Hill suit calls Wyoming law a coup on superintendent office

A law that strips most of the power from the state superintendent of public instruction represents a “coup” on a constitutionally created office, her lawyer argued in court documents filed Tuesday.

The documents, which accompanied a lawsuit, claim the new law violates the state constitution by creating an appointed director to replace the state superintendent as the head of public schools in Wyoming. A lawyer for embattled schools Superintendent Cindy Hill has also filed a temporary restraining order to halt implementation of the law until a court can decide the matter.

Lawmakers disenfranchised voters by transferring many of the superintendent’s duties to a governor-appointed director, the suit states. Hill and her supporters insist the change could only be legally performed through an amendment to the state constitution.

“By passing a law that strips the superintendent of the general supervision of public schools, the Wyoming Legislature and the governor have threatened the very nature of constitutional government,” Hill’s lawyer, Angela Dougherty, wrote in court documents arguing for a restraining order and injunction.