Two key Bexar County elected officials are working on a plan that would essentially decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana in the county, News Radio 1200 WOAI has learned.
Sheriff Javier Salazar calls the plan 'cite and release' and he says he and District Attorney Nico LaHood and their staffs are working out details.
"It would be a traffic ticket, you have got to come to court, if you don't come to court, we're going to arrest you," Salazar said, pointing out that the plan is not in any way 'legalization' and there would still be consequences for possession of small amounts of marijuana, which would remain against the law. "But we are certainly not looking to complicate things for people."
Salazar says his office and the District Attorneys office are still trying to work out the details of 'Cite and Release,' including how much marijuana possession would be covered under the plan.
Salazar says it is clear that some suspects, even if they are arrested for small amounts of marijuana, would not qualify.
"Certainly a career criminal is not going to be a good candidate for 'Cite and Release'," he said. "Nor would somebody who is facing additional charges, or somebody who is facing charges for something violent."
He says the plan, as it is currently being discussed, would cover "an otherwise law abiding individual who is caught with a joint or two in his back pocket or in her purse."
That's not somebody who we want to put in jail, have him lose his job, and now he is becoming a burden on the taxpayers, instead of having him out there as a taxpayer," Salazar said.
Depending on the circumstances, arresting a person for minor marijuana possession now takes an officer off the street for up to four hours, or half of his or her shift, and costs taxpayers up to $1,000 in manpower, processing, and holding costs. Salazar says that doesn't make sense.
"Jail is not for people who you are mad at, jail is for somebody who society is afraid of," he said. "And I don't think we're afraid of a teenager with a little bit of weed."
This 'Cite and Release' proposal falls completely under the 'prosecutorial discretion' held by law enforcement officers, just like frequently busy police officers choose not to pull over somebody who is driving two miles an hour over the speed limit. While Salazar says Commissioners Court will become part of the process, this would in no way be a formal law decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, simply an action the county's two top law enforcement officers have decided to take in the interests of law enforcement.
Several marijuana bills are in discussion in the Legislature, everything from complete 'Colorado style' legalization of recreational marijuana, to expanding the use of medical marijuana. Right now, none of them are seen as likely for passage.
The City Councils of Dallas and Houston have already approved measures similar to the one that Salazar and LaHood are proposing in Bexar County, to decriminalize simple possession of small amounts of marijuana.
Salazar says if the talks reach a workable agreement, a new policy on handling minor marijuana cases could be in place in Bexar County by the end of this year.