prevent prosecution of a member of the national guard by the proper authorities at any time after termination of the period of active state service for which the immunity was effective.

 

(e) No member of the national guard shall be held to answer for a criminal offense in both civilian courts and the military courts of this state. The decision as to under which justice system a member is held to answer is left to the discretion of the district attorney for the county in which the offense is alleged to have occurred and the judge advocate general. An impasse in this decision shall be referred to the district court judge for resolution. The decision of the district court judge is final.

 

19-12-110. Trial and punishment for certain offenses by members of national guard in state courts.

 

 

(a) Members of the Wyoming national guard charged with the following offenses may be tried and punished as herein provided:

 

(i) Any officer of the Wyoming national guard who uses contemptuous words against the president, vice-president, congress, secretary of defense, a secretary of a department, a governor or a legislature of any state, territory or other possession of the United States in which he is on duty or present;

 

(ii) Any member of the Wyoming national guard who behaves with disrespect toward his superior officer;

 

(iii) Any person who:

 

(A) Strikes his superior officer or draws or lifts up any weapon or offers any violence against him while he is in the execution of his office; or

 

(B) Willfully disobeys a lawful command of his superior officer.

 

(iv) Any warrant officer or enlisted person who:

 

(A) Strikes or assaults a warrant officer or noncommissioned officer, while the officer is in the execution of his office;

 

(B) Willfully disobeys the lawful order of a warrant officer or noncommissioned officer;

 

(C) Treats with contempt or is disrespectful in language or deportment toward a warrant officer or noncommissioned officer while the officer is in the execution of his office.

 

(v) Any person who:

 

(A) Violates or fails to obey any lawful general order or regulation;

 

(B) Having knowledge of any other lawful order issued by a member of the national guard, which it is his duty to obey, fails to obey the same; or

 

(C) Is derelict in the performance of his duties.

 

(vi) Any person who resists apprehension or breaks arrest or who escapes from custody or confinement;

 

(vii) Any person who, without proper authority, releases any prisoner duly committed to his charge, or who through neglect or design suffers any prisoner to escape;

 

(viii) Any person, who with intent to deceive, signs any false record, return, regulation, order or other official document, knowing the same to be false, or makes any other false official statement knowing the same to be false;

 

(ix) Any person who, without proper authority:

 

(A) Sells or otherwise disposes of;

 

(B) Willfully or through neglect damages, destroys, or loses; or

 

(C) Willfully or through neglect suffers to be lost, damaged, destroyed, sold or wrongfully disposed of, any military property of the United States or the state of Wyoming.

 

(x) Any person who operates any vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance, or in a reckless or wanton manner;

 

(xi) Any person other than a sentinel or lookout, who is found under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance on duty;

 

(xii) Any sentinel or lookout who is found drunk or sleeping upon his post, or leaves it before he is regularly relieved;

 

(xiii) Any member of the Wyoming national guard who without proper authority:

 

(A) Fails to go to his appointed place of duty at the time prescribed;

 

(B) Goes from that place; or

 

(C) Absents himself or remains absent from his unit, organization or other place of duty at which he is required to be at the time prescribed.

 

(xiv) Any person who for the purpose of avoiding work, duty or service:

 

(A) Feigns illness, physical disablement, mental lapse or derangement; or

 

(B) Intentionally inflicts self-injury.

 

(xv) Any officer or officer candidate who is convicted of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman;

 

(xvi) Though not specifically mentioned, all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the national guard, all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the national guard, and crimes and offenses not capital, of which persons subject to this act may be guilty, shall be taken cognizance of by a general or special or summary courts-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense.

 

(b) Any member of the national guard tried and found guilty by a courts-martial of any offense identified in subsection (a) of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), imprisonment in the county jail for not to exceed six (6) months, or both. Upon a second or subsequent conviction the person convicted shall be fined not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) to which may be added imprisonment in the county jail for not to exceed six (6) months. The fine and sentence on a second or subsequent conviction shall not be suspended.

 

(c) Any member of the national guard tried and found guilty by a civil court of any of the offenses identified in subsection (a) of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not more than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed six (6) months, or both. Upon a second or subsequent conviction the person convicted shall be fined not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) to which may be added imprisonment in the county jail for not to exceed six (6) months. The fine and sentence on a second or subsequent conviction shall not be suspended.

 

(d) Any commanding officer of the Wyoming national guard may impose administrative, nonjudicial punishment as described and set forth in article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and in accordance with the procedure therein set forth unless the accused demands trial by courts-martial.

 

(e) Any member of the Wyoming national guard who is convicted of a high misdemeanor or felony crime in any state or federal court may be separated from service in the Wyoming national guard by administrative procedures subject to all rules and regulations of the department of defense applicable to the Wyoming national guard. A certified copy of the conviction shall be sufficient authority for the separation.

 

(f) Any person who resists or aids in resisting the execution of lawful process in any area declared to be in a state of actual or threatened insurrection, or who aids or attempts the rescue or escape of another from lawful custody or confinement, or who resists or aids in resisting any force ordered out by the governor to execute the laws, to suppress actual or prevent threatened insurrection or to repel invasion is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for not less than one (1) year nor more than ten (10) years.

 

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