The Denton City Council last week voted to repeal the 2022 voter-approved ordinance to decriminalize low-level marijuana offenses.
In November 2022, more than 70% of voters approved a proposition that stated the city would direct the Denton Police Department to no longer enforce low-level marijuana offenses. Soon after, however, City Manager Sara Hensley said that the ordinance was unenforceable because it violated state law. She also pointed out that even before the ordinance was approved by voters, Denton PD seldomly pressed charges for minor pot cases.
In January 2024, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Denton and four other cities to block their decriminalization ordinances, claiming it to be unlawful for municipalities to adopt ordinances inconsistent with laws enacted by the Texas Legislature.
As reported by WFAA and the Denton Record-Chronicle, the city council voted 4-3 last week to repeal the ordinance, which Mayor Gerard Hudspeth said had cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, and it could cost much more to defend an ordinance the city wasn’t even enforcing.
The decision comes just as a Texas Legislature bill that would ban all THC products heads to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.
