DA credits diversion program for drop in marijuana arrests

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, at lecturn, said fewer people have been arrested since a program to divert low-level marijuana offenses out of the court system was begun two years ago. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, at lecturn, said fewer people have been arrested since a program to divert low-level marijuana offenses out of the court system was begun two years ago. Photo: Samantha Ketterer Photo: Samantha Ketterer Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close DA credits diversion program for drop in marijuana arrests 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The Harris County District Attorney's Office estimated on Friday that it's saved $35 million and arrested 14,000 fewer people since the start of a program to divert low-level marijuana offenses.

The announcement marked the two-year anniversary of the initiative, which allows misdemeanor anyone caught with less than 4 ounces of marijuana to avoid an arrest, ticket or court appearances if they agree to take a four-hour drug education class.

"We know we have reduced the arrest rate," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said at a news conference Friday morning. "That gives law enforcement more time to answer serious calls."

The initiative launched in early 2017 was one of Ogg's first steps to reform, earning her accolades among criminal justice reformers and marijuana activists. Since then, the program has expanded to include parolees and defendants on probation - but still some experts have questioned whether the initiative, and Ogg's office, could go further.

"Compared to past district attorneys in Harris County, Kim Ogg's record looks promising," said criminal justice expert Scott Henson, with the nonprofit Just Liberty. "Compared to so-called 'progressive' district attorneys at the national level like Larry Krasner in Philadelphia, she looks very moderate."

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Before the program started, Harris County law enforcement agencies typically filed around 10,000 misdemeanor weed cases per year, officials said Friday. Since the program began, that number has dropped to about 3,000 people per year.

Some of that drop is due to diversions, though some may stem from fewer arrests in the first place. To date, 9,184 people have participated in the program, and 6,705 people have completed the program or are still in it. After they're referred to the program, participants have 90 days to complete a $150 class. If they don't have enough money to pay for the course, they can apply to get the fee waived.

Even with the program in place, about 6,000 people have been arrested in the past two years for small amounts of marijuana, officials said.

Until about two weeks ago, the district attorney's office prosecuted those cases when the defendant was already on parole or felony probation - but they've now changed the policy, according to Misdemeanor Division Chief Nathan Beedle. And still, some people might be arrested on possession charges if they're found with pot in drug-free zones, or if the drugs are packaged as if to be sold. Also, those who fail to complete the drug class can still be prosecuted.

Even though it hasn't eliminated the low-level arrests entirely, Houston Police Department Asst. Chief James Jones said he feels the program has helped the agency prioritize its resources.

"This does not mean that this is the legalization of marijuana," he said, "it's just a smarter way of treating the problem."

But not all agencies have been as willing to participate as Houston police; last year, a Chronicle review found that a number of agencies along the Galveston Bay weren't participating in the program at all, and officers were instead dropping marijuana arrests to Class C misdemeanors, which do not require approval from prosecutors at intake and are handled locally by municipal courts.

Beedle suggested that Ogg's office isn't getting enough credit for the progressive shift in marijuana prosecutions, but reformers like Henson have advocated for dropping marijuana prosecutions across the board - whether or not the would-be arrestee successfully completes an education class.

"In a time when 10 states have already legalized fully, I think that marijuana diversion is probably looked at as less aggressively reformist than it would have been 10 or 15 years ago," Henson said. "I mean, Greg Abbott thinks it should be charged as a Class C misdemeanor. So she's not that far out of line with centrist opinion."