§ 5-9-208 — Full-time magistrates; powers of magistrates who are authorized to practice law; powers of magistrates who are not authorized to practice law

Wyoming § 5-9-208

• Jurisdiction: Wyoming
• Title 05: Courts
• Ch. 9: CIRCUIT COURTS
• Art. 2: MAGISTRATES OF THE CIRCUIT COURT

Text

(a) At the direction of the circuit judges of a circuit or
the supreme court, a full-time magistrate of the circuit court
who is authorized to practice law in Wyoming may perform all of
the duties of a circuit court judge presiding in circuit court
as authorized by law and rules. Upon direction, the magistrate
shall have all of the powers of a circuit court judge presiding
in circuit court as authorized by law and rules. A magistrate
shall not preside in or hear or decide any district court
proceeding or case in circuit court pursuant to assignment under
W.S. 5-3-112.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section and
upon request and consent of all parties to a proceeding or case
in circuit court and subject to the approval of the circuit
judge presiding in the proceeding or case, a full-time
magistrate who is authorized to practice law in Wyoming may hear
and determine any and all matters relating to the proceeding or
case that are within the jurisdiction of the circuit court,
except the magistrate shall not preside in or hear or decide any
district court proceeding or case in circuit court pursuant to
assignment under W.S. 5-3-112.
(c) At the direction of the circuit court judges of a
circuit court, a full-time magistrate of the circuit court who
is not authorized to practice law in Wyoming may within the
county from which appointed:
(i) Administer an oath or affirmation authorized or
required by law to be administered;
(ii) Take acknowledgment of deeds, mortgages and
other instruments in writing;
(iii) Perform marriage ceremonies;
(iv) Issue subpoenas for witnesses, and require their
attendance in causes or matters pending before them, or other
cause or matter wherein they may be required to take
depositions;
(v) Try the action for forcible entry and detainer,
as set forth in W.S. 1-21-1001 through 1-21-1016;
(vi) Proceed against sureties for costs and amount of
bail, on the stay of execution on their dockets;
(vii) Issue attachments, executions and garnishments,
and proceed against the goods and effects of debtors in certain
cases, as provided by law;
(viii) Issue executions on judgments rendered by
them;
(ix) Try the right of the claimant to property taken
in execution, garnishment or on attachment;
(x) Try all civil actions where the amount in
controversy, exclusive of costs, does not exceed five thousand
dollars ($5,000.00);
(xi) Try an action upon bonds, conditioned for the
payment of money, where the amount claimed does not exceed two
hundred dollars ($200.00), though the penalty exceeds that sum,
the judgment to be given for the sum actually due;
(xii) Hear and determine an action brought upon any
instrument payable in installments, as each installment becomes
due, when such instrument and amounts shall be within the
magistrate's jurisdiction;
(xiii) Enter the following judgments, when the amount
does not exceed the magistrate's jurisdiction:
(A) Judgment by default;
(B) Summary judgment;
(C) Judgment on the pleadings;
(D) Judgment on the confession of a party;
(E) Set aside default judgments; and
(F) Issue any order a circuit judge can enter in
chambers.
(xiv) Try an action for disposition of an abandoned
vehicle as provided by W.S. 31-13-112(e), regardless of the
value of the abandoned vehicle;
(xv) Issue warrants or summonses in criminal cases in
accordance with the rules promulgated by the Wyoming supreme
court. A warrant or summons issued by the magistrate charging
any crime may be executed or served at any place within the
state;
(xvi) Set bail in criminal proceedings, including
bail for witnesses, in accordance with the provisions of W.S.
5-9-132(a) and the rules promulgated by the Wyoming supreme
court;
(xvii) In accordance with the Wyoming Rules of
Criminal Procedure, conduct extradition proceedings, initial
appearances and preliminary examinations for persons charged
with felonies;
(xviii) Arraign, try, and sentence defendants in
criminal cases amounting to misdemeanors for which the
punishment prescribed by law does not exceed imprisonment for
more than one (1) year, regardless of the amount of the fine
that may be imposed. In relation to such misdemeanors, this
includes the power to accept plea agreements, order the
examination of a defendant who enters a plea of not guilty by
reason of mental illness or deficiency or not triable by reason
of mental illness or deficiency, order presentence
investigations, order substance abuse evaluations, order and
conduct pretrial conferences, enter orders for sentencing,
impose sentence, impose terms of probation, issue orders to show
cause, conduct show cause hearings and enter such other orders
as a circuit judge may enter in chambers when the circuit judge
is unavailable, when the judge has recused himself from the case
or when the judge has been peremptorily disqualified from
hearing a case. In criminal cases where a full-time magistrate
may sentence a defendant to imprisonment for not more than one
(1) year and the law authorizes imposition of a term of
probation that exceeds the maximum term of incarceration
established for the offense, the magistrate may sentence the
defendant to probation as authorized by such law;
(xix) Correct an illegal sentence imposed in a
criminal case or reduce a sentence at any time;
(xx) Preserve and enforce order in his immediate
presence and in the proceedings before him; and
(xxi) Hear and issue orders in peace bond, stalking
and domestic violence cases under Wyoming statutes, title 7,
chapter 3 and title 35, chapter 21.