Wyoming bill would address parents' duties in juvenile cases

Property owners could seek damages from a child's parents. Property owners, including public school districts, are covered. The child must be older than 10 and younger than 17, and must maliciously and willfully damage or destroy the property. The text gives two possible damage limits, $2,000 and $5,000, so the intended limit is unclear. The provision does not apply if a court ended the parents' custody and control before the damage.

Courts could find people in contempt for willfully disobeying or refusing to carry out orders under certain juvenile laws. The provisions name children, parents, guardians, and other people who willfully violate, neglect, or refuse to obey an order or provision under the covered juvenile laws. A court may act on its own or on a request from a prosecutor or guardian ad litem. The text gives conflicting maximum fines of $500 and $1,000, and conflicting jail limits of 90 and 120 days; the intended limits are unclear.

A court could require a parent or guardian to provide a cash deposit or bond when placing a child on probation. It applies to the parent or guardian who has custody of the child. The court must find that the parent or guardian failed to use reasonable control and that this failure directly caused the act behind the delinquency finding. The text gives conflicting maximum amounts of $500 and $1,000, so the intended limit is unclear. The deposit or bond must depend on the child following probation terms.

School district policies must include consequences and helpful steps for certain parents or guardians. The provision concerns school district policies addressing harassment, intimidation, and bullying. It applies when a parent's or guardian's neglect or refusal to discipline a minor partly led to the student's harassment, intimidation, bullying, or retaliation. Steps may include referring the parent or guardian to law enforcement.