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Kari Gray
2018 - Present
2028
6
Kari Jo Gray is a judge of the Wyoming Supreme Court. She assumed office on October 9, 2018. Her current term ends on December 31, 2028.
Gray ran for re-election for judge of the Wyoming Supreme Court. She won in the retention election on November 3, 2020.
Governor Matt Mead (R) appointed Gray to the court on September 5, 2018, to replace Justice James Burke.[1][2] Gray stood for retention in 2020 to remain on the bench. To learn more about this appointment, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[3] Gray received a confidence score of Strong Republican.[4] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
Kari Gray previously worked as a Republican political advisor in Wyoming. She served as the chief of staff for Gov. Mead's administration from January 2011 to October 2018.[1] Gray was the director of Wyoming's Department of Family Services from November 1999 to November 2000.[5] In addition to government work, Gray was an attorney in private practice for 12 years in Douglas, Wyoming. She also served as vice president and trust officer at Converse County Bank and owned Howard's General Store in Glendo, Wyoming, for more than 10 years.[6]
Education
Gray obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Arkansas and a J.D. from the University of Wyoming.[1]
Career
- 2018-Present: Justice, Wyoming Supreme Court
- 2011-2018: Chief of staff, Matt Mead gubernatorial administration
Elections
2020
Wyoming Supreme Court
Kari Jo Gray was retained to the Wyoming Supreme Court on November 3, 2020 with 80.2% of the vote.
Retention Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✔ | Yes |
80.2
|
189,835 | ||
No |
19.8
|
46,732 | |||
Total Votes |
236,567 | ||||
|
|
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Kari Jo Gray did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Chief of staff
- See also: Gubernatorial chiefs of staff
In 2017, Ballotpedia identified Kari Gray as a gubernatorial chief of staff. A chief of staff is the lead staff member of an administration and is responsible for implementing the governor's agenda.
The role is both a managerial and advisory position, although specific duties vary by administration. The chief of staff typically has the following responsibilities, according to the National Governors Association (NGA):[7]
- Control access to the governor and manage the governor's calendar;
- Monitor the flow of information to the governor on policy issues;
- Oversee gubernatorial Cabinet and staff; and
- Manage and communicate the governor's policy agenda to the state legislature and the public.
In terms of policymaking, the NGA notes that a chief of staff is responsible for bringing policy and communications together: "The chief is responsible for overseeing the development of the governor’s policy agenda. The policy director or advisor is typically responsible for shaping the general concepts and specific details of the agenda with input from the communications director, policy staff and cabinet members. The chief often must take charge and bring the pieces together coherently."[7]
Appointments
2018
Wyoming Supreme Court Chief Justice James Burke retired on October 8, 2018. He joined the court in January 2005.
Under Wyoming law, supreme court justices are appointed by the governor from a list of three names provided by the Wyoming Judicial Nominating Commission. Burke's replacement was Republican Governor Matt Mead's fifth nominee to the five-member supreme court.
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[8]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[9]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Kari
Gray
Wyoming
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Strong Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Assisted appointment through hybrid judicial nominating commission - Key Factors:
- Donated over $2,000 to Republican candidates
- Held political office as a Republican
- Was a registered Republican before 2020
Partisan Profile
Details:
Gray was a registered Republican prior to 2020. She donated $4,710 to Republicans candidates. From 2011 to 2018, she was the chief of staff to Gov. Matt Mead (R). She was appointed to the court by Gov. Mead in 2018. At the time of her appointment, Wyoming was a Republican trifecta.
Noteworthy cases
The section below lists noteworthy cases heard by this judge. To suggest cases we should cover here, email us.
State supreme court judicial selection in Wyoming
- See also: Judicial selection in Wyoming
The five justices of the Wyoming Supreme Court are selected through the assisted appointment method. When a vacancy occurs, the governor appoints a replacement from a list of three names provided by a nominating commission. There are seven members on the commission. Three members must be lawyers appointed by the state bar and three must be non-lawyers appointed by the governor. The chief justice of the supreme court serves as chairman and only votes in the event of a tie. The governor must appoint a person from the commission's list.[10][11]
Newly appointed judges serve for at least one year, after which they must stand for retention in the next general election. If retained, a judge will finish the remainder of his or her predecessor's unexpired term. Subsequent terms last eight years.[12][13]
Qualifications
To serve on the supreme court, a judge must be:
- a U.S. citizen;
- a state resident for at least three years;
- at least nine years legal experience;
- no younger than 30 years old; and
- no older than 70.*[12]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the supreme court is selected by peer vote, serving in that capacity for four years.[10]
Vacancies
When a vacancy occurs, the governor appoints a replacement from a list of three names provided by a nominating commission. After the appointed justice has served at least one year, they must stand for retention in the next general election. If retained, a judge will finish the remainder of his or her predecessor's unexpired term. Subsequent terms last eight years.[10]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 KGWN, "Governor Mead appoints chief of staff to supreme court," September 5, 2018
- ↑ Wyoming Judicial Branch, "Justice Kari Gray," accessed June 17, 2019
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ State of Wyoming Department of Family Services, "Letter from Kari Jo Gray to Jim Twiford," May 4, 2000
- ↑ Office of Governor Matt Mead, "Governor Appoints New Justice to the Wyoming Supreme Court," September 5, 2018
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 National Governors Association, "The Many Roles of the Governor’s Chief of Staff," accessed April 20, 2021
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Wyoming Judicial Branch, About the Supreme Court, accessed April 17, 2025
- ↑ Wyoming Judicial Branch, "Judicial Nominating Commission," accessed April 17, 2025
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Wyoming," accessed August 11, 2021
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Wyoming," archived January 13, 2012
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Federal courts:
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Wyoming • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Wyoming
State courts:
Wyoming Supreme Court • Wyoming District Courts • Wyoming Circuit Courts • Wyoming Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in Wyoming • Wyoming judicial elections • Judicial selection in Wyoming
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