Friday, AUGUST 1, 2025 |
Photo – Hanna Marshal vehicle – Bigfoot99 file photo
Hanna residents are questioning the town’s reliance on part-time marshals.
In March of 2023, Hanna Marshal Ted Kranenberg left to join the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office. For the next year and a half, the town searched for a replacement, with Hanna’s governing body blaming the lack of qualified candidates on the town’s remote location and the job’s admittedly low wages.
In June of 2024, Memorial Hospital of Carbon County Emergency Department Manager Dan Starr was sworn in as the town’s part-time marshal by Mayor Pro Tem Jayson Nordquist. Soon after, former Medicine Bow marshal and Hanna Town Council member Roger Hawks was appointed to serve as a part-time deputy marshal. Four months later, in October, Carbon County Sheriff’s Deputy Trent Wozniak was sworn in as the town’s third part-time law enforcement officer.
Although Hanna has three marshals, only Deputy Hawks resides in town. Marshal Starr lives in Saratoga and Deputy Wozniak lives in Rawlins.
At the June 24th Hanna Town Council meeting, it was announced that Deputy Wozniak was relocating to Cheyenne after being offered a position in Colorado. However, Deputy Wozniak said he would like to continue working in Hanna, despite the long commute from the state capital.
During the July 8th Hanna Town Council meeting, a resident asked if Deputy Wozniak would be allowed to use his town-issued vehicle to travel from Cheyenne. Mayor Charlie George responded that the deputy marshal would no longer be permitted to use the vehicle and added that he doesn’t expect Wozniak to continue serving the town after taking the job in Colorado.
Mayor George was asked if the part-time marshals are required to respond to law calls when not actively patrolling the town. The Mayor responded that they are not, prompting a resident to ask why they are permitted to take their town-supplied vehicles home. Mayor George and Councilman Sam Sikes explained that the use of municipal vehicles was authorized by a previous administration to help attract candidates to Hanna.
The governing body was asked if the part-time marshals are required to maintain a fixed schedule. Mayor George said they are not. Officers are permitted to patrol the town when not working their other jobs. For Deputies Hawks and Wozniak, those jobs are with the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office; Marshal Dan Starr works full time at Memorial Hospital of Carbon County.
Town Clerk Vivian Gonzales instructed residents to call 911 in an emergency. Dispatchers will send the nearest available law enforcement officer, either from the sheriff’s department or the marshal’s office.
Mayor George acknowledged that relying solely on part-time marshals may not be ideal for Hanna residents, but said it is the best option given the town’s budgetary limitations.
Council members Sam Sikes and Ellen Freeman said employing three part-time marshals is more cost-effective than hiring one full-time officer, especially when factoring in the cost of benefits.
The governing body acknowledged that the three part-time marshals do not collectively spend 40 hours patrolling the town, noting that together, they spend approximately 20 hours in Hanna each week. However, Hanna officials stated that the town benefits more from the marshals than it did under the sheriff’s office. According to the previous memorandum of understanding, Hanna paid $60,000 a year for sheriff’s deputies to provide 60 hours of patrol coverage each month. The town currently allocates $60,000 annually for the marshal’s office.
