Councilman’s attempt to decriminalize marijuana in Kansas City on hold for now
Dozens of Kansas Citians interested in decriminalizing marijuana waited hours Wednesday for a City Council committee to vote, only to be outraged when members decided to hold off for a month.
Committee members heard more than an hour of impassioned testimony in support of the ordinance, which would decriminalize possession of less than 100 grams of marijuana. But they decided to wait until Oct. 23 to vote on the measure and five other pieces of criminal justice and transparency legislation introduced by newly- elected Councilman Brandon Ellington, 3rd District at-large.
Bewildered audience members shouted, “One month?” and “What did she say?” at Councilwoman Katheryn Shields’ suggestion of a hold. But Shields, chair of the finance, governance and public safety committee, and fellow panel members agreed.
Responding to shouted questions about why the ordinances were being held, Shields said they were “all complicated issues.”
“I know you all support them. Much of what’s here today, I know I personally support in concept,” Shields said. “I want to make sure that we’re doing it the right way and that we’re passing ordinances that make sense and are enforceable and would stand up to any challenge.”
Ellington objected and told the — by then — vocal and visibly frustrated crowd to call their council members. After the hearing, he told reporters there was no reason to defer action for a month.
“I’m not going to call it a setback because whenever you have this many people that don’t typically get engaged in local politics that come out and get involved in local politics, I don’t see it as a setback,” Ellington said. “I see it as a win.”
Ellington said his proposal would align the city with Jackson County, where Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced last year her office would no longer prosecute most marijuana offenses.
Peters Baker’s decision followed a statewide vote to legalize medical marijuana for medical purposes. She said at the time that the mandate from voters prompted the shift.
The county’s policy still allows prosecution for selling or distributing marijuana unlawfully, where large amounts of cash or firearms are found and cases where possession results in “drugged driving or...harm to a child.”
Kansas City’s municipal court, however, still takes up minor marijuana cases.
Ellington’s proposal is not the first marijuana reform Kansas City has considered. Voters in 2017 eliminated jail time and reduced fines for marijuana offenses. Possession of less than 35 grams carries a $25 fine plus court costs. But, as Ellington noted, a person who pays that fine can still end up with a drug offense on his or her record.
That, he said, can affect people’s ability to receive public assistance or access to housing, employment and other opportunities.
Dozens of proponents came to voice support for the proposals, especially Ellington’s marijuana ordinance, even as Shields attempted to limit their allotted time to move through the full docket.
Gary Davis, a Kansas City resident, said when voters passed the penalty reduction for marijuana, some assumed it was alright to be caught with it because of the minor penalty.
“But it’s not alright when you look at your future,” he said.
Kansas City Police Captain Scott Simons, however, expressed concern the ordinance could cause confusion because Kansas City also lies in Clay, Platte and Cass counties, which have not stopped prosecuting drug cases. He said residents could still get stopped in those counties and be charged with state-level marijuana offenses.
“It would kind of put them in a catch-22,” Simons said.
Ellington, who joined the council last month after eight years in the Missouri House, has been a vocal and active freshman, drafting a flurry of proposals and often challenging ordinances thought to be routine. Wednesday’s committee hearing put him in confrontation with several colleagues, including Shields, a close ally of Mayor Quinton Lucas.
Also held Wednesday were proposals by Ellington to establish a Kansas City Innocence Commission, create a pilot program for strategies to reduce violent crime, require that law enforcement officers get written consent from residents before searching their property, bar residents with conflicts of interest from serving on boards and commissions and penalize gun owners who fail to report when a firearm has been stolen.
This story was originally published September 25, 2019 at 4:32 PM.
