Wyoming school security camera rule

Does Wyoming require cameras in school buildings?

Through a building adequacy standard, not a statute. State law directs the School Facilities Commission to set and maintain uniform statewide adequacy standards for public school buildings by rule. The commission's Chapter 3 standards are those uniform statewide adequacy standards. The rule sets a list of security features that school buildings shall have. That list includes video surveillance with recording capability in place at specified locations. Alternative and charter schools on an independent site must meet only certain sections of Chapter 3, and the site security section, which includes video surveillance, is not among them. The current version of Chapter 3 has been in effect since May 9, 2024. The standard is a floor: the commission may not stop a district from going beyond it with local enhancements, as permitted by law.

Where must the cameras be?

At the main entry and other building entrances, with both front and back views of the approach. At key areas, including the area outside restrooms, locker rooms, counseling offices and administrative offices, bus drop-off and pick-up areas, stairwells, main hallways and the cafeteria. The listed areas also include the entrance to the gymnasium and athletic fields, parking lots and the library. The standard names locations and requires recording capability only. It sets no retention period, notice or signage duty, audio rule, ban on any location, monitoring duty, or law enforcement access to the video.

What does state guidance say?

The Department of Education's 2024 Crisis Management Guidebook restates that school buildings shall have video surveillance under the commission's Chapter 3, Section 12. The guidebook says statewide security standards and guidelines for K-12 schools were set in 2014.

What about school buses?

School buses carrying students to and from school and activities must have an external video system, and may have an internal one. Equipment specifications are set by department rule. Bus video recordings are not public records under the Wyoming Public Records Act. They must be destroyed within one year of the date they were made. They may be used as evidence of passing a stopped school bus and may be discoverable in other criminal cases.

Is school video a public record?

Under the Public Records Act, a records custodian may deny inspection of certain records when disclosure would be contrary to the public interest. Those records include records of a government building that reveal its surveillance techniques or its alarm or security systems, to the extent inspection would jeopardize the building's security or endanger someone's safety. A custodian must deny inspection of certain other records unless another law provides otherwise. These include school district records about a student's biography, family, physiology, religion, academic achievement or physical or mental ability, except to the person in interest or supervising officials. That provision does not name video.

What other privacy laws should administrators know?

Wyoming's wiretap law protects an oral communication only where the speaker reasonably expects it is not being intercepted. Wyoming's 2026 government data-privacy law, SF0020, was enacted as Chapter 48 on March 6, 2026. It covers the state, all its political subdivisions and any local government entity, but excludes law enforcement agencies. Its "personal data" is information linked or reasonably linkable to an identifiable person. From July 1, 2027, a government entity may not keep personal data longer than three years without a written policy justifying the longer period. An entity covered by FERPA (the federal student-privacy law) that follows a written FERPA-compliant collection and retention policy is deemed to meet that retention section.

How can schools pay for security upgrades?

2026 HB0105 appropriated $10,000,000 to the School Facilities Commission for design of security vestibules and vehicle barricades and for approved, prioritized district safety and security remedies. Cameras are not named in that line. The commission must set a prioritized list of school safety and security remedies using national and regional best practices. Districts receive the funds by applying to the State Construction Department, as approved by the commission. HB0105 was assigned Chapter 39 of the 2026 session laws. For capital outlay remedy projects, the State Construction Department conducts a safety and security assessment of the project, which it may waive if it decides the assessment is not necessary.

Does Wyoming limit facial recognition?

2026 HB0181 would have barred governmental entities from using biometric data to identify a person or verify a person's identity. It was not considered for introduction, so it did not pass.