Wyoming Administrative Code › Agency 037 - Engineer, State › Sub-Agency 0007 - Board of Control - Water Administration › Chapter 6 - CONTESTED CASE PROCEDURES › Section 6-3 - Notice and Service

Current through July 13, 2024
a. Notice and
				service on all contested cases shall be given in accordance with
				W.S.
				16-3-107. A contested case may be initiated
				by objection being made to a proof of appropriation or construction, by the
				filing of an abandonment action, or by objections raised to a proposed change
				of use or change in point of diversion, etc. In cases where the Board is
				required to hold a hearing in determining the extent of an appropriator's water
				rights without any adverse party being present, contested case procedures as to
				notice and service shall be observed by the Board and by all persons who appear
				as parties.
b. In a contested case,
				any person whom the Board knows to have an interest in the matter shall be
				given notice of the proceedings and of all motions or pleadings by acknowledged
				personal service or by certified mail, return receipt requested. All unknown
				persons shall be notified through publication. After all persons wishing to
				appear as parties have made themselves known, usually at the commencement of a
				hearing, further notice and service may be made personally at the hearing or by
				first class mail to the addresses given by the parties. However, the record of
				the proceedings must be documented in some fashion, such as by transcript
				notation or by letter copy.
c.
				Proofs of certified mailings, whether made by the Board or by any party shall
				be made part of the record. Affidavits of publication shall likewise be made a
				part of the record.
d. The moving
				party, whether contestant or contestee, shall be responsible for paying
				publication charges and may be assessed for the Board's mailing costs connected
				with a contested case proceedings.
e. The hearing officer may give personal
				notice to any party at a hearing in any manner so long as the fact of service
				is documented in the record of the proceedings.
f. In an action for involuntary abandonment
				of water rights, the petitioner (contestant) shall search all readily available
				public records to identify all persons who may have any interest in the
				appropriation or appropriations for which the declaration of abandonment is
				sought. A list of such persons with their mailing addresses and respective land
				ownership interests shall be filed in the Board's Cheyenne office with the
				petition for declaration for abandonment. Within three working days, the
				Board's staff shall determine if the petition and accompanying list of affected
				persons appears to be complete. If so determined, the Board's staff shall by
				the end of the third day send a copy of the petition by certified mail to all
				persons believed by the petitioner or Board's staff to have any interest in the
				matter. The action on the petition for declaration of abandonment shall be
				deemed as having commenced at the close of business on the day the petition was
				filed. If the Board's staff determines that the petition and supporting
				documents are inadequate to give notice to all persons believed to have an
				interest in the matter, or in any other particular, the original papers filed
				in the Board's Cheyenne office shall be returned to the petitioner by the end
				of the third by certified mail with a letter explaining any noted deficiency. A
				copy of the petition and supporting documents shall be kept for record
				purposes, but no action shall be deemed to have commenced as a result of the
				filing of a deficient petition for declaration of abandonment. However, there
				shall be no restriction of the correction and refiling of a deficient
				petition.
g. Each party in any
				contested case is required to keep the hearing officer and all other parties
				informed of his current mailing address and telephone number or that of his
				authorized attorney.