Wyoming SF0128 Delegation of Parental Powers

What Senate File 0128 Proposed

During the 2021 Wyoming legislative session, Senators Kinskey, Biteman, and Boner introduced Senate File 0128. The bill would have created W.S. § 3-2-401 and W.S. § 14-2-207, allowing a parent or legal guardian to temporarily delegate care, custody, and property powers over a minor child to another adult for up to six months through a signed power of attorney. Marriage and adoption consent were explicitly excluded.

For grandparents and relatives suddenly raising a child, SF0128 would have filled a real gap — a straightforward, out-of-court way for a parent to hand off school enrollment authority and medical consent authority to the person actually caring for the child.

SF0128 Did Not Pass

The bill's path through the legislature was short:

• March 1, 2021: Assigned a bill number and received for introduction.
• March 2, 2021: Introduced and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• March 20, 2021: No report was filed before the Committee of the Whole cutoff.
• April 7, 2021: Died in committee and returned under Senate Rule 5-4.

Because SF0128 failed, its provisions were never codified into Wyoming law. Later bills carrying the same SF0128 number in subsequent sessions covered unrelated subjects — state land exchanges in 2023, charter school approvals in 2024, and sales tax exemptions on electricity in 2025.

This matters because some commercial legal document websites still sell "Wyoming parent delegation" forms citing SF0128 as though it became law. It did not.

What Wyoming Caregivers Actually Have

Without SF0128, Wyoming has no general statute letting a parent privately delegate parental powers through a simple signed form. The options that do carry legal weight:

Informal notarized parental consent. A parent can sign a notarized letter authorizing a relative to handle school and medical matters. This is a contractual document — it shows the caregiver isn't acting without permission — but schools and clinics are not required by statute to accept it. Some do; some don't.

Temporary guardianship under W.S. §§ 3-2-301 through 3-2-303. This is the court route specifically designed for relatives who are the child's primary physical custodian. It grants authority over school enrollment, educational decisions, and medical and dental consent. An ex parte order is limited to one year absent a showing of good cause. This is narrower than SF0128's proposed delegation of any or all parental powers over care, custody, or property for up to six months.

Full minor guardianship. Filed through the Wyoming District Court using the GMCP packet (Packet 14). This provides comprehensive legal and physical custody and lasts until the child turns 18 or the court terminates it.

Why This Distinction Matters at the Front Desk

When a grandparent hands a school registrar or clinic receptionist a form labeled "Delegation of Parental Powers" that cites a bill number, the registrar's office may look it up and discover the bill never passed. That creates doubt about every other document in the caregiver's folder.

A notarized parental consent letter that doesn't cite SF0128 — one that clearly identifies the parent, the child, the caregiver, the specific powers granted, and the time period — is more likely to be accepted because it stands on the parent's voluntary authorization rather than a nonexistent statute.

If even that is refused, the temporary guardianship route under W.S. §§ 3-2-301 through 3-2-303 provides a court appointment with authority for educational, medical-care, and dental-care decisions.

Putting It Together

The School and Medical Consent for Grandparents and Relatives in Wyoming guide walks through each option — what a notarized parental consent letter needs to include, when to file for temporary guardianship, and how to handle the enrollment conversation when a front desk pushes back. It covers the legal landscape that exists in Wyoming right now, not the one SF0128 would have created.

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