Wyoming Supreme Court Rules Against Casper

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — The Wyoming Supreme Court has ruled that the Casper municipal court had been illegally imposing probation sentences on minors charged with possessing alcohol.

The ruling Friday confirms the decision of Natrona County District Court Judge Catherine Wilking, who found in October that the court was not able to sentence minors to probation.

Probation had been part of the standard sentence for the misdemeanor youth alcohol possession crime. Wilking said that city ordinance limited the sentence to only a maximum $750 fine.

The city's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to review Wilking's decision, and the court upheld it.

The assistant city attorney says the municipal court immediately stopped sentencing minors charged with possessing alcohol to probation following the district court's ruling.