All Wyoming law enforcement can officially cite drivers for ELP violations with signing of bill into law

All Wyoming law enforcement can officially cite truck drivers found violating English Language Proficiency standards as of a Thursday bill signing. 

House Bill 32 was officially signed into law on Thursday, March 5th by Wyoming governor Mark Gordon. 

Before the bill was signed, only federally certified inspectors with the Wyoming Highway Patrol could evaluate and cite drivers for ELP violations. Now, all state law enforcement officers will be able to evaluate and cite drivers for ELP violations. 

“This is what Wyoming Highway Patrol, and our commercial vehicle section, and our inspectors do every day,” WHP Col. Timothy Cameron said at the signing, reported Cowboy State Daily. “This is something we already do. But now what (the bill) does is it leverages all the law enforcement assets in the state to most importantly identify people that jeopardize public safety.”

Under the new law, drivers with first time ELP violations will be fined $1,000 and banned from operating a commercial vehicle in the state of Wyoming until they are able to demonstrate sufficient English Language Proficiency. Any driver banned for ELP violations but caught driving a CMV anyway could be charged with a misdemeanor, be fined $1,000 more, and spend up to 90 days in jail.