Keep Casper Smoke Free: Trial Against City to Occur in March ’14

Officials with Keep Casper Smoke Free say the anti-smoking group’s lawsuit against the city of Casper will go to trial next year.

According to a post on Keep Casper Smoke Free’s FundRazr page, the trial has been scheduled for March 2014. Group co-chair Kimberly Holloway says a conference hearing will also take place in November.

The group is trying to force a special election on recent changes to Casper’s public indoor smoking ban. In June, Casper City Council narrowly agreed to allow smoking again in bars, private clubs and healthcare facilities, amending a full-scale ban that had been in effect for about a year.

Keep Casper Smoke Free fell 61 signatures short of its referendum goal in July after city clerk V.H. McDonald rejected nearly 700 signatures during the city’s official signature count.

Keep Casper Smoke Free claims it gathered nearly 3,000 signatures during its petition drive. The group maintains over 90 signatures were rejected unlawfully by the city.