Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Wyoming Supreme Court Chief Justice vacancy (May 2025)
| Wyoming Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Fox vacancy |
| Date: May 27, 2025 |
| Status: Seat filled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: Bridget Hill |
| Date: April 11, 2025 |
Governor Mark Gordon (R) appointed Bridget Hill to the Wyoming Supreme Court to replace Chief Justice Kate M. Fox, who retired on May 27, 2025.[1] Clement announced her retirement in a letter to the Wyoming Judicial Nominating Commission, of which she is the chair.[2] She resigned due to reaching Wyoming's mandatory retirement age of 70.[3] Hill is Gov. Gordon's third nominee to the five-member supreme court. She was sworn in on May 28, 2025.
In Wyoming, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a hybrid judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission who has no majority of members selected either by the governor or the state Bar Association. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
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.[4]
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the Wyoming Supreme Court vacancy:
- An overview of the appointee.
- A list of finalists recommended to the governor.
- An overview of the selection process.
- An overview of the court following the vacancy.
- An overview of the justice who left office.
- A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2025.
The appointee
- See also: Bridget Hill
Governor Mark Gordon (R) appointed Bridget Hill to the Wyoming Supreme Court on April 11, 2025.[1]
Education
Hill earned a bachelor's degree and J.D. from the University of Wyoming.[5]
Appointee candidates and nominations
Finalists
On March 24, 2025, the Wyoming Judicial Nominating Commission announced a list of finalists of those that qualified to be sent to Governor Mark Gordon (R). From here, Gov. Gordon will have thirty days to make his final appointment. The following finalists were sent to the Governor:[6]
- Wyoming Sixth District Court judge Stuart S. Healy III
- Attorney General of Wyoming Bridget Hill
- Attorney Anna Reeves Olson[7][8]
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in Wyoming
In Wyoming, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a hybrid judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission who has no majority of members selected either by the governor or the state Bar Association. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
Makeup of the court
- See also: Wyoming Supreme Court
Justices
Following Fox's retirement, the Wyoming Supreme Court included the following members:
| ■ Lynne Boomgaarden | Appointed by Gov. Matt Mead (R) in 2017, and retained in 2020. | |
| ■ John G. Fenn | Appointed by Gov. Mark Gordon (R) in 2021, and retained in 2024. | |
| ■ Kari Gray | Appointed by Gov. Matt Mead (R) in 2018, and retained in 2020. | |
| ■ Robert Jarosh | Appointed by Gov. Mark Gordon (R) in 2024 |
About the court
| Wyoming Supreme Court |
|---|
|
| Court Information |
| Justices: 5 |
| Founded: 1889 |
| Location: Cheyenne |
| Salary |
| Associates: $187,250[9] |
| Judicial Selection |
| Method: Assisted appointment (hybrid) |
| Term: 8 years |
| Active justices |
| Lynne Boomgaarden, John G. Fenn, Kari Jo Gray, Bridget Hill, Robert Jarosh |
Founded in 1889, the Wyoming Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has five judgeships. The current chief of the court is Lynne Boomgaarden as of the May 28, 2025.[10]
As of May 2025, all five judges on the court were appointed by a Republican governor.
The Wyoming Supreme Court is located in Cheyenne, Wyoming. [11]
In Wyoming, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a hybrid judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission who has no majority of members selected either by the governor or the state Bar Association. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.
About Chief Justice Fox
- See also: Kate M. Fox
Kate Fox received a B.A. from the University of Wyoming in 1976 and a J.D. from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 1989.[12] Before joining the Wyoming Supreme Court, Fox was a partner in the office of Davis & Cannon. Prior to that, she served as law clerk to Federal District Court Judge Clarence A. Brimmer for a year. She has also worked on her family's dude ranch.[12]
Other state supreme court appointments in 2025
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2025
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2025. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2024.
| 2025 State Supreme Court Vacancies |
|---|
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Governor Mark Gordon, "Governor Gordon Appoints Bridget Hill to the Wyoming Supreme Court," April 11, 2025
- ↑ Wyoming Judicial Branch, "Judicial Nominating Commission Announces Wyoming Supreme Court Vacancy," January 30, 2025
- ↑ Wyoming Tribune, "Unswayed by national currents: Chief Justice Fox recounts career, commitment to law," March 28, 2025
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedSC - ↑ Wyoming Attorney General, "Attorney General Bridget Hill," accessed May 28, 2025
- ↑ Note: Finalists are listed in alphabetical order by last name.
- ↑ Wyoming Judicial Branch, "JUDICIAL NOMINATING COMMISSION ANNOUNCES NOMINEES FOR THE WYOMING SUPREME COURT VACANCY," March 24, 2025
- ↑ Cowbot State Daily, "Wyoming Attorney General Bridget Hill Among 3 Nominated For State Supreme Court," March 25, 2025
- ↑ The salary of the chief justice may be higher than an associate justice.
- ↑ Facebook, "Wyoming State Bar," accessed June 2, 2025
- ↑ Wyoming Judicial Branch, "About the Supreme Court," accessed August 12, 2021
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Davis & Cannon LLP website, "Kate M. Fox profile," accessed December 2, 2013
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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
| |||||||
