Leon County Commissioners scheduled a workshop for this spring that looks to explore alternatives to arrest for people caught with small amounts of marijuana.
The issue has been on the wish list for several years and has had some success already after a 2018 program launched by State Attorney Jack Campbell aimed at issuing civil citations for such offenses.
Still, on March 22, Campbell is likely to join Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil and county commissioners to address continued efforts to reduce penalties for possession of marijuana.
McNeil will also join a workshop the same day where issues with bail, reentry initiatives and a review of the County’s electronic monitoring program will be addressed.
For years, a committee formed by McNeil has looked to examine monetary bail and Leon County’s pretrial release program.
Marijuana is considered a “Schedule I” substance by the feds, and selling marijuana is still a federal crime despite several states allowing medical use of marijuana, including Florida, or approving its recreational use by adults as in Colorado.
In 2019, the Leon County Commission passed a largely ceremonial measure to move forward with an ordinance to make possession of small amounts of marijuana a civil offense. What it amounts to is a policy that urges law enforcement to consider alternatives to arrest.
We cannot decriminalize marijuana in Leon County,” then-County Attorney Herb Thiele told commissioners before the vote. “We don’t have the authority to direct law enforcement agencies to do anything.”
In other business:
Siting homeless shelters
Commissioners tabled changes to land development ordinances that would have put in place more stopgaps to locating a temporary residential facility that looked to include more neighborhood input and collaboration with the Big Bend Continuum of Care (CoC).
The regional coordinating agency often helps secure resources but under the ordinance, put on hold until December, the group would have more of an active role in deciding the need and location of a homeless shelter. The CoC operates in eight counties around Tallahassee.
County Administrator Vince Long said a number of policy initiatives surrounding the Tallahassee and Leon County homeless population would be coming before the board next month. They include management and a regulatory framework for how the county fits into the solution.
Under the proposed ordinance, a proposal by a shelter to come into the community would require extensive neighborhood engagement, a recommendation by the CoC which would evaluate need and recommend security and staffing levels. Any applicant would need to also submit a statement as to purpose, justification and need.
“This will ensure that applicants communicate with the CoC and demonstrate that the proposed development has addressed other concerns such as, but not limited to, adequate staffing, proper security measures and a sufficient financial plan prior to submitting a proposal for the establishment of a…
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