Wyoming's condominium act says nothing about records, but the Nonprofit Corporation Act more than covers the ground for the incorporated associations that dominate the state. Section 17-19-1601 tells the association what it must keep: permanent minutes of all member and board meetings, records of actions taken without a meeting, appropriate accounting records, and a member list, plus a specific bundle it must keep at its principal office, the articles and bylaws with all amendments, board resolutions on membership rights, member-meeting minutes and member-approved actions for the past three years, all written communications to members for the past three years including the financial statements furnished under § 17-19-1620, the current directors' and officers' names and addresses, and the most recent annual report. Section 17-19-1602(a) then gives you the core right: with written notice five business days ahead, a member may inspect and copy any of that principal-office bundle. Full stop, no purpose test.
The deeper drawer opens with one more step. Under § 17-19-1602(b) and (c), a member who states a proper purpose in good faith, describes it and the records with reasonable particularity, and asks for records directly connected to that purpose may inspect and copy accounting records, board and other excerpted minutes, and the membership list, again on five business days' written notice. Verifying the budget, tracing spending, or investigating uneven enforcement all fit comfortably. Copying can't be priced into a wall: § 17-19-1603(c) caps charges at the estimated cost of labor and materials. And the enforcement section is the part boards should fear: under § 17-19-1604, a court handles inspection applications on an expedited basis, and if it orders inspection it shall also order the association to pay your costs, including reasonable counsel fees, unless the association proves it refused in good faith over a reasonable doubt about your right. On top of all of it, § 17-19-1620 entitles any member, on written demand, to the association's latest annual financial statements.
What's public regardless
Whatever the board's posture, the community's founding documents don't belong to it. Wyo. Stat. § 34-20-104(b) requires the condominium declaration, and a map locating the units, to be recorded in the office of the county clerk where the property sits, and amendments land in the same records. Covenants for non-condo subdivisions are recorded the same way. Anyone can order copies from the clerk without the association's permission, which is exactly where to start when a manager treats the declaration itself as confidential.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
Wyo. Stat. § 17-19-1602
Members may inspect and copy the core records on 5 business days' written notice, and accounting records, minutes, and the membership list with a good-faith, particularized proper purpose.
Wyo. Stat. § 17-19-1601
Lists what the association must keep, including three years of member-meeting minutes, three years of communications and financial statements, and the current director and officer list, all at its principal office.
Wyo. Stat. § 17-19-1604
Courts handle refused inspections on an expedited basis and order the association to pay the member's costs, including reasonable counsel fees, unless the refusal was in good faith.
Wyo. Stat. § 17-19-1620
Any member may demand the latest annual financial statements, including a year-end balance sheet and statement of operations, in writing.
Wyo. Stat. § 34-20-104(b)
The recorded declaration and condominium map are public records at the county clerk, available to anyone without the board's cooperation.
Step by step
How to make a records request in Wyoming
A statute-anchored records demand that starts the five-business-day clock and preserves the fee-shifting remedy.
- 01
Confirm incorporation
Check the Wyoming Secretary of State's business search. Incorporated means Wyo. Stat. §§ 17-19-1601 to 17-19-1604 apply; if the association is unincorporated, your access runs on the covenants and bylaws, and the recorded documents at the county clerk.
- 02
Send a written notice five business days ahead
Date the request, name the records, and give at least five business days' notice of when you want to inspect. For the core bundle under § 17-19-1602(a) (articles, bylaws, member-meeting minutes, financial statements, director list), no purpose statement is required.
- 03
State a proper purpose for the deeper records
For accounting records, board minutes, or the membership list, add one or two sentences describing your purpose (for example, verifying assessments and expenditures as a member) and how each requested record connects to it, as § 17-19-1602(c) requires.
- 04
Accept only cost-based copy fees
Section 17-19-1603(c) caps copy charges at the estimated cost of labor and materials. If fees are quoted as a deterrent, cite the cap in writing and offer to photograph documents instead.
- 05
Enforce with the fee-shifting statute
If the association refuses or stalls past your date, § 17-19-1604 gives you an expedited court application, and a win means the association pays your costs and reasonable counsel fees unless it proves a good-faith basis for the refusal. Quoting that section in a follow-up letter resolves most standoffs by itself.
Straight answers
Common questions
What records am I entitled to see in a Wyoming HOA or condo association?
If it's incorporated: the articles, bylaws, board resolutions on member rights, three years of member-meeting minutes, three years of communications and financial statements, and the director and officer list, all on five business days' written notice with no purpose required. Accounting records, board minutes, and the membership list are available too once you state a good-faith proper purpose (Wyo. Stat. § 17-19-1602).
How fast does the association have to respond?
The statute works on your notice, not their discretion: you give written notice at least five business days before the date you want to inspect, and the association must make the records available at a reasonable time and location. A board that lets your date pass without access is in refusal territory, where § 17-19-1604's expedited, fee-shifted enforcement applies.
Can they charge me for copies?
Only the actual cost of labor and materials, capped by Wyo. Stat. § 17-19-1603(c) at the estimated cost of production. Inspection itself is your right; fees can't be inflated into a barrier.
What happens if the board just refuses?
You can apply to the district court, which handles inspection cases on an expedited basis under § 17-19-1604. If the court orders inspection, it also orders the association to pay your costs, including reasonable attorney fees, unless the association proves it refused in good faith. That fee-shift is why written, statute-citing requests usually get answered.