Wyoming courts investigate extent of personal data exposed in cybersecurity breach

The Wyoming Judicial Branch says it’s awaiting more details regarding the scope of a cybersecurity breach of a third-party software company that may have included a decade’s worth of data from the state’s court system. 

West Publishing Corporation, which the Wyoming Supreme Court and Wyoming district courts previously used for case management, was recently hacked, exposing court records from several states, including Wyoming. 

“Our internal team completed a preliminary review of the data shortly after we received notification of the incident involving West Publishing to gauge what we could, including a high-level view of what information and time frame were exposed,” Jacob Just, communications director for the Wyoming Judicial Branch, told WyoFile in an email. “That gave us a general sense that data was exposed for cases between 2015 and 2025, and exposed [personally identifiable information] was likely limited to names, dates of birth, and addresses.” 

However, Just said, the judicial branch is awaiting the full analysis to confirm that information. How long that may take is unknown, he said, but at that point, the judicial branch “will work with West Publishing on any potential direct notifications that need to be made.”

Just also reiterated that the breach did not impact the judicial branch’s networks or systems currently in use by the courts. 

For the most part, the Wyoming Supreme Court is responsible for reviewing appeals from district court decisions in civil and criminal cases. The high court also hears petitions for extraordinary relief from lower court decisions, and it occasionally answers questions certified to it from federal courts. 

Meanwhile, Wyoming state district courts are the trial courts of general jurisdiction in the state with the exception of small claims cases, misdemeanors and civil cases under $50,000. That means district courts deal with the most serious and controversial cases in the state. 

While the judicial branch awaits the analysis, West Publishing is providing 12 months of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services to those potentially affected by the breach. Those services can be arranged at CTrackNotification.com.