Kansas City Councilman’s plan to decriminalize marijuana dead for now
Kansas City Councilman Brandon Ellington’s effort to decriminalize possession of marijuana was thwarted by what he said was an unfavorably amended version the City Council voted down Thursday.
Council members briefly debated a revised version of Ellington’s proposal, which, in its original form, would have decriminalized possession of less than 100 grams of marijuana. The amended version, which emerged from committee last week, instead allowed offenders to plead guilty, face a fine and have their record expunged after 180 days.
The proposals would have applied only to municipal marijuana offenses. County prosecutors can also bring marijuana charges, though Jackson County no longer takes up those cases.
Ellington didn’t support the new version, which failed on a 5-6 vote.
“The original version that I filed would have decriminalized 100 grams or less,” Ellington said. “This version would have guaranteed a state record.”
Ellington said that, according to a memo from the city attorney’s office, a municipal marijuana arrest record is forwarded onto the state, meaning expunging it on the local level would still leave a state record.
Shields, who chairs the Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee that heard the proposal, argues Ellington’s proposal would have, in fact, tagged offenders with a state drug charge.
“If we decriminalize in Kansas City, Missouri, marijuana so that the police do not have the option of bringing small amounts to the municipal court, then they will very well take those cases to the circuit court, where (offenders) will receive not a municipal ordinance violation but actually a state drug charge,” Shields said.
While Jackson County prosecutors have stopped pursuing small drug cases, Clay, Platte and Cass counties are still charging drug offenders.
Shields said her proposal responded to concerns raised in committee testimony that, because the city charges low-level marijuana offenders just a $25 fine, they were pleading guilty only to have the marijuana charge on their records cause trouble down the line.
The proposal originally came to committee in September, only to be put off for a month, much to the dismay of the dozens of Kansas Citians who spoke in favor.
Council members Teresa Loar, Lee Barnes, Andrea Bough, Kevin McManus and Shields voted in favor of the amended proposal. Dan Fowler, Melissa Robinson, Eric Bunch, Ryana Parks-Shaw, Ellington and Mayor Quinton Lucas voted against the proposal.
Ellington said he planned to bring his original ordinance back for consideration.
This story was originally published October 31, 2019 at 6:11 PM.
