Lincoln County
21,180 people, served by 8 police agencies that report to the FBI.
How a case moves here
Lincoln 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
- Kemmerer2,972
- Afton town2,908
- Star Valley Ranch town2,007
- Alpine town1,222
- Thayne town732
- Diamondville town665
- Cokeville town370
- La Barge town337
- Opal town77
Every city, village, town, and township with any of its land in Lincoln County, largest first. Population, the whole place's: Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020 to 2024.
Police agencies
- Lincoln County Sheriff's OfficeSheriff or county police15,223 served
- Kemmerer Police DepartmentCity police department2,368 served
- Afton Police DepartmentCity police department2,308 served
- No name WY0120700City police department1,394 served
- Diamondville Police DepartmentCity police department516 served
- Cokeville Police DepartmentCity police department488 served
- No name WY0120500City police department444 served
- La Barge Police DepartmentCity police department395 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 | 17 | 19 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 88 | 208 |
| Murder | 1 | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 3 | |||
| Rape | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 58 |
| Robbery | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 9.6 | |||||
| Aggravated assault | 12 | 15 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 66 | 137 |
| Property crime | 66 | 83 | 60 | 43 | 29 | 355 | 1,398 |
| Burglary | 8 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 45 | 195 |
| Larceny | 51 | 71 | 46 | 33 | 21 | 280 | 1,071 |
| Motor vehicle theft | 7 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 29 | 132 |
| Arson | 1 | 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 | 179 | 218 | 203 | 130 | 106 | 1,055 | 2,978 |
| Simple assault and intimidation | 42 | 39 | 27 | 31 | 44 | 231 | 1,010 |
| Vandalism | 11 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 54 | 490 |
| Fraud | 28 | 29 | 31 | 27 | 10 | 158 | 283 |
| Drug abuse violations | 75 | 119 | 115 | 61 | 36 | 512 | 945 |
| Weapons: carrying, possessing, etc. | 6 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 29 | 45 |
| Stolen property: buying, receiving, possessing | 2 | 4 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 6.4 | |||
| Forgery and counterfeiting | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 52 |
| Embezzlement | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 5.5 | ||||
| Sex offenses (except rape and prostitution) | 10 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 38 | 50 |
| Prostitution and commercialized vice | 1 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 2.6 | ||||
| Other Group A offenses | 2 | 4 | 2 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 89 |
Offenses agencies in Lincoln 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.