Wyoming Highway Patrol Limits Mileage and Overtime to Offset Budget Overrun

Wyoming Department of Transportation Director Darin Westby told lawmakers at a meeting last week that the agency has a budget. We got to stick with it. And if we have to stay within x number of miles, we have to stay within x number of miles.” The warning came as the Wyoming Highway Patrol operates under mileage and overtime caps imposed after the agency overspent its funds, WyoFile reported.

The Wyoming Highway Patrol offset a 2026 budget overrun by limiting mileage and overtime, according to the Wyoming Department of Transportation. Department spokesperson Doug McGee said via email that the agency “operates on a balanced budget and would not carry over a negative balance.” The highway patrol’s 2025-2026 budget biennium ended in September, and McGee noted that the anticipated overrun was caught early enough that the actual shortfall did not reach an unmanageable level.

$4.9 Million Spent by December 2025

The financial trouble surfaced in 2025, when the Wyoming Department of Transportation restricted the highway patrol’s overtime hours after staff found that the agency had overspent its funds, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported. The agency had roughly $3.2 million budgeted for overtime across 2025 and 2026, but by December 2025, it had already spent nearly $4.9 million, even though the biennium continued through September 2026. That spending pace meant the patrol had burned through more than its entire two-year overtime allocation with nine months still remaining in the budget cycle.

Wyoming Highway Patrol (copy) — Photo: trib.com

Former Wyoming Highway Patrol Col. Tim Cameron, who retired in March and was replaced last month by Col. KC Ramsey, attributed the overspending to fewer vacancies and increased wages, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported. With fewer open positions to fill, the agency had more troopers on duty drawing pay, while Legislature-approved salary increases pushed personnel costs higher than the original projections.

Troopers Parked in Medians

To offset the overrun, the transportation department imposed mileage and overtime limits on the Wyoming Highway Patrol as well as the Ports of Entry program, McGee said. The mileage caps have sometimes forced troopers to be stationary in medians rather than actively patrol, a visible consequence of the budget constraints on the state’s most recognizable law enforcement presence. Staffing shortages and budget constraints have also contributed to gaps in Wyoming Highway Patrol coverage, according to local law enforcement.

WYDOT Report – New Wyoming Highway Patrol Colonel

“We are forcing them to ensure that they can stay within their budget,” he said. “And if we have to stay within x number of miles, we have to stay within x number of miles.”

A $93 Million Reset for Fiscal Year 2027

As of October 1, the highway patrol is on a new budget for fiscal year 2027. The patrol’s new biennium budget is $93 million, a $13.6 million increase from the last biennium budget, McGee said. That increase is meant to cover Legislature-approved salary boosts and internal reorganization, including changes in staffing structure to facilitate “more boots-on-the-ground supervisor availability” and tweaks to district boundaries aimed at improving response times.

The transportation department also increased the highway patrol’s budget by roughly $4 million to cover operational budget increases like training costs and vehicle use, as well as one-time purchases of equipment like car and body cameras and vehicle radars. Despite the new funding, mileage caps remain in place. But when it comes to major incidents, like the June shooting in Baggs, Westby said troopers will respond regardless of resource constraints. “Overtime be darned,” he said. “We have a mission to uphold and we’re going to do that. We’ll take care of it on the back end.”

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