19-7-103. Adjutant general; appointment; rank; removal; duties and qualifications.

(a) The governor shall appoint a qualified adjutant general to be the commander of the Wyoming national guard and director of the Wyoming military department. He shall have the rank the governor designates and may be removed by the governor as provided in W.S. 9-1-202. A prospective appointee shall possess the following qualifications:

(i) Have served as a field, staff or line officer in the United States army or air force, or national guard, or both, for at least ten (10) years;

(ii) Have been a member of the Wyoming national guard for at least four (4) years immediately preceding his appointment;

(iii) Have attained at least the rank of lieutenant colonel and be federally recognized in that rank at the time of his appointment; and

(iv) Be a resident of the state of Wyoming.

(b) The adjutant general of Wyoming shall have powers and duties and be paid a salary as follows:

(i) He is in control of the military department of Wyoming and subordinate only to the governor in matters pertaining thereto. He acts as the governor's designee with respect to personnel matters, including enlistments, promotions, demotions and discharges;

(ii) He shall issue and transmit all orders of the commander in chief and make returns and reports as the secretary of defense may direct;

(iii) He shall keep a record of all officers commissioned by the governor and maintain electronic access to all current orders, rules and regulations prescribed by the secretary of defense and the several agencies of the department of defense for the national guard;

(iv) He shall audit all claims and accounts against the military department not otherwise provided by law and shall have charge and carefully preserve the colors, flags and military trophies of war belonging to the state which shall not be loaned or removed from their prescribed place of deposit except by order of the adjutant general;

(v) He shall ensure all organizations have access to the proper blanks, books and forms required and such military instruction books as may be prescribed;

(vi) He shall report to the governor on such matters as may be required by the governor as provided by W.S. 9-2-1014 and at such other times as the governor may require;

(vii) He shall make out reports and returns to the several agencies of the department of defense as may be required by law or regulations;

(viii) He may use the coat of arms of the state of Wyoming as his seal of office with the words: "State of Wyoming, Adjutant General's Office";

(ix) The annual compensation of the adjutant general shall be the base pay of a colonel, pay grade 0-6, the same as the armed forces of the United States, with longevity for appropriate years of military service, to be paid monthly out of the state treasury as the salaries of other state officers are paid;

(x) He may purchase for cash or upon contract or otherwise acquire lands within Wyoming for use by the national guard or for the use of other elements of the armed forces as an artillery and target range and training and maneuvering area. He may acquire lands for such purposes by eminent domain when the state board of land commissioners gives its written approval or consent;

(xi) He may accept gifts of land for the purposes provided by paragraph (x) of this subsection and may lease, or accept payment in kind as consideration for any lease, any of the acquired parcels of land or buildings during periods when the lands are not in use for military purposes. He may acquire and install on the land such permanent improvements, including fences, as may be necessary for the full utilization of the land for the military purposes herein declared;

(xii) He may dispose of lands, buildings or fixtures under the control of the department by sale, exchange or other transfer. He may execute deeds for such transfers in the name of the state. Money from such sale, exchange or transfer may be utilized for the acquisition of additional lands, buildings or fixtures within the same budget biennium. Any such sale, exchange or other transfer shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of W.S. 36-9-101, 36-9-102 and 36-9-104 through 36-9-120, except these provisions of W.S. title 36, chapter 9 shall not apply when both the title to the land and to all buildings thereon is solely in the name of the department or any division of the department and the provisions of W.S. 9-2-1016(b)(viii) also shall not apply when both the title to the land and to all buildings thereon is solely in the name of the department or any division of the department. The sections of title 36 identified in this paragraph and W.S. 9-2-1016(b)(viii) also shall not apply when any such sale, exchange or other transfer is to another governmental entity, state agency or local government, as defined in W.S. 1-39-103, even if the title to the land and to all buildings thereon are not solely in the name of the department or a division thereof;

(xiii) Repealed by Laws 2017, ch. 47, § 2.

(xiv) Except as federal law requires, he shall secure a complete and accurate military service record of past and present Wyoming national guard personnel and those veterans who declare Wyoming as their residence upon separation from the military. He may accept the assistance and cooperation of all other governmental agencies and individual citizens to secure such records. He shall carefully keep and preserve such records physically or electronically in accordance with the laws and practices applied to the preservation and safekeeping of official records. All such records are confidential in accordance with the usual procedures and customs prevailing in the military service;

(xv) He is the channel of military and military department related correspondence with the governor and shall have custody of all military records, correspondence and other military documents until he has legal authority to properly dispose of or preserve physically or electronically such documents;

(xvi) He shall control all armories that are owned, erected, purchased, leased or provided by the state. He may acquire, in the name of the state of Wyoming, by purchase, donation or dedication any property which may be used for military purposes. For the control and management of armories described in this paragraph, he may establish armory boards whose personnel shall serve without pay. Subject to his direction, armory boards shall control, manage and supervise all activities in armories and may rent armories to persons or organizations not connected with the organized militia;

(xvii) He shall ensure commanders of national guard units have access to the blank forms, rolls, bonds and other returns they are required to make. He shall explain the principles upon which returns shall be made, and may make such general regulation concerning the same as will best promote uniformity in their rendition;

(xviii) He shall keep physically or electronically the papers, volumes and records of the department in an office provided by the state;

(xix) He shall perform such other military duties as ordered by the governor;

(xx) He shall administer the Wyoming national guard educational assistance plan in accordance with W.S. 19-9-501 through 19-9-504;

(xxi) He may use federal procurement procedures when letting contracts concerning properties under the control of the adjutant general, subject to authorization as provided in W.S. 9-2-1016(b)(iv)(H);

(xxii) If the authority is specifically granted by the legislature in its biennial budget, he may hire a person to occupy a new or existing position of state employment within the military department when federal funds are received which reimburse the state of Wyoming for one hundred percent (100%) of the cost of the position. In the event that federal funding becomes unavailable to maintain one hundred percent (100%) reimbursement for a position filled pursuant to this paragraph, as determined by the United States property and fiscal officer for Wyoming, he shall eliminate the position. He shall report to the legislature through the general government appropriations process all positions that are created or eliminated pursuant to this paragraph;

(xxiii) He may delegate part or all of his responsibilities under paragraphs (iii) and (xiv) of this subsection to the veterans' commission.