What
are the Penalties for Marijuana Possession in Texas?
On
June 15, 2007 Governor Rick Perry signed into Texas law House Bill 2391. This
law gives police officers discretion to arrest a suspect - the current practice
- or to write citations for class A or B misdemeanours for possession of 4 oz.
or less of marijuana.
This has caused some misconceptions concerning the penalties for possession of
marijuana in Texas
This
legislation did not decriminalize or lower the penalties for marijuana
possession. It just gave police officers the option to make an arrest for the misdemeanour
possession of less than 4 oz. of marijuana, or issue a citation and notice to
appear at court. Local prosecutors, police and sheriffs' departments can decide
on a case by case basis whether or not to use this option. Another thing most
are not aware of is this comes into play only if the alleged offense occurs in
the same county in which the accused resides.
House
Bill 2391 received the support of the Combined Law Enforcement Association of
Texas (CLEAT) and the Sheriffs' Association of Texas. They feel the time and
money benefits realized from eliminating the four hours spent booking suspects
into county jail warranted their support.
Marc
A. Levin is a director of the Centre for Effective Justice at the Texas Public
Policy Foundation, a conservative organization that lobbied for HB 2391. Levin
is an Austin attorney and an author on legal and public policy issues.
"The idea was to free up more county jail space and law officers' time for
violent offenders and sex offenders," said Levin. "We looked at how
to save counties money. We always came back to the same answer: Take the
low-level offenders out of the county jail."
Anna
Yana Correa, director of the Criminal Justice Coalition, a more liberal leaning
organization is also on record as favouring the new law. In an article in the
Fort Worth Star Telegram she has stated that it is a positive approach to both
law enforcement agencies and the accused. "This says to the police
officer, you have the experience and judgment to decide whether this person
needs to be taken to jail immediately," she said. "And for the person
accused, if he is given a citation, he doesn't risk losing his job because he
misses work or risk losing his home because he lost his job. He still has to go
to court, and he still faces punishment."
At
the time of this writing, the Travis County Sheriffs' Department is one of the
very few law enforcement agencies in the state known to be using the new law.
The department spokesman Roger Wade said they utilize it because of a problem
with jail overcrowding and allowing the deputies to work more efficiently.
According to the postings on the Texas District and County Attorneys
Association it seems many members of the Texas justice system are not using the
citation option because of many unanswered procedural questions that come into
play when using this option.
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