Kirk chosen as president-elect of state bar

The Wyoming State Bar announced that Jennifer L. Kirk, an attorney from Basin, has been elected president-elect of its organization and will serve as President in 2027-2028. Kirk had previously served five years as the Fifth Judicial District Commissioner and most recently served as Vice President this past year.

Kirk will succeed Alison O. Gee of Gillette, who currently serves as the president, next September.

“Ever since I was a kid, I would tell people I wanted to be a lawyer. It’s part of my personality, I have a strong sense of justice,” said Kirk in an interview with the Greybull Standard. “I’m drawn to helping people and I think ultimately that’s what the law should be about.” 

After graduating from Riverside High School in 2000, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree 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 Juris Doctorate in 2014 and was admitted into the Wyoming State Bar in September of 2014.

“I am proud to be a Wyoming lawyer,” she said. 

Kirk has devoted the majority of her career to the public service sector, including service to Legal Aid of Wyoming and the Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. 

“It is fulfilling to me helping people through a scary and intimidating process. Making sure their rights are protected the way the constitution guarantees,” she said. “It’s not about winning at all costs, it’s making sure people get treated fairly.” 

Kirk returned to her hometown of Basin in 2019, where she served as a deputy county and prosecuting attorney for Big Horn County. In the spring of 2026, Kirk transitioned into private practice, opening her own firm in downtown Greybull while continuing her commitment to public service through her work as a contract public defender.

With a focus on compassion and respect, Kirk said, “We are intrinsically valued as human beings and that should be reflected in how the justice system works.” 

She is a married mother of two children, “When I had a baby and needing to go back to work, I thought, If I’m going to be a working mom I want that work to be something I’m proud of. I started law school when my son was eight-months old, it was a lot, but we survived.”

Also active in her community, she added, “My faith serves as a quiet guiding influence in my work, reminding me of the importance of compassion, integrity, humility, and treating every person with dignity and respect.”

Kirk will serve next as President of the Wyoming State Bar from September 2027 – September 2028. She is currently in her eighth-year volunteering for the bar. 

One of her pet projects is drawing new attention to what she calls ‘legal deserts.’ Of which Big Horn County is one of them; small, rural areas with few practicing attorneys. “I’m working to encourage people to come practice law in small rural towns. Providing adequate legal representation that people can afford,” she said. 

The Wyoming State Bar is the state of Wyoming’s integrated bar association, first organized in 1915 as a voluntary association and integrated by the state legislature in 1939. The bar is overseen by volunteers, four executive officers and nine commissioners representing the nine judicial districts in the state. 

The mission of the Wyoming State Bar is to regulate the practice of law, facilitate the provision of quality legal services to the public, and assist attorneys in the professional practice of law.