The Nacogdoches City Council is expected to consider creating a prayer policy when they meet this afternoon.

Council members have a scheduled special meeting at 5 p.m. to meet with attorneys about the issue. The Liberty Institute is to recommend an invocation policy to the council and then public comment will be received on a specific policy before a vote could come.

The issue has drawn a lot of input since Mayor Roger Van Horn said last month that prayer would not be offered before the start of council meetings after a humanist had asked to be included in a rotation.

The mayor has continued to insist that he ended the practice out of concerns that the city has no written policy on how to respond to requests to pray from people of other faiths or beliefs.