Bastrop, TX: City council members in Bastrop (population: 11,700) and Lockhart (population: 15,300) have declined to implement voter-approved ballot initiatives that sought to end marijuana possession arrests within the cities’ limits.
Their decisions follow legal actions taken by state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sued city officials in Dallas for implementing a similar ordinance.
Voters in all three cities overwhelmingly passed municipal ballot measures on election day that sought to halt local police from making low-level marijuana possession arrests.
In recent years, voters in several additional Texas cities, including Austin, have approved similar depenalization ordinances. Although the Attorney General has also filed suit against several of those cities, his office has thus far been unsuccessful in winning judgments against them.
State law defines marijuana possession of two 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 Texas NORML and from Ground Game Texas.