Basin native elected to represent Fifth Judicial District on Wyoming State Bar Governing Board

The Wyoming State Bar has announced that Jennifer L. Kirk, a deputy county attorney from Basin, has been elected commissioner of the Wyoming State Bar to represent the Fifth Judicial District, which consists of Big Horn, Hot Springs, Park and Washakie counties. Kirk will serve a three-year term.

Kirk is a native of Basin and is the daughter of Dave and Jeri Cooper.  After graduating from high school in 2000, she earned a B.S. in marketing with a minor in finance from the University of Wyoming in 2006.  After working in the private sector for a few years, Kirk returned to the UW College of Law in 2011, earning her J.D. in 2014 and was admitted into the Wyoming State Bar in September of 2014. 

Kirk spent the first five years of her legal career in the legal services sector, spending a year with Legal Aid of Wyoming in Cheyenne and then four years opening and growing an office for the Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault in Cody.  Last September, she and her family relocated to Basin, where she has been working as a deputy county and prosecuting attorney for Big Horn County.

“The Fifth Judicial District is a great district to work in, and it is full of a wonderful community of attorneys that I am grateful to be a part of,” said Kirk.  “It is truly an honor for me to serve in this position, and I really look forward to working with the Bar staff and the Board of Officers and Commissioners over the next three years.  

“It will be a lot of work and dedicated time, but I am excited to get started and know I am going to learn and grow, both professionally and personally.  I’d also like to specifically thank my boss, Marcia Bean, the rest of my coworkers, and my family for being supportive and encouraging when I wanted to take on this role. I’m thankful for this opportunity.”

Bean said, “We are so proud of Jennifer for not only pursuing this great opportunity, but also for receiving the overwhelming support and votes of the members of the bar in the Fifth Judicial District.

“This is a very important position both to the attorneys in this district and to the public in general.  This is such a great achievement and I wish her well as I know she will do a great job.”

The 2020/2021 election of commissioners was held in accordance with the bylaws of the Wyoming State Bar. Kirk succeeds R. Scott Kath from Powell, who now serves as the vice president of the Wyoming State Bar.