Citizen Asks City To Hire Felons

During the communications session of last Tuesday night's City Council Meeting, a citizen came forward with a question for the Council. Casper resident Davey Reed asked what the city's policy is for employing first-time felons.

Citizen addresses Council:

"What I'm doing is asking about if those that may be coming out of prison, for their first offense of a felony, to be able to have a job working within the city, as a city employee. I am under the impression that that is not allowed at the current time, and I would like to see about if it could be."

Reed quoted from President Bush's 2004 State of the Union Address, which makes the point that if felons are limited in their employment prospects, and without jobs, they are likely to re-offend as a matter of survival.

Reed later asked the Council if there were any people with a felony record working with the city at present, and if there is a policy to not hire felons, then could that be changed.

The Council accepted a federal bonding document that Reed asked the Council to review. Before the close of the Council session, Councilman Maury Daubin addressed Reed and echoed the Council's willingness to look into the matter.