Austin, TX: Austin police officers are unlikely to begin citing or arresting minor marijuana violators, despite a recent appellate court ruling striking down the city’s voter-approved depenalization ordinance.
“For now, we’re still going with the way we were policing before,” acknowledged Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis.
Austin is one of several Texas cities that have approved citizen-sponsored ordinances prohibiting local law enforcement from making low-level marijuana-related arrests. (Voters in Dallas, Denton, Elgin, Killeen, and San Marcos have also approved marijuana depenalization measures.) However, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued to nullify those laws. In March, the newly formed Fifteenth Court of Appeals ruled that state law preempts the adoption of Austin’s and San Marcos’ ordinances.
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.
In addition to the Attorney General’s legal efforts, Texas lawmakers are moving forward with legislation prohibiting localities from placing any future marijuana-related measures on the ballot. Senate lawmakers recently approved SB 1870, which forbids voters from deciding upon local ordinances that seek to decriminalize marijuana. The measure also prohibits cities and towns from adopting policies that do not “fully enforce” the state’s criminal marijuana laws.
NORML’s legislative alert opposing SB 1870 is available in NORML’s Take Action Center.