CHEYENNE -- The town of Glenrock has hired an outside lawyer to preside over appeals filed by two police officers who were fired after they chased down and Tasered an elderly tractor driver during a parade.

Officer Michael Kavenius and Sgt. Paul Brown appealed shortly after police announced their firings last month.

The Town Council has selected Worland attorney Ed Luhm as a neutral third-party to serve as the presiding officer and hearing examiner for the appellate process, said Frank Peasley, the town's attorney.

The council will have final say on whether to overturn the firings. The date of a possible hearing in front of the council has not been set.

"In a small town, with so much publicity, they felt that was the appropriate way to assure as much neutrality as you could possibly give," Peasley said.

Bud Grose, 76, was shocked five times with a Taser after he disregarded Kavenius' traffic command near the end of Glenrock's annual Deer Creek Days parade on Aug. 1, according to a state review of the incident.

The report said Kavenius used the Taser on Grose and Brown participated in a vehicle pursuit after Grose left the parade route on his 1959 John Deere tractor.

Grose and the officers have given conflicting accounts of whether Grose struck Kavenius or steered around the officer when Grose left the parade route. Their accounts also differ on whether Grose rammed Brown's patrol vehicle with his tractor or bumped into it as a result of Brown cutting in front of the tractor.

After reviewing a state Division of Criminal Investigation report, Converse County prosecutors decided against filing charges against anybody involved.

The Glenrock Police Department hired a consultant to conduct an internal investigation, after which Chief Tom Sweet announced that Kavenius and Brown were fired.

Sweet refused to release a copy of the internal review or comment on specific violations that prompted the firings. He said the issue is a personnel matter. Town officials declined to release any documentation associated with the appeals.

John Robinson, a Casper attorney representing the officers, declined to comment on the appeals. He has said his clients did not violate any laws, police rules or procedures.