Interview with newly sworn-in Laramie County District Attorney Sylvia Hackl talks about the road ahead

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) - We sat down with our newly sworn-in District Attorney for an interview.

Sylvia Hackl has practiced law in Laramie county for 42 years, with 22 years in criminal law and a master’s degree in Public Administration.

She talked with us about how these experiences will affect her new office.

This office has been marred with a bit of history. What do you propose tackling some of the big feats this office has had as its major challenges?

“Re-establish communications with all our stakeholders, and on a professional, pleasant basis, we don’t have to agree, but we have to communicate, said Hackl. I’ve already met with the leaders or directors of all these areas, and we’re going to move forward on the areas we need to so people are comfortable talking to each other.”

What sort of stop gaps do you propose to do to make sure that felons don’t get on the street, violent criminals don’t get on the street, and that the public is safe?

“One of the best things that happened in this office occurred before I got here, and my predecessor hired a man with a lot of criminal experience, including several years as a judge. He is now the deputy district attorney. He oversees the charge, watches the paperwork, and makes sure it gets filed,” says Hackl. So that’s the very first step, and then we have attorneys assigned to misdemeanor court and felony court, and we watch those caseloads.

We do have a significant number of cases now, but I think as we staff up and as people are given an opportunity to do their job without a lot of surrounding drama, that will be able to move forward on keeping current with our caseload,’ says Hackl.

What would you say to the public to help them know that you’re going to be taking care of business and helping them feel a little bit safer living in Cheyenne, ... being in Wyoming and know that the violence is going to take a downturn, hopefully, and that they as citizens are safe in their community?

We will look seriously and honestly at the cases that come over and have open, honest discussions if we need more information, if we need more evidence, if we have a question, we’ll talk about things,” says Hackl. I don’t make rash decisions and say, ‘Well, that’s the way it is because I said so.’

I think.. I hope that the most comforting thing I can say to the citizens of Cheyenne is that this office is open for business. My door is open<’ says Hackl. While we can’t meet with everybody, we are going to work with our partners in the system and make sure the crime gets effectively and efficiently prosecuted in Laramie County.

We will have part two of this interview in Friday evening’s broadcast.

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