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DRAFT ONLY
NOT APPROVED FOR
INTRODUCTION
HOUSE BILL NO. [BILL NUMBER]
Foreign property ownership-critical infrastructure.
Sponsored by: HDraft Committee
A BILL
for
1 AN ACT relating to property, conveyances and security
2 transactions; prohibiting foreign ownership of real
3 property near critical infrastructure and military
4 installations as specified; authorizing actions for
5 divestiture; requiring specified parties to register
6 property ownership with the secretary of state; specifying
7 penalties; amending the duties of the Wyoming office of
8 homeland security; amending the duties of county clerks;
9 requiring the inclusion of notices of foreign ownership
10 prohibitions and reporting requirements in assessment
11 schedules and tax statements; providing definitions;
12 requiring rulemaking; authorizing positions; providing an
13 appropriation; and providing for effective dates.
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1
2 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
3
4 Section 1. W.S. 34-15-201 through 34-15-206 are
5 created to read:
6
7 ARTICLE 2
8 CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND MILITARY INSTALLATIONS
9
10 34-15-201. Definitions.
11
12 (a) As used in this article:
13
14 (i) "Critical infrastructure" means as defined
15 by W.S. 19-13-501(a)(ii) but shall not include cyber-based
16 properties, systems or assets;
17
18 (ii) "Critical infrastructure/military
19 installation zone" means the entire area of real property
20 that is located on, within or partially within ten (10)
21 miles of any critical infrastructure or military
22 installation in the state of Wyoming;
23
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1 ***********************************************************
2 *******************
3 STAFF COMMENT
4
5 The Committee may wish to lessen the ten mile radius above.
6 For instance, a ten mile radius around F.E. Warren Air
7 Force Base is the entire city of Cheyenne. The Committee
8 may wish to consider a one or two mile radius instead.
9
10 ***********************************************************
11 *******************
12
13 (iii) "Foreign government" means any government
14 other than the United States federal government or any
15 government of a state, territory, district or political
16 subdivision thereof;
17
18 (iv) "Military installation" means a base, camp,
19 post, station, yard or center that is under the
20 jurisdiction of the United States department of defense;
21
22 (v) "Party" means any natural person, business
23 entity, corporation, company, association, firm,
24 partnership, society, joint-stock company, trust, estate or
25 any other legal entity, public or private;
26
27 (vi) "Prohibited foreign party" means:
28
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1 (A) A citizen or resident of a country
2 specified as a foreign adversary in 15 C.F.R. § 791.4;
3
4 (B) A foreign government formed within a
5 country specified as a foreign adversary in 15 C.F.R. §
6 791.4;
7
8 (C) A party other than a natural person or
9 a government, that is created or organized under the laws
10 of a foreign government within a country specified as a
11 foreign adversary in 15 C.F.R. § 791.4;
12
13 (D) Any party other than a natural person
14 or a government:
15
16 (I) That is created or organized under
17 the laws of any state of the United States; and
18
19 (II) In which a significant interest
20 or substantial control is directly or indirectly held or is
21 capable of being exercised by any one (1) or more of the
22 following:
23
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1 (1) A citizen or resident of a
2 country specified as a foreign adversary in 15 C.F.R. §
3 791.4;
4
5 (2) A foreign government formed
6 within a country specified as a foreign adversary in 15
7 C.F.R. § 791.4;
8
9 (3) A party other than a natural
10 person or a government, that is created or organized under
11 the laws of a foreign government within a country specified
12 as a foreign adversary in 15 C.F.R. § 791.4.
13
14 (E) An agent, trustee, subsidiary or other
15 fiduciary of a natural person or business entity enumerated
16 in subparagraphs (A) through (D) of this paragraph.
17
18 (vii) "Real property" means any interest in real
19 property, including but not limited to, the fee estate,
20 leasehold interests, easements, rights of way, subsurface
21 interests, airspace interests and mineral interests in
22 Wyoming;
23
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1 (viii) "Significant interest" or "substantial
2 control" means:
3
4 (A) An interest of twenty-five percent
5 (25%) or more held by:
6
7 (I) A natural person referred to in
8 subparagraph (vi)(A) of this subsection;
9
10 (II) A foreign government referred to
11 in subparagraph (vi)(B) of this subsection;
12
13 (III) A party referred to in
14 subparagraph (vi)(C) of this subsection; or
15
16 (IV) A party referred to in
17 subparagraph (vi)(D) of this subsection.
18
19 (B) An interest of twenty-five percent
20 (25%) or more held whenever the parties, natural persons or
21 governments referred to in subparagraph (A) of this
22 paragraph are acting in concert with respect to the
23 interest even though no single natural person, party or
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1 government holds an interest of twenty-five percent (25%)
2 or more; or
3
4 (C) An interest of twenty-five percent
5 (25%) or more, in the aggregate, held by parties, natural
6 persons or governments referred to in subparagraph (A) of
7 this paragraph even though the natural persons, parties or
8 foreign governments may not be acting in concert.
9
10 34-15-202. Ownership of real property on or around
11 critical infrastructure and military installations
12 prohibited; violations; enforcement.
13
14 (a) No prohibited foreign party shall hold or acquire
15 by grant, purchase, devise, descent or otherwise any
16 interest in real property that is located in a critical
17 infrastructure/military installation zone.
18
19 (b) A prohibited foreign party who holds or acquires
20 any interest in real property in violation of subsection
21 (a) of this section shall divest of the real property
22 interest within eight (8) months of receiving notice from
23 the Wyoming office of homeland security that the prohibited
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1 foreign party holds real property in violation of
2 subsection (a) of this section.
3
4 (c) If the prohibited foreign party does not divest
5 of the real property interest within the time required by
6 subsection (b) of this section, the attorney general shall
7 commence an action for divestiture in a court of competent
8 jurisdiction to enforce this section. If the court
9 determines that the real property interest is held in
10 violation of this section, the court shall order that the
11 real property be sold at auction.
12
13 (d) The proceeds of any sale at auction of real
14 property ordered by a court under subsection (c) of this
15 section shall be disbursed to lien holders, in the order of
16 priority, except for liens which under the terms of any
17 sale are to remain on the real property. Any remaining
18 proceeds shall be forfeited to the state.
19
20 (e) When pursuing an action for divestiture under
21 subsection (c) of this section, the attorney general shall
22 promptly record a copy of the following with the county
23 clerk in the county where the real property is located:
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1
2 (i) Upon commencement, notice of the pendency of
3 an action brought under this section;
4
5 (ii) Any court order for the sale of the real
6 property under this section.
7
8 34-15-203. Registration; penalties.
9
10 (a) A prohibited foreign party that holds or acquires
11 real property in the state of Wyoming on or after July 1,
12 2026 shall register the ownership of the real property with
13 the secretary of state in accordance with the following:
14
15 (i) The registration shall be in a form and
16 manner prescribed by the secretary of state;
17
18 (ii) The registration shall contain the
19 following:
20
21 (A) The name and complete legal address of
22 the party filing the registration;
23
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1 (B) The name and complete legal address of
2 every party holding an interest in the real property;
3
4 (C) A description of each party's interest
5 in the real property;
6
7 (D) The location and current use of the
8 real property; and
9
10 (E) Any other information prescribed by the
11 secretary of state.
12
13 (iii) The initial registration shall be made not
14 more than sixty (60) days after July 1, 2026 or not more
15 than sixty (60) days after acquisition of the real
16 property, whichever is later;
17
18 (iv) The registration shall be updated annually
19 on or before March 31 of each year.
20
21 (b) The secretary of state shall promptly provide a
22 copy of all registration information collected pursuant to
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1 subsection (a) of this section to the Wyoming office of
2 homeland security.
3
4 (c) A prohibited foreign party who fails to register,
5 timely register or update registration annually as required
6 by subsection (a) of this section shall be liable for a
7 civil penalty of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) for each
8 day the prohibited foreign party is not in compliance with
9 subsection (a) of this section. The secretary of state
10 shall notify the prohibited foreign party that they are not
11 in compliance with subsection (a) of this section and shall
12 impose and collect the civil penalty.
13
14 34-15-204. Designation of critical
15 infrastructure/military installation zones; county assessor
16 reporting; investigations; subpoena power.
17
18 (a) The Wyoming office of homeland security shall
19 designate the critical infrastructure/military installation
20 zones where prohibited foreign parties shall not hold or
21 acquire real property under W.S. 34-15-202(a). Not later
22 than July 1, 2026 and each July 1 thereafter, the office
23 shall review the designation of critical
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1 infrastructure/military installation zones to determine
2 whether any designations should be modified.
3
4 (b) Not later than July 1 of each year, the Wyoming
5 office of homeland security shall provide each county
6 assessor sufficient information about designated critical
7 infrastructure/military installation zones for the county
8 assessor to determine whether conveyances include real
9 property located in a critical infrastructure/military
10 installation zone.
11
12 (c) The county assessor shall promptly report each
13 conveyance, as defined by W.S. 19-13-501(a)(i), that
14 includes real property located in a critical
15 infrastructure/military installation zone to the Wyoming
16 office of homeland security as required by W.S.
17 34-1-143(b).
18
19 (d) Upon receiving a report from a county assessor
20 under subsection (c) of this section or registration
21 information from the secretary of state under W.S.
22 34-15-203, the Wyoming office of homeland security shall,
23 upon reasonable suspicion and to the extent possible,
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1 investigate the conveyance to determine if the conveyance
2 violates this article. If the office suspects or determines
3 that a prohibited foreign party holds real property in
4 violation of this article, the office shall report the
5 suspected violation or violation to the attorney general.
6
7 (e) Upon receiving notice from the Wyoming office of
8 homeland security pursuant to subsection (d) of this
9 section or upon receiving information that leads the
10 attorney general to believe that a violation of this
11 article may exist, the attorney general shall petition a
12 court of