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Warren Livestock et al. v. Board of County Comm’rs, Albany County, 2026 WY 76 (Wyo. July 13, 2026)

The Wyoming Supreme Court upheld Albany County’s regulations designed to protect the aquifer used for community’s drinking water.  Requirements including a 35-minimum acre lot size were within the county’s broad zoning authority in Wyoming statutes.  Nothing in the county’s regulations conflicted with Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality statutory oversight of water quality nor the general supervision of the waters of the state granted by the Wyoming Constitution to the state engineer. 

The Court also reaffirmed that absence of any vested property right in the expectation that property may be subdivided or rezoned in the future.   Quoting its previous decision in Sheridan Cnty. Comm’n v. V.O. Gold Props., LLC, the Court held “one has a vested property right only in existing land uses, and not in prospective land uses.”

Finally, the Court applied the arbitrary and capricious standard to the county’s rulemaking.  The Court found that the county had a rational basis for its rules including the 35-minimum acre lot size.  As such, the county’s action was not arbitrary and capricious.