Governor Gordon Completes Review of Complaints Against Weston County Clerk

Governor Mark Gordon has completed his review of verified complaints against Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock alleging acts of misconduct or malfeasance and requesting her removal from office. The Governor determined that while Clerk Hadlock made serious mistakes in the 2024 Weston County elections, her actions do not constitute “willful negligence” or “malicious intent”. Therefore, he will not direct the Attorney General to commence an action to initiate the clerk’s removal from office. 

“The decision of who should fill a county office is best made by the people of Weston County in the next election just a little over a year away. Preempting that privilege without a clear and obvious showing of willfulness or intentional acts rising to the level of misconduct or malfeasance is not justifiable,” the Governor wrote in his findings letter. 

The Governor emphasized that the electors’ complaint was taken seriously and a thorough review was undertaken, including a review of interviews and written materials submitted by multiple parties. He also stressed the seriousness of a Governor using his discretionary authority to subvert the will of the electorate, because it results in the functional disenfranchisement of county voters by a statewide official. 

“This procedure and responsibility, in my view, should be considered only as an extreme measure, as replacing the will of the electorate with the opinions of a few contravenes the spirit of our constitutional republic and comes close to violating the letter of the Wyoming and United States’ Constitutions,” the Governor wrote. “I believe this course of action must be a remedy of last resort, justified only by substantial actions that directly harm the county or citizens.” 

While the review revealed there were multiple mistakes committed by Clerk Hadlock and her staff, no information or evidence was provided that supported any malicious intent on the part of Clerk Hadlock, or that she was trying to manipulate the results of the election. 

“[O]ne of the key elements to determining malfeasance is motive or willfulness, but in this incidence there is no indication that she did so with any intent to change or nullify the results of the votes of the people of Weston County,” the Governor wrote.  In essence, the process worked, with any irregularities identified and corrected during a review by the canvassing board.

“It is clear that Clerk Hadlock made many mistakes and exhibited a high degree of unprofessional and perhaps slipshod management of the election,” the Governor wrote. “Still, the system set up to discover, correct, and properly count votes worked here.”

The Governor’s findings letter and a copy of the verified complaints may be found here.