MARIJUANA TICKETS NOT CATCHING ON

Law Designed to Free Jail Space Not Used Beyond Austin As Prosecutors
Question Propriety

Texas lawmakers thought they could help ease jail overcrowding when
they passed legislation allowing police to write tickets for
misdemeanor marijuana possession and a few other nonviolent crimes,
instead of hauling suspects to the clink.

But the new law, which went into effect Sept. 1, is being used only
in Travis County. Prosecutors in Dallas, Tarrant and Collin counties
never set up a system to process the misdemeanor citations and, they
say, they have no plans to do so.

"I think the Legislature was very sensitive to the fact that there
are so many jails that are overcrowded," said Terri Moore, Dallas
County's first assistant district attorney. "This was a great idea,
but it raises a lot more questions that we are not ready to answer."

The new law gives officers the option to arrest, as they have been
doing, or write tickets for possession of less than 4 ounces of
marijuana. Some supporters of the law say these nonviolent offenders
could be treated the same as drivers who get caught speeding and
agree to go before a judge. But critics say these class A and B
misdemeanors, although not violent crimes, could still result in jail
time and require investigators to build a solid case for prosecution.
As a result, the burden of making sure that suspects make it to court
and no one is misidentified is higher. For Greg Davis, Collin
County's first assistant district attorney, one of his qualms with
the new law is the perception created by ticketing for a drug
offense, instead of making an arrest.

"It may... lead some people to believe that drug use is no more
serious than double parking," Mr. Davis said. "We don't want to send
that message to potential drug users, particularly young people."

For Ms. Moore, writing citations for marijuana possession also raises
questions about prosecuting those cases.

How do officers prove that the person ticketed is the same one who
shows up for court? Digital cameras or fingerprinting could be used,
but that would be more equipment for officers, Ms. Moore said.

In addition to helping with jail crowding, the law in theory helps
keep officers on the streets instead of making runs to the jail for
nonviolent offenses. In Dallas, jail overcrowding is a daily
discussion, said Ron Stretcher, the county's director of criminal
justice. The Dallas County Jail has a history of being understaffed
and overcrowded, which has led in part to repeated failed state inspections.

As a result of the cramped jail conditions, county officials hold
monthly meetings to discuss the jail population and possible
solutions, including the idea of ticketing for some misdemeanor
offenses. But they believe more research is necessary.

Mr. Stretcher said that just because Dallas County is not currently
applying the new law does not mean that officials never would. But
deciding whether to implement the edict is not simply based on county
officials' desire to ease jail overcrowding.

"These are not just tickets. These are crimes that need to be
appropriately dealt with," Mr. Stretcher said. "We want to make sure
we get them back to court to stand trial. We want to make sure we
don't miss folks who might have prior bad acts."

"It's not about emptying the jail. It's about making sure that we
have room in the jail for the people who need to be there," he said.
Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Plano, who authored the legislation, said it's
likely that some counties are taking a wait-and-see approach, looking
for someone to lead the way.

The Travis County Sheriff's Department is the only law enforcement
agency in the state known to be using the new law. The Travis County
Sheriff's Department lobbied for it, in part, because of their
problem with jail overcrowding. But it's also a way to work more
efficiently, said Roger Wade, the sheriff's spokesman.

"We understand that there are times when it's just easier for
everybody involved" to ticket, Mr. Wade said. "You still have that
arrest stat. You still have the court date. It just saves time and
resources [not] bringing someone all the way down to the jail."

Mr. Wade said officers there began writing citations for misdemeanor
marijuana possession and other approved misdemeanors on Dec.1 and
have encountered no problems. But he said it's too soon to determine
how often officers are ticketing vs. arresting for these misdemeanor
offenses. Unlike Dallas County, Travis County already had a direct
filing system in place that made it possible to quickly implement the
new law. When someone is arrested, the case is automatically assigned
to a prosecutor and paperwork is filed with the county or district
clerk's office, Mr. Wade said. With the high price of gasoline, Mr.
Wade said, writing citations also saves money because officers don't
have to drive into Austin from the county's outskirts to put a suspect in jail.

"There are folks that think we are being soft on crime because we are
just giving tickets," Mr. Wade said. "We are still hard on crime. We
believe if we can save resources and have the same affect on crime,
then we should take advantage of this."

[sidebar]

THE NEW LAW

The Law: It gives police officers the discretion to arrest a suspect
- - as they have been doing - or write citations for a series of class
A and B misdemeanors for possession of less than 4 ounces of marijuana.

Other Applications: Other misdemeanors for which officers can now
write tickets include driving with an invalid license, criminal
mischief, creating graffiti and theft, as long as the damage costs
for each incident is less than $500.

Possible Punishment: A class A misdemeanor can result in up to one
year in jail and fines of up to $4,000. A class B misdemeanor can
result in up to 180 days in jail and up to $2,000 in fines.