Governor Gordon Appoints Keith Kautz Attorney General
This is a great choice by Governor Gordon.
Governor Gordon Appoints Keith Kautz Attorney General
July 02, 2025
Governor Mark Gordon has announced the appointment of Keith Kautz as Attorney General beginning July 7, 2025. Kautz replaces Ryan Schelhaas, who is serving as interim Attorney General following the departure of Bridget Hill.
Kautz served as a justice on the Wyoming Supreme Court from 2015 until 2024, when he turned 70 and was required by Wyoming’s Constitution to retire from the bench. From 1993 until 2015 he served as a District Court Judge for the Eighth District covering Converse, Goshen, Niobrara, and Platte counties. He previously served as a private practice attorney in Torrington as a partner in the firm Sawyer, Warren & Kautz. Kautz grew up in Torrington and earned his Bachelors and Juris Doctorate degrees from the University of Wyoming.
“When accepting my offer to serve as Wyoming’s 39th Attorney General, I was delighted to hear Justice Kautz quote George Washington who, when selecting our country’s first attorney general, stated that ‘the due administration of justice is the firmest pillar of good Government,’” Governor Gordon said. “I share that view, and know that Justice Kautz has the talent, experience and skill to fulfill this important duty, as well as provide the due administration of justice to the people of Wyoming. We are fortunate that he desires to continue to serve our great state, and I look forward to his leadership in this most essential office.”
“I am honored to serve Wyoming, and to work with the outstanding staff at the Attorney General’s office,” Kautz said.
The Wyoming Attorney General’s Office is the legal advisor for the State of Wyoming. In addition to providing a full range of legal services to statewide elected officials, agencies, and State employees in the conduct of official State business, the Attorney General’s Office is Wyoming’s primary State law enforcement agency. The Office provides a full spectrum of services, ranging from statewide criminal investigations performed by the Division of Criminal Investigation; initial and advanced law enforcement training provided by the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy; and crime victim advocacy and victim support programs and payments through the Division of Victim Services. The Attorney General’s Office also provides administrative support to the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission and the Wyoming Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities.
I can't help but feel that part of the reason that Gordon brought Justice Kautz out of retirement for this position is his calm, steady, demeanor. Kautz was a widely admired district court judge and then supreme court justice, who was completely unflappable. Recently he demonstrated that in regard to a comment on the case regarding abortion in front of the supreme court, in which he openly cited to religion and prayer.
He'll be in charge of advancing the Governor and state's interest in that regards, which has been to restrict and ban abortion. Added to that, however, Governor Gordon has been repeatedly faced with needling from Secretary of State Gray, who has used that office to grandstand. Chance are that Kautz's calm demeanor was in mind in regard to that as well.
