COUNCIL REJECTS MUNICIPAL DRUG LAW

LAFAYETTE -- The City-Parish Council voted down an ordinance Tuesday that
would have made possession and attempted possession of marijuana a city
violation. Those crimes are already prohibited by state statute.

Several councilmen, a city prosecutor and District Attorney Mike Harson
said the proposed ordinance would have added an unneeded extra layer of
bureaucracy.

Councilman Chris Williams, who proposed the ordinance, said he wanted to
make possession of marijuana and attempted possession a city crime so that
the cases would be handled by city prosecutors in City Court, not state
District Court.

Such a system, he said, would allow the city to better track the
prosecution of the crimes.

"Whatever (system) we have now, it's not working," Williams said.

"This is an attempt to do something."

City Prosecutor Gary Haynes said handling those cases in City Court would
create several hassles and burden an already busy system.

City Court can only handle misdemeanor cases. First-offenses of marijuana
possession and attempted possession are misdemeanors, but City Court
doesn't handle any drug cases, Haynes said.

Adding those cases to the City Court docket would probably necessitate
hiring another city judge, another city prosecutor and more staff, Haynes said.

City Court also would have to set up a new pretrial diversion program for
the new cases, Haynes said.

"If we added drug cases right now, it would probably be chaos," Haynes said.

District Attorney Mike Harson's office prosecutes marijuana crimes based on
already-existing state statutes.

The proposed ordinance mirrors state law.

Harson said, if the ordinance passed, he would have continued to prosecute
possession and attempted possession cases through his office since state
law gives district attorneys the discretion to force prosecution of local
ordinances that mirror state law in state court.

The District Attorney's Office generates revenue from prosecuting those
cases through court fees.

Therefore, Harson said, the ordinance would not change anything if passed.

"Theoretically, it really makes no difference (if the ordinance passes),"
Harson said, adding that he wouldn't mind if the council wanted to approve
the ordinance "for appearances' sake."

The council voted the ordinance down 5-4. Councilmen Williams, Bobby
Castille, Louis Benjamin and Randy Menard voted for the new ordinance.

Councilmen Jerry Trumps, Lenwood Broussard, Marc Mouton, Rob Stevenson and
Bobby Badeaux voted no.

In other business, the council voted to approve an extra $150,000 for the
Lafayette Parish Correction Center to cover a budget shortfall in the cost
of medicine supplied to inmates.

LPCC Warden Rob Reardon told the council that the $1,100 a month it takes
to treat an inmate with HIV/AIDS and the $150 a month it takes to treat
mentally ill inmates -- about 15 percent of the population -- has put a
strain on the jail's budget.

The council tabled the request two weeks ago until Reardon could provide
more information.

The council also approved a $3,000-a-year land lease agreement between the
Lafayette Police Department and the Lafayette Parish School Board.

The Police Department will use the land -- located in the northeastern tip
of Lafayette Parish near St. Martin and the existing Lafayette Parish
Sheriff Training Facility -- to build a $195,000 training facility and
shooting range.