Why It Matters
A lawsuit against a Wyoming state-run juvenile facility has surfaced sworn testimony alleging a systematic effort by school leadership to conceal the true nature of physical incidents involving boys in their custody. The case raises serious questions about oversight and accountability at an institution funded and supervised by state government.
What Happened
Six former residents of the Wyoming Boys’ School filed a civil lawsuit in 2024 against the Wyoming Department of Family Services, the school itself, and ten named employees. The plaintiffs — Blaise Chivers-King, Dylan Tolar, Charles “Rees” Karn, D.H., Haiden Willis, and Koby Cranford — allege they were subjected to extended solitary confinement and physical harm while in state custody.
Staff depositions taken in the case reveal that leadership at the school allegedly instructed employees to soften or falsify incident reports to minimize documentation of force used against students. One staff member testified that nearly every incident report filed between 2022 and 2024 was falsified, with supervisors directing staff to attribute use-of-force incidents to “student behavior” rather than staff action.
The same staff member said concerns about the falsification were raised with supervisors multiple times and were ignored each time. Employee Thad Shaffer allegedly delivered a blunt ultimatum to a staff member who balked at signing an inaccurate report: “Sign it or find a new job.”
The gap between documented accounts and actual events is illustrated by a February 23, 2023 incident involving plaintiff Chivers-King. An official report described the interaction as limited to “verbal commands,” but video footage reportedly showed Shaffer forcefully slamming Chivers-King into a corner using a riot shield.
Inside the Solitary Confinement Conditions
The Wyoming Boys’ School is a 38-acre facility near Worland that houses delinquent boys between the ages of 12 and 21, overseen by the Wyoming Department of Family Services. Solitary confinement rooms at the school measure roughly 8 by 10 feet, with concrete floors, cinderblock walls, no windows, and a metal toilet-sink combination.
Each room is equipped with two cameras. Staff reportedly use a magnet to cover the interior door window whenever a student is placed inside. Boys held in solitary receive only a thin mattress at night, with no seating provided during the day. They are denied access to books, educational materials, personal items, music, television, and any form of therapy or instruction for the duration of their confinement.
School Superintendent Dale Weber, who took over the role in January 2022 after previously serving as clinical director, testified that the school acknowledges students with severe depression or a history of self-harm should not be placed in solitary. Despite this, testimony indicates the school repeatedly used additional solitary time as punishment when students engaged in self-harm behavior — a practice directly at odds with Weber’s own stated position.
By the Numbers
- 6 former residents named as plaintiffs in the 2024 lawsuit
- 10 school employees named as defendants
- 2022–2024 — the timeframe during which staff say incident reports were routinely falsified
- 8 by 10 feet — approximate size of solitary confinement rooms
- 2x the national average — Wyoming’s rate of removing adjudicated delinquents from their homes, according to 2023 federal data
Zoom Out
Wyoming’s juvenile incarceration practices have drawn attention well beyond this lawsuit. U.S. Department of Justice data show Wyoming has incarcerated juveniles at some of the highest rates in the country for decades. In 2023, the state placed adjudicated delinquents outside their homes at more than twice the national average — a pattern that puts added pressure on facilities like the Boys’ School to maintain proper standards of care and transparent documentation.
The allegations of falsified records echo broader national concerns about accountability gaps in state-run juvenile corrections facilities, where internal oversight can be limited and residents have little ability to independently document or report mistreatment.
What’s Next
The civil case is proceeding through the courts, with depositions already producing significant testimony about internal practices at the school. The Wyoming Department of Family Services remains a named defendant. As discovery continues, additional documentation — including the video footage referenced in depositions — may become central to the litigation. No trial date has been publicly announced.
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