A state appeals court has shot down a voter-approved ordinance that decriminalized marijuana in San Marcos.
The Fifteenth Court of Appeals last week overturned a ruling that denied a temporary injunction to block the law’s enforcement in the city, according to a report from the Texas Tribune.
In the ruling, Judge April Farris cited that state law makes marijuana possession a criminal offense.
Over 80% of San Marcos voters approved the ordinance, Proposition A, in 2022.
After Proposition A was passed, the San Marcos Police Department was no longer able to:
- Issue citations for possession of drug residue or paraphernalia
- Arrest or cite people for misdemeanor possession of marijuana up to four ounces, unless it’s part of a felony investigation
- Use city funds or personnel to test a substance’s THC levels
- Cite the odor of marijuana or hemp as probable cause to search
The ordinance only applied to the San Marcos Police Department; other law enforcement agencies in the area were exempt.
Attorney General Ken Paxton sued San Marcos in early 2024 over the marijuana decriminalization ordinance — along with four other Texas cities that had similar ordinances or policies, including Austin, Killeen, Denton and Elgin.
See here for the background. Here’s strike two.
A Texas appeals court ruled Thursday that the City of Austin cannot enforce its law that prohibits police from citing and arresting people for carrying a small amount of marijuana. This is the second time this month that the appeals court has ruled in favor of the state against ordinances that decriminalize marijuana.
The state’s 15th Court of Appeals overturned the decision by Travis County District Judge Jan Soifer, who had dismissed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit against Austin last year, ruling that there was no legal justification to try the case. The court determined the city law “abused its discretion” by putting up any barrier to the full enforcement of drug-related laws.
Last week, this same court overturned a lower court ruling that denied a temporary injunction to prevent the City of San Marcos from enforcing its voter-approved ordinance to decriminalize marijuana because it conflicts with current state law.
“Consistent with the City of San Marcos, we conclude that the ordinance in this case is also preempted by state law,” according to the ruling about Austin’s ordinance penned by Judge Scott Field.
This is another blow to the progressive drug movement that swept into various cities across the state. Austin Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes called the ruling another example of the state stepping on local decisions.
“This court ruling is a huge letdown. Austin voters made their voices loud and clear in 2022, and instead of respecting that, the State has chosen to ignore their will,” Fuentes said.
[…]
Hays County District Judge Sherri Tibbe dismissed Paxton’s lawsuit, upholding the argument that the state was not injured when San Marcos reduced arrests for misdemeanor marijuana possession and that it allowed for resources to be used for higher-priority public safety needs.
The Office of the Attorney General appealed this decision. In February, the case was assigned to the 15th Court of Appeals, where the state’s attorneys argued that the San Marcos ordinance obstructed the enforcement of state drug laws. The city argued the policy was voter-driven, but the court disagreed, granting the temporary injunction while litigation continues.
Travis County District Judge Jan Soifer dismissed Paxton’s lawsuit against Austin last year, ruling there was no legal justification to try the case.
Both Tibbe and Soifer’s rulings have now been overturned by the 15th Court of Appeals.
This puts the fate of the ordinances in doubt and some cities have already given up on trying to fight the state.
Paxton’s lawsuit against Elgin was resolved last summer via consent decree, meaning neither side is claiming guilt or liability but has come to an agreement.
In the North Texas suburb of Denton, where voters approved decriminalization by more than 70%, the implementation of a marijuana decriminalization ordinance has stalled after City Manager Sara Hensley argued it couldn’t be enforced since it conflicted with state law.
The case against Killeen, which was filed in Bell County a year ago, is still pending.
See here for more on the original lawsuits, and here for more on the dismissal of the Austin case. We know that other cities, including Dallas, passed similar ordinances last year. I cannot see any way that they are ever enforced. That’s strike three.
I sympathize greatly with the organizers who pushed these initiatives and the people who voted for them. Texas’ stringent anti-marijuana laws are archaic and harmful, and they need to be greatly relaxed. Efforts like these, run by Ground Game Texas, have been a response to the intransigence of state legislators and Dan Patrick. There was a time when cities would freely go their own way on a wide variety of matters, citing “local control” as the guiding principle. But Republicans no longer care about local control, because they have control of the state government and they will brook no dissent from the decadent liberal cities. Passing these local decriminalization ordinances may feel like a victory, but it’s all chalk art on a sidewalk just before a thunderstorm. The only way to achieve this kind of needed progress is a complete change of state government. That’s an enormous challenge, to say the least. But it couldn’t be clearer that there aren’t any workarounds. This strategy is dead. We can complain all we want about it, but that won’t change anything. Change who runs the state, or we keep getting what we’ve been getting, and what that is will keep getting worse. Accept it and we can move forward.