Laramie · Albany County
A night out in Laramie turned into a citation, an arrest, or a letter from the Dean of Students. You are thinking about your parents, your scholarship, and whether this ends your plans before they start.
Deep Waters Law defends criminal charges in Laramie and Albany County, including the ones that most often affect University of Wyoming students: DUI, minor in possession, drug possession, and disorderly conduct. The university’s conduct process can run alongside the criminal case, and what you say in one can be used in the other.
Where Laramie cases are heard
Misdemeanors, initial appearances, and preliminary hearings go to Albany County Circuit Court. Felonies are bound over to Albany County District Court in the Second Judicial District. City citations from Laramie Police go to Laramie Municipal Court, a different court where people routinely plead guilty at the counter without understanding what the conviction will follow them into.
If you are a UW student
A charge in Laramie is often two problems.
- The criminal case decides fines, probation, jail, and a permanent record.
- The university’s conduct process runs on its own timeline, with a lower standard of proof and its own sanctions, up to suspension or expulsion. It does not wait for the criminal case to finish.
Statements made in a conduct hearing are not protected from the prosecution. The order in which the two proceedings are handled is a strategic decision, and getting it wrong can cost you the criminal case to save a semester, or the reverse.
Students also face consequences they often do not anticipate: financial aid, future professional licensing and bar admission, immigration status for international students, athletic eligibility, and campus housing.
Charges we see most in Albany County
- DUI. You generally have 20 days from the notice of suspension to request a license hearing, and that deadline runs whether or not the criminal case is resolved. The limit for drivers under 21 is 0.02%.
- Minor in possession and other under-21 alcohol offenses.
- Drug possession, including the Colorado problem: cannabis bought legally an hour south is illegal the moment it crosses into Wyoming, and traffic stops on I-80 and US-287 are where that gets discovered.
- Domestic battery, with no-contact conditions and a potential lifetime federal firearms ban.
- Disorderly conduct, interference, property destruction, and theft. Theft is a crime of dishonesty that background checks flag for decades.
Diversion and keeping the record clean
For a first offense, the conviction usually matters more than the sentence. Diversion, deferred prosecution, and deferred sentencing can end a case without a conviction, but those options are widest before a plea and narrow fast after. If a conviction has already happened, see our Expungement page.
Both chairs
Francis H. McVay has sat on both sides of the courtroom. As a Deputy County and Prosecuting Attorney in Park County, he charged misdemeanors and felonies and handled juvenile and Title 25 matters. As Senior Assistant Appellate Counsel with the Wyoming State Public Defender, he briefed and argued Walker v. State, 2022 WY 158, in which the Wyoming Supreme Court reversed two convictions under plain-error review and ordered a new trial on them. He is a graduate of the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College. He knows how the State builds a case, and he knows how the record reads when a higher court looks at it.
Mr. McVay briefed and argued Walker v. State as Senior Assistant Appellate Counsel for the Wyoming State Public Defender. The matter was not handled by Deep Waters Law, L.L.C. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome in any other matter.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to tell the university about my arrest?
That depends on university policy and your situation. Talk to a lawyer before you make any statement to the conduct office.
Can I just pay the ticket at municipal court?
Paying it is a guilty plea. Find out what the conviction will do to your record, your aid, and your future licensing first.
Will my parents find out?
Court records are generally public. How the case is resolved affects what shows up later.
Talk to a lawyer today
Call before you talk to campus police, a student conduct officer, or a prosecutor.
Call (307) 333-7539. Answered 24/7, including weekends. Or request a free consultation.
Related
The law is not settled until it is just.
This page describes Wyoming law in general terms as of September 2026 and is not legal advice. Every matter turns on its own facts. Contacting Deep Waters Law does not create an attorney-client relationship.