GILLETTE (AP) - A state panel has rejected a proposal that would have added a third circuit judge in Campbell County.

The decision by the Wyoming Board of Judicial Policy and Administration angered some Campbell court officials who argue that the county's burgeoning caseload is too much for only two lower court judges.

The decision last week in Casper was based largely on data from a weighted caseload study. The study, completed in 2007, shows the county only has a need for 1.97 circuit judges.

"That was pretty much it right there. They're going to go by that caseload study," said Circuit Judge Terrill R. Tharp, who contends the study was flawed.

"I wasn't pleased. I went down there to get an approval for a third judge, and I didn't get it," Tharp added.

Campbell County is part of the 6th Judicial District, which also includes Weston and Crook counties. Two circuit judges preside over Campbell County, while a third covers the other two counties. The proposal would have given Campbell County a third circuit judge, a move Tharp said is needed to ease the court's overburdened caseload.

The number of arrests in the county has escalated each year, creating a backlog of cases that has slowed down the county's judicial system. Meanwhile, the county's population continues to swell, creating even more work for the lower court judges.

But Barton Voigt, chief justice of the state Supreme Court, said the request ultimately boiled down to the results of that study.

"The statistics do not justify seeking a fourth circuit judge in that district," said Voigt, the judicial board's chairman.

Even if the board had approved the additional judge, it still would have needed to be approved by the state Legislature.