Wyoming divorce case files are presumptively public records under the Wyoming Public Records Act, W.S. 16-4-203, and can be requested from the district court clerk in the county where the divorce was finalized. However, sensitive contents—financial disclosures, child support details, and information identifying minors—are sealed or redacted by default, and state-issued divorce certificates stay restricted for 50 years.
Wyoming operates on a legal presumption of openness: all court records, including divorce case files, are open to the public unless a statute or court order restricts them. This means most divorce filings—the complaint, summons, motions, and the final decree—can be inspected by any member of the public. At the same time, Wyoming law carves out specific protections for the most private information inside those files. Understanding the difference between the public court file and the restricted vital record is the key to answering the question: are divorce records public in Wyoming?
Key Facts: Wyoming Divorce at a Glance
| Fact | Wyoming Detail | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $70–$160 depending on county (as of January 2026) | County district court schedule |
| Waiting Period | 20 days after filing before decree can be entered | Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-108 |
| Residency Requirement | 60 consecutive days before filing | Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-107 |
| Grounds | No-fault (irreconcilable differences); incurable insanity | Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-104 |
| Property Division Type | Equitable distribution (all-property) | Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-114 |
| Records Access | Presumptively public court files; sealed certificates 50 yrs | Wyo. Stat. § 16-4-203 |
Are Divorce Records Public in Wyoming?
Yes. Divorce records are presumptively public in Wyoming under the Wyoming Public Records Act, W.S. 16-4-201 through 16-4-205. The court case file—including the complaint, summons, motions, and final decree—is open to inspection by any person unless a specific statute or court order seals it. Access is administered by the district court clerk in the county of filing.
Wyoming's public records framework establishes a strong default of transparency. Under Wyo. Stat. § 16-4-203, the custodian of any public record must allow inspection except on narrowly defined grounds—principally when disclosure would violate a state statute, a federal statute, or a Wyoming Supreme Court rule or court order. Because divorce proceedings are civil actions heard in the district courts, the resulting files fall squarely within this presumption of access. A divorce records search therefore begins not with a state agency but with the clerk of the district court in the county where the case was decided. The Wyoming Supreme Court reinforced this openness principle in Williams v. Stafford, holding that access to court proceedings should be limited only under exceptional circumstances. For most public divorce filings, that means the core documents remain accessible to genealogists, journalists, litigants, and the general public alike.
What Information in Wyoming Divorce Records Is Sealed?
Wyoming automatically shields the most sensitive contents of a divorce file even when the case itself is public. Financial disclosures, child support worksheets, and any information identifying minor children or victims of abuse are sealed or redacted by default under the Wyoming Rules Governing Access to Court Records, which cross-reference Wyo. Stat. § 16-4-203(b) and (d).
The distinction between a public case and a sealed document is central to divorce records privacy in Wyoming. A member of the public may view the fact that a divorce was filed, the names of the parties, the summons, and the decree itself, yet be barred from viewing the detailed financial affidavits or the parenting plan. Custody files—including guardian ad litem reports, custody evaluations, and parenting plans—are treated as confidential to protect children's welfare. Rule 6 of the court-access rules enumerates the categories excluded from public inspection, including the identifying and contact information of juveniles, minors, and petitioners for domestic violence protection orders. In practice, a clerk will pull or redact restricted documents before allowing a public divorce filing to be viewed. This layered approach lets Wyoming honor its transparency presumption while still protecting the private financial and family details that appear inside nearly every divorce file.
How Do You Search for Divorce Records in Wyoming?
Wyoming has no statewide online database of trial court records, so a divorce records search must be directed to the district court clerk in the specific county where the divorce was granted. Requesters typically pay a per-page copy fee plus certification charges, and older files may have been transferred to the Wyoming State Archives. Statewide, only the Supreme Court offers online case search.
Because access is decentralized, the first step in any public divorce filings search is identifying the correct county. Divorces before 1941 exist only in the county district court file, as Wyoming did not centrally track divorces until that year. To locate a modern record, contact the Office of the Clerk of District Court in the county of filing; the clerk can provide a case number and copies of documents for a fee. The Wyoming Judicial Branch operates an online case-search portal for Supreme Court matters at efiling.courts.state.wy.us, but district-court divorce files are not searchable through a single unified system. Some counties transfer archived case files to the Wyoming State Archives, though the index may not accompany them. For a certified copy tied to the state's vital-records system rather than the court file, requesters must contact Wyoming Vital Statistics under the Department of Health, which handles the restricted state-issued certificate separately from the court's public case file.
Court File vs. State Certificate: Two Different Records
Wyoming maintains two distinct types of divorce records with different access rules. The district court case file is presumptively public, while the state-issued divorce certificate held by Wyoming Vital Statistics is restricted for 50 years and requires an application plus proof of identity for records created less than 50 years ago.
Many people assume a single "divorce record" exists, but Wyoming actually records a divorce in three overlapping ways: the divorce certificate, the divorce decree, and the complete court case file. The state-issued certificate is a vital record maintained by the Wyoming Department of Health, which restricts it for 50 years to protect residents' privacy. After 50 years, those certificates become open public records available to anyone without an application. The decree and the broader case file, by contrast, live with the district court clerk and follow the public-records presumption of Wyo. Stat. § 16-4-203. This split explains why a certificate request may be denied to a third party while the same divorce's court decree can be obtained from the clerk. Choosing the right record depends on the purpose—remarriage or name changes usually require the certified vital record, while research or litigation often relies on the public court file.
| Record Type | Custodian | Public Access | Restriction Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Court case file | District court clerk | Presumptively public | Sealed portions only |
| Divorce decree | District court clerk | Parties or court order | None for parties |
| State certificate | Wyoming Vital Statistics | Restricted | 50 years |
How Do You Seal a Divorce Record in Wyoming?
To seal an otherwise public divorce record in Wyoming, a party must file a petition to seal with the district court, and a judge decides whether the request meets the legal standard. Wyoming courts disfavor restricting access and grant sealing only in exceptional circumstances that outweigh the public's presumptive right of inspection under W.S. 16-4-203.
Sealing is not automatic for the case as a whole—only certain categories of content (financial data, child information) are protected by default. To restrict additional material, the divorced parties must file separate petitions to seal, and the decision rests with the judge. The governing statute, Wyo. Stat. § 16-4-203(g), also allows a records custodian to apply to the district court for an order restricting disclosure when release would cause substantial injury to the public interest; after a hearing, the court may issue such an order upon a finding of substantial injury. This is a high bar. Wyoming case law, including Williams v. Stafford, treats closure of court records as disfavored except in unusual situations. A person seeking to seal a divorce record should expect to articulate a specific, compelling privacy or safety interest—such as protecting a domestic violence survivor—rather than a general preference for confidentiality, because the presumption of openness controls unless overcome.
Who Can Access Sealed Wyoming Divorce Records?
Once a Wyoming divorce record is sealed, access is limited to the parties, their attorneys, and anyone holding a court order or subpoena issued by a Wyoming judge. Requests for sealed or confidential records must be made in person to the record custodian, and the general public cannot inspect them without proper legal authorization.
Sealing changes the record's status from open to restricted, which narrows the pool of eligible requesters considerably. While the underlying divorce decree remains available to those directly involved in the case, third parties lose the presumptive right of inspection they would otherwise enjoy. To obtain a sealed file, a requester must present a court order or subpoena signed by a Wyoming-licensed judge, and the request must be delivered in person to the office of the clerk who serves as custodian. This procedure protects the confidentiality the sealing order was designed to create while preserving a lawful pathway for legitimate needs—such as a subsequent modification action, an appeal, or a related civil proceeding. For custody-related material, the confidentiality is especially strict: reports, evaluations, and parenting plans are shielded to protect children even from parties in some circumstances, and courts apply the child-welfare standard embedded in the Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure.
What Does It Cost to Get Wyoming Divorce Records?
Wyoming district court clerks charge per-page copy fees plus certification charges to produce divorce records, and the exact amount varies by county. There is no single statewide fee schedule for court copies, so requesters should confirm the current rate directly with the clerk before submitting a divorce records search request.
The cost of obtaining records is separate from the cost of filing a divorce. For context, the filing fee to start a Wyoming divorce ranges from $70 to $160 depending on the county—Sheridan County and Natrona County are at the higher $160 end, while other counties charge $70 to $120 (as of January 2026; verify with your local clerk). Payment methods commonly include cash, check, money order, or credit card with an approximately 2.6% processing fee, and fee waivers are available to qualifying indigent filers via an affidavit. When requesting existing records, the charges are typically a per-page copy fee and an additional certification fee for certified copies. State-issued certificates carry their own separate fee set by Wyoming Vital Statistics. Because these amounts change and differ by county, the most reliable step is to call the specific district court clerk's office or Vital Statistics and confirm current pricing before mailing a request or appearing in person.