Rancher asks Wyoming high court to hold government accountable for property destruction

Heart Mountain, Wyoming; January 22, 2025: A Wyoming rancher is appealing his case to the state supreme court after government workers caused thousands of dollars of property damage — and significant bodily injury — when they illegally destroyed fencing and an entryway on his property. The lower court ruled that the Heart Mountain Irrigation District wasn’t responsible for the District’s Manager damaging the property of Tom and Ayda Hamann because the District didn’t formally vote to approve the work in a board meeting. 

“The government is liable when its employees enter and damage private property. It cannot avoid the constitutional requirement to pay just compensation when private property is unlawfully damaged,” said Austin Waisanen, attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation, the nonprofit law firm that represents the Hamann family. “If the courts allow government agencies to skirt responsibility for their workers’ unlawful actions simply because higher-ups didn’t specifically authorize it, it will create a massive loophole in protections for property owners. No one’s property would be safe from similar actions.” 

The Hamanns grow hay and pasture their Red Angus cattle herd on their 100-acre ranch. The family paid taxes and assessments to HMID for water access and upkeep of a canal and maintenance road along the north side of the canal that crosses their property — a setup that worked without issue for nearly a century.

In 2016, HMID planned to build an additional road through the Hamanns’ ranch along the canal’s south side. The agency claimed an unrecorded easement on both sides of the canal gave it this right. The Hamanns disagreed that the easement extended to the canal’s other side, noting the existing road had always sufficed for maintenance and operations. 

HMID workers showed up with a crew and heavy equipment to move a concrete bowl that irrigated a neighbor’s land. Instead, they attempted to complete the disputed road, causing thousands of dollars in damage to the Hamanns’ ranch until the sheriff was called. Tom suffered a debilitating physical injury as well when he was struck with heavy machinery trying to defend his property.

After the Hamanns sought just compensation for the taking and damaging of their property, HMID claimed it did not authorize its Manager to remove or destroy Tom’s fencing and therefore is not liable under the Wyoming Constitution. A Wyoming district court agreed.

The Hamanns are appealing to the Wyoming Supreme Court. The government workers, using government equipment and accessing government-controlled infrastructure, are responsible for the nearly ten thousand dollars of private property damage. 

The case is Tom Hamann v. Heart Mountain Irrigation District.