Joey Darrah

Joey Darrah has long had a desire to serve as a judge and starting next month, the Powell attorney will get that chance.

Gov. Mark Gordon announced Thursday that he’s selected Darrah to serve as Park County’s next Circuit Court judge. Darrah will replace Fifth Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Bruce Waters, who is retiring in December after more than 20 years on the bench.

“I would like to thank the governor for his belief in me,” Darrah said in a statement. “I hope I am able to continue to serve in a manner worthy of the citizens of Park County.”

He previously made several other bids to join the bench. Over the past decade, Darrah said he was a finalist for a position as a federal magistrate in Yellowstone National Park and three district court judgeships in Park, Washakie and Fremont counties.

When he got the call from Gov. Gordon that he’d been chosen for the position, the feeling was “kind of hard to explain.”

“It makes you happy,” Darrah said, “and then all of a sudden that you realize that it’s going to be a pretty big life change.” 

He’s been practicing law in downtown Powell since 1994 and has built many deep relationships with clients over the past few decades — relationships he’ll now be giving up as he closes his firm in the coming weeks. 

“That part of it, it’s really hard,” Darrah said, but overall, he’s looking forward to his transition to the bench and away from the stresses of a busy trial practice.

“It’s really nice to actually be part of ... coming up with the solution instead of basically advocating for a fight on behalf of a party,” he said. Legal fights are necessary in the adversarial court system, “but I really like the role of being able to try to solve an issue,” Darrah said.

He’s had experience in that role, filling in as a Park County District Court commissioner since 2016 and handling emergency detentions, bond hearings and other matters when judges were unavailable or had a conflict. Under a contract with the Wyoming Department of Education, he also adjudicated disputes between the parents of children with special needs and school districts.

Darrah received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Wyoming and his juris doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan. He has operated Darrah Law Office P.C. since 2011 and was previously a partner at the firm, which has been known as Darrah and Darrah P.C. and Darrah, Darrah and Brown, P.C.

He will bring a substantial amount of experience to the bench, including involvement in about 240 trials. Darrah also has handled construction and commercial litigation — in which he represented many businesses and realtors — assisted with estate planning, drafted contracts, defended individuals accused of criminal Wyoming Game and Fish violations, represented landowners in planning and zoning disputes and served as the town attorney in Byron, among other matters.

In the community, Darrah has been actively involved with the Powell Volunteer Fire Department for more than 25 years, serving as fire chief from 2006-2015. He has also served as the chairman of the board of the Moyer Foundation, started the Wyoming Senior Olympics in 1988 and been a consultant for the Wyoming Commission on Aging, administering Federal Older Americans Act programs statewide.

“Mr. Darrah’s commitment to his community was reflected in the strong recommendations I received supporting his candidacy,” Gordon said in a statement.

Darrah said he enjoys volunteering and helping others, “so this is just an opportunity to extend that in a different way” he said of joining the bench.

The state’s Judicial Nominating Commission had named Darrah and Cody attorneys Tim Blatt and Tom Keegan as finalists for the Cody-based circuit court position in late September.

“It is truly an honor to be chosen, considering the resume and quality of the two attorneys who were likewise finalists for the position,” Darrah said.

As a circuit court judge, Darrah will preside over Park County’s misdemeanor criminal cases, the early stages of felony charges, civil cases in which less than $50,000 is in dispute and restraining orders for allegations like stalking and family violence, among other duties.

In the past fiscal year, which ran from July 2020 through June 2021, Park County’s Circuit Court handled nearly 4,750 filings, with most — 3,865 cases — being misdemeanor crimes. About three-quarters of the cases are heard in Cody, with the remainder in Powell. 

Darrah is set to join the bench Dec. 6.

“It’s something I wanted to do for a long time,” he said.