Administrative Division Staff

Administrative Division Staff

Attorney General Bridget Hill Bio in process. Chief Deputy Attorney General Ryan Schelhaas Ryan grew up just south of the border in Longmont, Colorado. After graduating high school, Ryan moved to Laramie and attended the University of Wyoming earning both his degree in business marketing in 1996 and law degree in 1999. Ryan began his career as a civil litigator with Hirst Applegate in Cheyenne. After spending over four years with Hirst Applegate, Ryan joined the Civil Division of the Wyoming Attorney General's Office in November 2003. Ryan began his career with the Office as a tax litigator representing the Wyoming Department of Revenue before the Wyoming Board of Equalization, various state district courts, and the Wyoming Supreme Court. His practice areas eventually broadened to also include the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, Wyoming Military Department, Wyoming Livestock Board, Wyoming Banking Commissioner, Department of Audit, and various licensing boards.  Ryan promoted in 2006 to supervisor for the Regulatory/Administrative Law Section of the Civil Division. During his time as the Section supervisor, he helped lead a team of talented attorneys who represented various clients, including the Office of State Lands and Investments, State Loan and Investment Board, State Board of Land Commissioners, Secretary of State, State Auditor, Retirement System, Department of Administration and Information, Insurance Commissioner, Public Service Commission, Environmental Quality Council, Business Council, Department of Agriculture, and roughly forty to fifty licensing boards and commissions. Ryan was subsequently promoted to deputy of the Civil Division in March 2015 where he leads an excellent team of attorneys and paralegals who make up the Division's two sections - the Regulatory/Administrative Law Section and the Fiscal/Financial Section. The Division consists of eleven attorneys and two paralegals. In addition to providing day-to-day legal advice to the Division's many clients, the Division attorneys also litigate and argue cases before Wyoming's state and federal courts, the Wyoming Supreme Court, Wyoming Board of Equalization, and the Office of Administrative Hearings. Ryan was appointed as Chief Deputy Attorney General in March of 2019. Special Assistant Attorney General Jay A. Jerde Jay was born and raised in Casper, Wyoming. He graduated from the University of Wyoming with a B.S.degree in Economics in 1988. After graduation, Jay served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Western Samoa for two years, where he taught Economics at Samoa College, a senior secondary school located in the capital city of Apia. After returning to Wyoming, Jay graduated from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 1994. He served as the law clerk for Judge Edward Grant and Judge Nicholas Kalokathis of the Wyoming First Judicial District Court before joining the Wyoming Attorney General's Office in 1996. As an Assistant Attorney General, Jay's areas of practice included bank regulatory law, state tax law, civil rights and tort defense litigation, and natural resources litigation. In recent years, he has represented the State as lead counsel in numerous federal court cases involving environmental or natural resources matters, including gray wolf delisting and  grizzly bear delisting. In 2005, Jay was appointed as the Deputy Attorney General in the Water and Natural Resources Division. In December 2013, Attorney General Pete Michael asked Jay to serve as Special Assistant Attorney General in the Administrative Division. In 2014, Jay worked with law professors from the University of Wyoming to found the Energy, Environmental, and Natural Resources Law Clinic at the College of Law. He currently serves as a Co-Faculty Supervisor for the Clinic. In 2015, Jay received the Jim Jones Public Service Award from the Conference of Western Attorneys General in recognition of his commitment to public service and his work on natural resources issues affecting the CWAG member states.  Legal Review Administrator Kathleen B. Carlson Kathy graduated from Ohio State University with a B.A. in Political Science degree and earned her Juris Doctor from Capital University Law School.  She also received a M.A. Library and Information Science degree from the University of Iowa. Before coming to the Attorney General's Office in 2012, she was the Wyoming State Law Librarian and served as an adjunct instructor for Legal Research and Writing at Laramie County Community College. On a temporary assignment, she was a law clerk for the United States District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky.  She also served as Editor for the Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Company. She has served as an Executive Board Member for the American Association of Law Libraries, Chair of the State Court and Counties Special Interest Section, and President of the Western Pacific Association of Law Libraries (WestPac). She received the 2010 Distinguished Member Award from WestPac in 2010.  Community activities have included Board of Directors, Wyoming Council Girl Scouts USA from 1990-1996, President of the St. Paul's Lutheran Church Foundation from 2012-2014, Chair for the Cheyenne Board of Adjustment, and Local Club President for Zonta International from 2002-2003.  Hobbies include travel, reading and puzzle challenges.           _______________________________________ Management Supervisor Judy Mitchell (307) 777-7841 judy.mitchell@wyo.gov Executive Assistant Brittany Zielke (307) 777-7841 brittany.zielke@wyo.gov Human Resource Manager Kirsten Baldwin (307) 777-7893 kirsten.baldwin@wyo.gov Allison Moore (307) 777-7130 allison.moore1@wyo.gov Fiscal Division Steve Winders Chief Fiscal Officer (307) 777-7840 steve.winders@wyo.gov April Christensen april.christensen@wyo.gov Myrna Johnson myrna.johnson@wyo.gov Lisa Ware lisa.ware@wyo.gov Liz Zelasko liz.zelasko1@wyo.gov

Attorney General Bridget Hill