Dallas, TX: Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed litigation that seeks to halt the city of Dallas from adopting a voter-approved measure prohibiting police from making low-level marijuana possession arrests.
On election day, voters in Dallas (population 1.3 million) and two other cities (Bastrop and Lockhart) decided in favor of municipal ballot initiatives limiting the ability of local law enforcement to make misdemeanor marijuana possession arrests. Those cities join Austin, Killeen, and several other Texas municipalities that have previously passed similar measures. The Attorney General has also filed suit against several of those cities, but his office has thus far been unsuccessful in halting their implementation.
“Cities cannot pick and choose which State laws they follow,” AG Paxton said. “The City of Dallas has no authority to override Texas drug laws or prohibit the police from enforcing them. This is a backdoor attempt to violate the Texas Constitution, and any city that tries to constrain police in this fashion will be met swiftly with a lawsuit by my office.”
State law defines marijuana possession of 2 ounces or less as a criminal misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in jail, a $2,000 fine, and a criminal record. According to data compiled by Texas NORML, police made an estimated 219,000 marijuana-related arrests between 2017 and 2021. Ninety-seven percent of those arrested were charged with possession only. Fifty-six percent of those arrested were under 25 years of age.
Additional information is available from the NORML Report, ‘Local Decriminalization Laws.’