2015 Wyoming Code
TITLE 9 - ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER 2 - AGENCIES, BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND DEPARTMENTS - GENERALLY
ARTICLE 17 - REORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT
SECTION 9-2-1707. - Reorganization method; types of transfer.

9-2-1707. Reorganization method; types of transfer.

(a) If a bill to create a department as part of government reorganization is enacted into law:

(i) The governor shall, not later than July 1 of the year in which the bill is enacted, appoint a department director. The director and any other staff necessary to assist the director during the transition shall serve in positions and be paid from funds available in the existing budgets of agencies and programs assigned to the department by law or appropriated to the governor's office for reorganization;

(ii) Upon his appointment, the director shall become the immediate supervisor of all heads of agencies assigned to the department under a Type 1 transfer. Agency heads assigned under Type 1 transfers retain all rights and privileges under the state compensation and personnel system which existed immediately prior to the appointment of the director. No agency head shall be removed by a director before implementation of a department reorganization plan approved by the legislature but the director may fill vacancies;

(iii) The director shall prepare a plan for reorganization of the department which, after approval by the governor, shall be submitted on or before October 15 to the specified interim committees and to the legislature not later than December 1 of the year in which the department is created. All state agencies or departments shall cooperate with and provide all requested information to a department director developing a department reorganization plan under this paragraph. Public hearings regarding the plan shall be conducted by at least two (2) interim committees of the legislature specified in the bill creating the department prior to the succeeding legislative session. The plan, as approved by the legislature through a bill, shall be implemented not later than July 1 of the year in which the plan is approved. The plan shall reflect as much of the following basic structure as practicable:

(A) The principal operating unit of a department is a division headed by an administrator;

(B) The principal operating unit of a division is a program headed by a manager;

(C) The principal operating unit of a program is a section headed by a supervisor;

(D) The principal operating unit of a section is a subsection headed by a chief;

(E) Departments may establish field offices which combine division, program, section and subsection functions;

(F) A council is an advisory body created by specific statutory enactment and appointed to function on a continuing basis for the study of the problems arising in a specified functional or program area of state government and to provide recommendations and policy alternatives;

(G) A committee is an advisory body created by or without specific statutory enactment for a limited time to study a specific problem and recommend a solution or policy alternative with respect to that problem. Its existence shall terminate upon the completion of its assignment;

(H) A coordinating council is an interdepartmental advisory body created by law to coordinate programs and activities for which one (1) department has primary responsibility but in which one (1) or more other departments have an interest;

(J) A commission, unless otherwise required by the state constitution, is a body created by specific statutory enactment within a department or the office of the governor exercising limited quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial powers, or both, independently of the director of the department or the governor.

(iv) Except as otherwise specified by law, all boards, commissions, councils or committees associated with an agency, assigned to a department under a Type 1 transfer shall be only advisory upon implementation of the department's reorganization plan. During the transition period, boards, commissions, councils and committees shall retain existing authority for making grants, authorizing programs, rulemaking and for taking final agency action in contested cases, except as otherwise specifically provided in a department reorganization act, but shall have no authority regarding the internal administration of the agency. Any board or commission which grants licenses or permits to engage in a profession or occupation retains full authority to grant, deny or take any other action regarding those licenses or permits as exists under current law.

(b) As used in reorganization acts to create departments, the following described transfers have the effects specified:

(i) Type 1 transfer-A Type 1 transfer is the transfer of an existing agency or substantially all of the functions and programs of an existing agency to a department. This transfer includes the transfer of all positions, personnel, property and appropriated funds to the department to be used for the purposes specified under existing law until implementation of the legislatively approved reorganization plan. The department is responsible for all the programs and functions of an agency assigned to the department through a Type 1 transfer;

(ii) Type 2 transfer-A Type 2 transfer is the transfer of a program or function from an existing agency to a department when that agency is not assigned to the department under a Type 1 transfer and includes the transfer of a program or function from a department to a second department or an existing agency if that agency has not yet been assigned to a department. The positions, personnel, property and appropriated funds associated with the program or function shall not be transferred to or from the department unless specified in the department reorganization plan;

(iii) Type 3 transfer-A Type 3 transfer is the transfer of an agency with a primary function of issuing licenses or permits to engage in a profession or occupation to a department. The department shall provide budget, fiscal, administrative and clerical services to any agency requesting these services, but not affect its authority with respect to licensure. The positions, personnel, property and appropriated funds of these agencies shall not be transferred to the department. Any agency requesting the services described in this paragraph shall compensate the department for them at a reasonable rate established by the department. In addition to offering the optional services specified in this paragraph, the department shall:

(A) Provide administrative oversight of agency procedures to assure that each agency is in compliance with existing statutes that created the agency and that govern the agency's functions;

(B) Provide guidance to agencies in matters pertaining to budget preparation, individual agency administration, personnel and other procedural functions in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the department;

(C) Function as a liaison between individual agencies within the department and between agencies and other departments within state government;

(D) Review the current practices of each agency and make recommendations to individual agencies which might improve the efficiency of the agency.