Pubdate: Sun, 11 Nov 2007 Source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX) Copyright: 2007 The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Contact: http://www.lubbockonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/841 NEW LAW ALLOWS CITATIONS FOR SOME DRUG POSSESSION Ticketing May Reduce Jail Overcrowding Law enforcement agencies can reduce the strain on the overcrowded Lubbock County jail - if they begin to write tickets instead of taking some misdemeanor offenders to jail. Legislators overwhelmingly passed a law that began Sept. 1, making possession of less than four ounces of marijuana a ticketable offense instead of making officers arrest people and take them to jail. Six other misdemeanors are also ticketable at officer discretion. HB 2391 could reduce jail populations across the state and save counties money without reducing the severity of punishment associated with such drug possession. The Lubbock County Sheriff's Office and the Department of Public Safety say they've told officers they have the option to ticket. But the Lubbock Police Department says it lacks the proper paperwork and channels for ticketing offenders rather than arresting them. "We've looked at that, and we really haven't changed the way we're operating," Dale Holton, assistant Lubbock police chief said. "This is an option we're not procedurally ready to handle right now." But he added the department would be open to making the change. District Attorney Matt Powell supports the law and is confident the courts and law enforcement agencies can work together to utilize the freedom the law allows. "Anything that gives officers more discretion, I don't have a problem with," he said. In fact, Powell's office gave law enforcement officers discretion on one of the crimes months before the law went into effect. Powell said for the last several months his office has encouraged officers to issue citations for driving with an invalid license. He said it's up to the officer, but for non-habitual offenders, sometimes writing a ticket is the best course of action. "Our objective is to get those guys legal to drive," he said. With the other crimes, however, Powell said he doesn't feel the same way. "I don't like thieves," he said. "With some of these offenses, maybe a trip to the jailhouse is warranted." State Representative Carl Isett said the bill, which passed unanimously in the House and 29-1 in the Senate, was designed to give law enforcement officers a tool in managing their local jail populations. "All of us are concerned with overcrowding in county jails," he said. "This bill is meant to ease the burden on the jails." The bill can ease that burden, Isett said, by allowing those people who sit in jail for these misdemeanors only because they cannot post bail to forego the process - thus freeing space for violent offenders. With a severely overcrowded county jail - Lubbock County is currently building a new jail because its current facility is outdated and too small - Lubbock could benefit greatly if law enforcement agencies in the county used the opportunity to write tickets, law enforcement officers and court officials say. "There has been no effect yet," David Slayton, courts administrator, said. "If officers start using citations, the effect could be dramatic. It totally revolutionizes the way we do things." Lawmen's response "We're not going to handcuff their discretion if they're given it legislatively," Maj. Don Carter with the Lubbock Sheriffs Office said. "Every case is an individual case, and it's got to stand on its own merit." He added: "If you have the opportunity to write a citation, why wouldn't you?" The Department of Public Safety, likewise, will let officers determine the necessity of an arrest and possibly issue a ticket, leaving it up to the Criminal District Attorney's Office to assign a court date, said Cpl. John Gonzales. "Our policy still is to maintain an arrest, but the discretion belongs to the officers in the field based upon the facilities," he said. Lubbock police will continue to arrest people because the department's citations are currently set up for municipal court, which only handles class C misdemeanors. With these eight offenses being class A and B, they are under justice of the peace court jurisdiction, and the police department's tickets are not currently set up to handle that. This is not a philosophical issue, Holton said, as it is the responsibility of the police department to enforce what the legislature dictates. The number of arrests for possession of four ounces or less of marijuana rose more than 60 percent this September over last - from 66 to 104 arrests. While not jailing offenders - particularly those caught with marijuana - in a state known for its tough-on-crime attitude might sound counter-intuitive, Isett says no changes to the punishment for these crimes have been made. "Of course I have concerns, but it doesn't decriminalize anything," he said. "The crime itself has not in any way been lightened." He said the law does not provide for criminals to avoid punishment or even delay punishment. Effect on taxpayers Isett said the bill could save counties an average of $66 dollars per day for each person the law keeps out of jail. Lubbock County's daily cost is less than average, but when multiplied by the number of monthly arrests, is still significant. Kelly Rowe, chief administrator with the Lubbock County Sheriff's Office, said the average daily cost of jailing a person is about $38. The law could potentially save $38-$50 per person in jail costs since the average person arrested on a misdemeanor does not spend significant time in jail, Rowe said. In figuring potential savings, opportunity cost also comes into play. For every day a person sits in the Lubbock County jail, his citation is reduced by $100. Therefore, arresting a person instead of writing a ticket costs around $140 per day. To put that in perspective, law enforcement agencies made 145 arrests in September for the offenses now ticketable under the new law. If each of these people were jailed for only one day, it could have cost the county about $20,000. Holton said, however, implementation of the new law might just delay some of those costs because people who fail to appear in court after being issued a citation then have to be booked and jailed. What it means to courts When a person is arrested for possession of less than four ounces of marijuana, he is booked into jail and stays there until he goes before a magistrate and pays his bond. He is then accountable to his bonding company to show up in court at his scheduled time. If that person is issued a citation for the same offense instead of being jailed, the officer gives him a court date and he is supposed to show up at that time. Slayton said if the offender fails to show up, a judge can issue a warrant for the person's arrest, but before that, there is not the same level of accountability as with an arrest. The problem with officers giving court dates, Slayton said, is it often takes more than 30 days for the Criminal District Attorney's office to file a case because of its backlog. If the person shows up before the case has been filed, the judge has no jurisdiction and must reset the court date. "We're planning a discussion with law enforcement agencies in the county to come up with a good plan, rather than an arbitrary date just to show up," Slayton said. Another issue with the new law is when officers write tickets for arrestable offenses, there is no arrest record for that person unless charges are filed by the CDA's office. From the court's perspective, Slayton said it's not really a problem, but could cause a headache for law enforcement officers. "What we're concerned about is convictions," Slayton said. "But from a criminal justice perspective, it's a problem because knowing someone has multiple arrests is helpful to officers." One idea Slayton said he's heard is the courts could be responsible for fingerprinting and the other actions normally associated with booking. "It's weird to think it's the courts' role to do that. It's kind of an unintended consequence," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart