ACLU to Appeal Laramie County Sheriff ICE Contracts Case to Wyoming Supreme Court

The ACLU of Wyoming will appeal to the Wyoming Supreme Court after Laramie County District Judge Robin Cooley dismissed in August its lawsuit alleging Sheriff Brian Kozak broke the law by entering 287(g) agreements with ICE without the approval of county commissioners. Cooley ruled that the plaintiffs — a local barbershop, a nonprofit advocacy group and a church — lacked standing, but wrote that the question of whether Kozak exceeded his authority “remain[s] unresolved.” The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office and the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office are the only Wyoming agencies to have signed all three types of 287(g) agreements, including the Task Force Model that was phased out under the Obama administration and revived in 2025. Kozak called the suit “frivolous” and said the ACLU should put it in the past.