CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The director of the department that supports the Wyoming Legislature with research, bill drafting and other services says the department's high workload and limited staff is having detrimental effects on its ability to function at peak efficiency.

Legislative Service Office Director Matt Obrecht tells the Casper Star-Tribune that increasing demands on his office have led to the outsourcing of research work that could be done in-house, while creating a backlog on his office for attorneys who are oftentimes working outside their fields of expertise.

Over the past three years, the office's 39-person staff has had to handle an average of 132 numbered bills each interim. That is up from an average of about 100 bills over the previous decade.

Wyoming consistently maintains one of the nation's smallest legislative support staffs.

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