During the 2022 elections 5 Texas cities passed measures to stop arrests for misdemeanor amounts of marijuana flower, and it’s not exactly going as planned.
San Marcos, Harker Heights, Killeen, Elgin, and Denton were the 5 towns to pass a measure similar to the one Austin passed earlier in 2022. Each had it’s own battle to get on the ballot, and each one now is facing it’s own implementation struggle. Elgin and Austin appear to be the only ones implementing the will of the voters with minimal resistance or hiccups along the way.
Harker Heights
Harker Heights has faced what could be considered the biggest hurdle. The city council refused to put the ordinance in place. The council voted against the measure with a 4-1 final vote. Councilwoman Lynda Nash was the only member that voted to keep the ordinance.
City Attorney Charlie Olson gave council his legal opinion on why the ordinance should be repealed at the end of the citizen comment period.
“It places limitations and burdens on their conduct,” Olson said. “It essentially targets police officers.”
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San Marcos
San Marcos has faced it’s own unique drama with the passing of the “Reeferendum” as it was unofficially titled in the town and by advocacy groups working on the measure.
The measure passed in the November election with over 80% of the vote supporting the ordinance. The city council had some small debate about the issue. The police union for the San Marcos police was opposed all the way through the election. But that wasn’t the end of the troubles.
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Outgoing DA Wes Mau, who had a history of being rather anti-cannabis, used his last days to request an opinion from Attorney General Ken Paxton on the matter. Mau had previous railed against hemp with going as far as saying he would prosecute all case and not take doubt into consideration when determining hemp vs marijuana. His opponent, Kelly Higgins has a platform that includes not prosecuting people for simple possession of cannabis.
Then the SMPD Chief of Police came forward and said that “unspecified people within the police department had issues with how the marijuana decriminalization ordinance came about.”
Killeen
Some members of the council had concerns about the language of the proposed ordinance. Killeen Councilman and former Mayor Jose Segarra said he was concerned about the ordinance prohibiting police from using the smell of cannabis as probable cause for a search and seizure. The councilman then suggested eliminating this provision before approving it.
The city of Killeen approved the marijuana decriminalization measure with some caveats.
In a 4-3 vote, the Killeen City Council approved Proposition A with an amendment to the ordinance. Councilmember Jessica Gonzalez filed an amended version of the ordinance which removed Section 22-83 of the language passed by voters. The ordinance section would’ve stopped a search and seizure by local police based on marijuana odor as probable cause.
Councilmember Jose Segarra could get behind Gonzalez’s motion and was one of the four who voted to approve it.
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David Bass of Texas Veterans for Medical Marijuana noted on Facebook that “in Killeen, since November 8th, there have been 18 LEO searches based on the smell of marijuana. Of those, nine resulted in the discovery of hard drugs, weapons, or outstanding warrants.”
Bass further noted that the other 9 were less than 4 oz, and the police confiscated the marijuana and did not arrest the people. That was stated by the police chief that night at the council meeting.
“Those nine searches that resulted in felony arrests for other than marijuana are why our police do not want to give up their right to search,” stated Bass.
Now the city faces a lawsuit over the ordinance from Bell County. After more than a month from the decision though, Mayor Debbie Nash-King has states she has yet to see the lawsuit.
District Attorney Henry Garza told the Killeen Daily Herald, “What you saw … was really the beginning of getting this particular question before a court: What is the effect of a local municipal ordinance when it comes into conflict with state law?”
Denton
Through the diligent work of Decriminalize Denton and several other groups of strong advocates, Proposition B passed overwhelmingly. Gaining 71 percent of the vote against a 28.6 percent opposition, Dentonites wanted cannabis reform in The Home of Happiness.
The city council did approve the measure, but at the same time decided to decline directing the city manager to enforce the rule. The rule which would prevent police from using the smell of marijuana to search someone, or arrest or cite them for possessing small amounts of the drug.
The city manager and mayor both stated that the city would continue to treat possession as a low priority crime. Their reasoning is that enacting all the elements of the proposition is a possible violation of state law.
Denton Police Chief Doug Shoemaker pointed out that low-level amounts of marijuana haven’t been on the police’s radar for several years. He said that police policy allows officers to use discretion to continue investigating after they discover marijuana, if they believe that other crimes are being committed.