COUNTY MIGHT EASE PROSECUTIONS FOR POT

Change Would Mean Ticket for Simple Possession

Waukesha - Joining a movement to decriminalize certain marijuana
cases, Waukesha County officials are considering handling minor
instances of possession like traffic tickets.

If the County Board approves, first-time offenders caught by
sheriff's deputies with small amounts of marijuana or drug
paraphernalia would be required only to pay a fine and would not get
a criminal record. Currently, deputies refer all such cases to the
district attorney's office for possible prosecution as misdemeanors,
with penalties of up to six months in jail possible.

Many other municipalities and counties in Wisconsin already have
taken steps toward decriminalization, but an advocate for relaxed
marijuana laws expressed surprise that move would be under
consideration in traditionally conservative Waukesha County.

"It's kind of an acknowledgment that Waukesha County is growing.
They're not sweating the small stuff," said Madison-based activist Gary Storck.

Details of the proposed new policy have not been released yet. In
Milwaukee County, offenders pay forfeitures of less than $500 in some
cases if they have no significant criminal record and if they are
caught with a small amount of pot for personal use only.

Waukesha County Sheriff Dan Trawicki said he supports the change
because it would simplify the handling of minor drug cases and would
ease needless strain on the court system.

Instead of processing an arrest and asking the district attorney to
decide on criminal charges, a sheriff's deputy could just write a
ticket and allow the defendant to pay a fine as a civil forfeiture.

"In certain cases, it's more efficient and it's appropriate,"
Trawicki said. "It's not going to change how we do business. It's
just the manner in which we do business," he said.

The switch is reflected in the county's proposed 2008 budget as a new
source of revenue for the Sheriff's Department, with $37,200
projected for the department next year. County Board members must
approve the budget and a separate ordinance authorizing the new procedure.

Trawicki said officials have been discussing the change for several
years but that it was opposed by then-District Attorney Paul Bucher.
Bucher, who resigned last year after 18 years in office, said he
could not endorse decriminalization while also working against drug
abuse in programs such as DARE.

"I thought it sent out the wrong message for me personally," he said
Thursday. "Philosophically, it wasn't consistent with my beliefs."

District Attorney Brad Schimel, however, said he believes that many
people nowadays have tried marijuana and that residents of the county
are ready for a limited level of decriminalization.

"I think times have changed," he said.

Sheriff's officials briefed a County Board committee on the idea
recently while reviewing the 2008 budget proposal.

County Supervisor Bonnie Morris of Dousman, chairman of the Judiciary
and Law Enforcement Committee, said the committee seemed to strongly
support the idea.

Morris said many other municipalities in the area have already taken this step.

"It's not something that Sheriff Trawicki dreamed up," she said.
"We're very comfortable with it."