2022 Wyoming Statutes
Title 7 - Criminal Procedure
Chapter 4 - County Coroners
Article 1 - In General
Section 7-4-106 - Archaeological Human Burial Sites.

7-4-106. Archaeological human burial sites.

(a) The county coroner shall have jurisdiction over all archaeological human burials discovered in the county on state or private lands.

(b) When human remains are discovered:

(i) The person who discovers the remains shall cease the activity that caused the discovery of the remains and immediately notify law enforcement. If the remains are discovered on private land and the person who discovers the remains is not an agent of the landowner, the individual shall also notify the landowner;

(ii) When law enforcement is notified that human remains have been discovered within the limits of the county, law enforcement shall notify the coroner who shall determine the approximate age of the burial site. If the human remains constitute an archaeological human burial:

(A) On private land, the coroner shall notify the state archaeologist and the landowner;

(B) On state land, the coroner shall notify the state archaeologist and the office of state lands and investments. The office of state lands and investments shall notify any leaseholder;

(C) The state archaeologist's investigation to determine the forensic value and archaeological context shall be:

(I) Commenced within two (2) business days of the discovery to protect the integrity of the remains;

(II) Limited to the discovered human burial site.

(c) When human remains are exhumed:

(i) An archaeological human burial shall only be exhumed under the direction and supervision of the state archaeologist in coordination with the county coroner, and provided:

(A) The coroner shall notify the landowner of exhumation; and

(B) If the state archaeologist determines that the remains are Native American, the state archaeologist shall notify the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes before exhumation.

(ii) Absent extraordinary circumstances, exhumation shall be completed not more than six (6) business days from the date the coroner notifies the state archaeologist of the archeological human burial discovery to protect the safety and integrity of the remains.

(d) When human remains are reinterred:

(i) When the state archaeologist determines that an archaeological human burial is Native American, after archaeological human remains are exhumed and before reinterment or repatriation, the state archaeologist and county coroner shall:

(A) Notify and consult with culturally affiliated Native American tribes in accordance with the protocol developed pursuant to subsection (f) of this section; and

(B) Expend reasonable effort to identify present day descendants.

(ii) When the state archaeologist determines that an archaeological human burial is not Native American, the state archaeologist shall expend reasonable effort to identify present day descendants and consult with them before reinterment;

(iii) If no descendants of the person whose remains were exhumed are identifiable, remains may be reinterred on state lands;

(iv) Subject to the notification of law enforcement, the coroner and the state archaeologist and the procedures in this section, nothing in this section precludes a landowner from working with descendants or Native American tribes to reinter human remains on private lands with the landowner's consent.

(e) Human remains shall be treated with respect, dignity and with consideration of religious, spiritual and ethnic evidence present at the burial site.

(f) The state archaeologist in cooperation with the state historic preservation office and county coroners shall work with culturally affiliated tribes including the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes to develop a protocol for consultation, repatriation and reinterment or other disposition of Native American human remains.

(g) For purposes of this section, "archaeological human burial" includes human remains and funerary objects that, as part of the death rite or ceremony of a culture, are reasonably believed to have been placed with individual human remains at the time of death or later but does not include remains found in known or marked graves, found in established cemeteries or that demonstrate present medicolegal significance.

(h) A person who knowingly violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), or both.