BRENHAM POLICE HAVE OPTIONS ON SMALL MARIJUANA POSSESSION CASES

  

The Brenham Police Department has made a change regarding how they handle possession on small amounts of marijuana.  In the past, possession of even a very small amount of marijuana would result in an arrest and a trip to the county jail, taking up a lot of time for the patrol officer.  Washington County Attorney Renee Mueller say she was approached the police department about the matter:

Brenham Police Officers now have the option of issuing a citation for possession of under 2 ounces of marijuana, a class B misdemeanor.  The citation is different from a traffic ticket in that the defendant will still have to appear before a judge.  Mueller explains:

Mueller says that after a citation is issued, the police report would come to her office.  She would then ask the County Court at Law Judge to issue a warrant.  From there, the court would issue a court date for the defendant.  If the defendant fails to appear, the warrant is acted on.  If they do appear, normally a PR bond is issued, but the defendant still has to go to the county jail to be booked in and then released.

Brenham Patrol Captain Trey Gully said that it not a change in policy, but that officers can use their discretion now on whether to make an arrest or issue a citation for possession of under 2 ounces of marijuana.

Gully says that part of the change was having the software modified that the officers use for writing traffic tickets.  It now allows the officer to print out the marijuana citation.  Gully explains some of the factors the officer may consider in whether to issue a citation:

Gully said that officers will not issue the citation if the subject is being evasive about their address or if they are being arrested on other charges.  He said that the average time the officers spend booking someone into jail and impounding their vehicle runs from 1 ½ to 3 hours.