Johnson County
8,908 people, served by 2 police agencies that report to the FBI.
How a case moves here
Johnson County follows Wyoming law on arrests, release, and courts. These rules are the same in every county in the state; the full set covers prosecutors, defense, and jails too.
- Who decides release first
A judicial officer, most often a circuit judge or circuit court magistrate, sets release at the initial appearance. For misdemeanors listed on the Supreme Court's bond schedule, a person may pay the scheduled amount without seeing a judge, and a person arrested for one must see a judicial officer within 12 hours or be cited and released.
W.R.Cr.P. 1, 3.1, 5, 46.1 and Uniform Bail and Forfeiture Schedule (2026 compilation)- Time to see a judge
An arrested person must be taken before a judicial officer without unnecessary delay, and a person arrested without a warrant must be released unless a judicial officer finds probable cause within 72 hours. A jailed person who asks in writing for release must get a decision within 72 hours.
W.R.Cr.P. 5(a), 46.1(a)(1)- Money bail
Money bail is allowed. Everyone is bailable by sufficient sureties except in capital cases where the proof is evident or the presumption great.
W.R.Cr.P. 46.1(a)- Courts
District courts try felonies. Circuit courts hear misdemeanors and hold preliminary hearings in felony cases, and each city or town has a municipal court for violations of its ordinances.
Wyoming Judicial Branch, District CourtsWyoming Judicial Branch, Circuit CourtsW.S. 5-6-101- Judges and magistrates
The governor appoints district judges from three names sent by the Judicial Nominating Commission, and voters then decide in retention elections whether to keep them for six-year terms. Circuit judges are chosen the same way for four-year terms and must be lawyers. Circuit judges appoint magistrates with county approval, and part-time magistrates need no legal training.
Wyoming Judicial Branch, District CourtsWyoming Judicial Branch, Circuit CourtsW.S. 5-9-201 to 5-9-206, 5-6-103
Read from the statutes and court rules cited, 2026-09-30. The pretrial section rests on a secondary summary. Which counties currently have a district attorney was not checked.
What this county does differently
Nothing county-specific yet
Cities and towns
- Buffalo4,572
- Kaycee town280
Every city, village, town, and township with any of its land in Johnson County, largest first. Population, the whole place's: Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020 to 2024.
Police agencies
- Buffalo Police DepartmentCity police department4,714 served
- Johnson County Sheriff's OfficeSheriff or county police4,153 served
Agencies: FBI NIBRS master file 2025 batch headers; names from the FBI agency list, pulled 2026-09-29. An agency that serves several counties appears on each. Population served is the FBI's figure.
Crime
The crime index
| Offense | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Per 100k | Wyoming |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 13 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 100 | 208 |
| Murder | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 3 | |||||
| Rape | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 58 |
| Robbery | 1 | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 9.6 | |||
| Aggravated assault | 7 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 55 | 137 |
| Property crime | 72 | 81 | 55 | 72 | 56 | 765 | 1,398 |
| Burglary | 15 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 10 | 155 | 195 |
| Larceny | 49 | 66 | 39 | 51 | 40 | 558 | 1,071 |
| Motor vehicle theft | 8 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 52 | 132 |
| Arson | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 8.1 |
Outside the crime index
| Offense | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Per 100k | Wyoming |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All offenses outside the crime index | 174 | 135 | 171 | 144 | 185 | 1,841 | 2,978 |
| Simple assault and intimidation | 44 | 40 | 54 | 34 | 48 | 501 | 1,010 |
| Vandalism | 32 | 19 | 30 | 28 | 41 | 341 | 490 |
| Fraud | 15 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 96 | 283 |
| Drug abuse violations | 58 | 40 | 65 | 41 | 63 | 608 | 945 |
| Weapons: carrying, possessing, etc. | 7 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 46 | 45 |
| Stolen property: buying, receiving, possessing | 1 | 2 | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 6.4 | ||
| Forgery and counterfeiting | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 52 |
| Sex offenses (except rape and prostitution) | 4 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 52 | 50 |
| Other Group A offenses | 8 | 17 | 9 | 15 | 16 | 148 | 89 |
| Human trafficking (not in the total) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 2.8 |
Offenses agencies in Johnson County reported to the FBI in incident detail (NIBRS), each year, the second table by the arrest class each offense falls in. Per 100k: offenses per 100,000 people the reporting agencies police, 2021 to 2025 added together, beside Wyoming's rate over the same years. Agencies that reported part of a year are counted with their people, as the state's rates count them. – means too few for a rate: the count is under 20.
Source: FBI NIBRS national master files, each agency's offenses and the FBI's population for it. Wyoming: the crime index: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, CrimeDB's chosen value per year (the state page's figures); outside it: FBI NIBRS, agencies that sent incident detail.