On final action, Casper City Council votes to allow all liquor license holders to serve alcohol at 6 a.m.
CASPER, Wyo. — In a 6–2 vote Tuesday, Casper City Council members approved changing the city’s liquor license ordinance to allow clubs to serve alcohol at 6 a.m.
The Wyoming Legislature updated liquor license statutes in July 2021. The new statute repealed a condition that prevented one person from owning two liquor licenses, and it repealed state-dictated hours of operation, allowing each municipality to determine local liquor-sale hours, according to city staff memos. The memo states that when the Casper City Council updated city law to align with the updated state liquor laws, those two changes were unintentionally left out.
The amended liquor license code now allows club license holders to serve alcohol at 6 a.m., the same as all other types of liquor license holders in Casper. The amended version says all licensees may sell alcohol starting at 6 a.m. and ending at 2 a.m.
On April 4, councilors voted 6–2 to pass the amended ordinance on first reading. Michael Bond and Kyle Gamroth voted against the proposed changes. Mayor Bruce Knell and Councilors Ray Pacheco, Gena Jensen, Brandy Haskins, Lisa Engebretsen and Steve Cathey voted in favor.
On second reading April 18, the amended ordinance passed with a 5–2 vote. Knell, Pacheco, Haskins, Jensen and Bond voted yes, while Engebretsen joined Gamroth in voting no. Cathey was absent.
In the May 16 vote, Gamroth and Engebretsen voted no. Knell, Pacheco, Haskins, Jensen, Cathey and Bond voted to pass the ordinance.
Councilor Amber Pollock, a Casper distillery operator, abstained from voting each time due to conflict of interest.
A more in-depth version of this story will be published to Oil City News soon.
See the amended liquor license ordinance here: