Will of voters likely to decide marijuana decriminalization | Local News

But that doesn’t matter, and people should instead obey the law, Bell County Attorney Jim Nichols said.

“You cannot make state law on the local level. You cannot make something legal that is illegal in state law. You’d rather people stay in their own lanes,” Nichols said.

The petition aims to create a Killeen ordinance that would require Killeen police to ignore misdemeanor amounts of marijuana, which is less than 4 ounces.

Minor is part of Ground Game Texas, a group of progressive Democrats advocating for the decriminalization initiative in Killeen and in other cities, including Harker Heights, Denton, San Marcos and Elgin.

“Citizens are telling the elected officials that they want Killeen to be leaders in this — not the last city to come in kicking and screaming,” Minor said.

He plans to attend a Killeen City Council public hearing on Tuesday during which residents may offer their opinions on the petition. Also that evening, Harker Heights and Denton city councils are scheduled to host public hearings on their decriminalization ordinances.

For Killeen, it will have been a week since about eight residents criticized the City Council for initially scheduling a public hearing that night, July 19, on the initiative ordinance but never adding it to the agenda. Instead, they entered executive session to talk about the “legal ramification” of adopting such an ordinance, Councilman Jose Segarra has told the newspaper.

“I certainly understand why … the public (is) upset if they were promised a public hearing and did not deliver,” said Donnis Baggett, executive vice president of the Texas Press Association. “Appearances matter, and when a council decides to meet behind closed doors on a sensitive issue — even when they have the legal option to shut out the public — citizens get suspicious.”

The Texas Open Meetings Act allows council members to consult the city attorney in executive session on legal matters — specifically when it involves pending or contemplated litigation or settlement offers.

“Texas’ transparency laws state that openness should always be the default position for government officials, and that closing a meeting or withholding a document should be done only under well-defined circumstances,” Baggett said. “Unfortunately, too many public officials forget that the business they conduct on behalf of citizens is the public’s business, and they look for reasons to go into executive session when it’s not really necessary.”

The city’s charter requires that the Killeen City Council take action on a lawful petition — one that includes the required number of signatures that have been verified — whether that is adopting an ordinance or sending it to ballot.

“On June 14, 2022, the city secretary certified that more than 1,018 registered voters signed the petition in support of an initiative ordinance eliminating low-level marijuana enforcement,” Interim City Secretary Laura Calcote said.

More than 3,000 people signed the petition, Minor said.

“The city needed to certify a little over 1,000. Once they reached that threshold, they just stopped counting after that,” he said.

In Austin, residents approved that council’s decriminalization petition ordinance in May with 85% of the vote. That city’s council members did not return a message seeking comment on how they decided on the ballot initiative against adopting an ordinance.

And in Killeen, none of the council members responded to questions about how they could reconcile adopting a local ordinance that contradicts state law.

“Citizens have the ultimate authority,” Baggett said. “To keep them in the dark is like an employee of a business refusing to let his boss know how he’s performing his job. That stuff wouldn’t float in private business. Nor should it be allowed to pass without objection in government business.”

Harker Heights City Manager David Mitchell agreed.

“For the council, I think we all wondered how this would work,” he said. “These petitions, just so you know, are very rare in the state of Texas. So what does this mean? A lot of questions swirled around this. How do we process this?”

To help them understand the consequences of adopting an ordinance and letting voters decide on it, Harker Heights officials “took some time” to review case law, the city charter and state law.

“What we found in case law is that the courts won’t touch it until you pass something,” Mitchell said. “The courts are saying it’s a legislative issue and they are staying out of these things. It’s legislative and rightfully so.”

But even if Harker Heights residents approve the ballot initiative, it might be possible that their will could be reversed.

“The courts would take a look at it if someone brought it to them,” Mitchell said. “I don’t know who has standing to do that. We have not looked at that.”

A spokesperson for the Texas Attorney General’s Office did not return a message seeking comment.

“Under the Texas Constitution, Killeen has all the powers of self-governance, except what is specifically taken away by the state,” Ground Game Texas co-founder Julie Oliver said during the July 19 meeting. “It’s called ‘home rule,’ and home rule cities like Killeen have put the powers in the hands of their citizens. I call it direct democracy.”

She’s also told the Herald that “it’s called ‘local control.’ And cities are permitted to allocate resources how they see fit. Cities have broad discretionary powers when it comes to prioritization of laws.”

But Harker Heights Assistant City Manager Jerry Bark said that Texas cities “must follow all those applicable state laws.”

“The city of Harker Heights takes no position or standing on the decriminalization of marijuana. Our duty is to follow all state laws, including those related to marijuana. That’s how we’re going to proceed in the council.”

A public hearing is also scheduled for the Harker Heights City Council meeting on Tuesday on the initiative ordinance.

“We have to act on it,” Bark said. “It goes to public hearing, and council has to take action on it. If it does not go to a (council) vote, it would go to election at that point. If (council) votes it down, it goes to the voters.”

Either way, the matter isn’t constitutional, Nichols said.

“You have all the police officers and all of us take the oath of office to uphold the law. Some things are left to the state, and others are left to the county. As far as a municipality trying to negate a state law, you are really not supposed to do that.”

The Texas Legislature has deliberated the merits of decriminalizing misdemeanor possession of marijuana for years.

“Since it passed in the House during special session this year, I expect it to pass again when they reconvene,” Minor said. “It just depends on who is in charge in the Senate, who the lieutenant governor is.”

District 54 state Rep. Brad Buckley did not return a message seeking comment.

On Capitol Hill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday introduced the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act to end federal marijuana prohibition.’

Meanwhile, at Fort Hood, no changes are on the horizon.

“It would be inappropriate for Fort Hood to comment on city policy or politics,” said Maj. George C. Colclough, III Corps and Fort Hood deputy chief of administrative law. “That being said, what I can tell you is that soldiers are governed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice regardless of city or state laws. Drug offenses in the military are addressed under Article 112a of the UCMJ.”

The public hearing on the initiative ordinance is the first to be considered on the Killeen City Council agenda following eight discussion items and a resolution. The meeting is set for 5 p.m. at Killeen City Hall.