County hires University of Wyoming team to assess sheriff immigration practices
A $69,171 research agreement with the University of Wyoming’s WYSAC was brought to commissioners Oct. 20 to review how the Teton County Sheriff’s Office handles immigration enforcement, including a body camera footage review and a final report due by late January 2027.
Teton County commissioners were presented Oct. 20 with a proposed bid award and research agreement with the University of Wyoming’s Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center (WYSAC) to assess the Teton County Sheriff’s Office immigration enforcement practices, under a $69,171 contract funded in the Administration budget for fiscal 2027 WYSAC contract staff report. The staff report said the county received two proposals and WYSAC was both the low bidder and the review committee’s top-scoring firm. The agreement set an end date of Jan. 29, 2027 and called for a final report and presentation, with additional, still-unknown sheriff overtime costs to produce body camera footage. (A small red flag: the attached agreement text lists a $69,971 “total fixed price,” not $69,171.)
The record shows the assessment request grew out of public concern earlier this year about detaining people beyond their release time on federal immigration detainers. In an April 28 joint meeting, commissioners voted unanimously to send a letter acknowledging a petition signed by more than 500 residents criticizing the practice Apr 28 joint meeting transcript. On Sept. 28, the commission adopted a resolution committing to clearer, publicly available sheriff procedures around federal immigration requests immigrant community resolution.
The contract’s confidentiality and public-records language will matter as soon as video and policy documents start flowing.