The majority of police chiefs in Jefferson County said their officers will continue to arrest people in possession of small amounts of marijuana, despite a push by county leaders to cite and release instead.

Sheriff Mark Pettway, and Jefferson County district attorneys Lynneice Washington and Danny Carr have collaborated to implement the procedure, which is known as the “Big Ticket.”

Specifically, authorities said, it is a Uniform Non-Traffic Citation and Complaint form. In practice, the procedure allows an individual to sign his or her own recognizance bond in lieu of arrest, assuring their presence in future court matters related to the citation charge.

Washington said there is a list of offenses that would fall under the “Big Ticket” program, including simple marijuana possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and harassment. A complete list of applicable offenses has not yet been released but Agee on Monday said they include non-violent offenses such as possession of drug paraphernalia, criminal littering, and fireworks violations.

Sheriff’s spokesman Captain David Agee said Monday the effort is an example of criminal justice reform.

“I think we have some very progressive leaders who are not afraid to do what needs to be done,’’ said sheriff’s spokesman Capt. David Agee at a press conference held Monday. “People are always talking about criminal justice reform, well this is more than talk, this is action. This is big.”

AL.com spoke with the following police departments: Bessemer, Hueytown, Vestavia Hills, Gardendale, Homewood, Hoover,Hueytown, Fultondale, Irondale, Mountain Brook, Midfield, Pleasant Grove, Tarrant, Adamsville, Fairfield, Brighton, Lipscomb, Kimberly and Trussville. Several departmental leaders said they are considering following suit with the sheriff’s office but they majority said they will not.

“We will arrest you. The state law is quite clear that they are misdemeanor crimes and we will handle them as we handle them as we handle all other misdemeanor cases, with custodial arrest,’’ said Pleasant Grove Lt. Danny Reid. “I don't believe it is up to local law enforcement to pick and choose which misdemeanors to make arrests on. We will enforce the state law as it is written.”

“It’s a drug. What are we going to do next? Give them a citation for heroin? Let DUI drivers drive off?’’ said Tarrant police Chief Dennis Reno. “Let’s just make it as convenient for the criminals as we can. I think it’s a crying shame.”

Hueytown Police Chief Mike Yarbrough posted this on Facebook: “The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has stated they will begin to issue citations on some misdemeanors including possession of marijuana for personal use. The city of Hueytown will not be following this lead. We will continue to arrest for simple possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.”

Irondale Police Chief Ken Atkinson said the Jefferson County Police Chiefs Association has sought advice from Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall but has not yet received anything from his office. Efforts by AL.com to reach Marshall for comment were not immediately successful.

In the meantime, Atkinson said, “We are sticking with what we are doing … From my perspective, the way we are handling misdemeanor arrests does not take away from our felony arrests. We can do both.”

“We don’t make the law, we enforce it,’’ said Kimberly police Chief Ricky Pridmore.

Adamsville Police Chief Warren Cotton said he has not yet discussed it with city officials and his officers. “We really don’t have that much crime in our city,’’ he said. “We may at some point look at it, but we’re still enforcing it.”

In all, those departments confirming that they will continue with arrests are Hueytown, Vestavia Hills, Gardendale, Homewood, Hoover, Hueytown, Fultondale, Irondale, Mountain Brook, Pleasant Grove, Tarrant, Adamsville, Brighton, Kimberly and Trussville. Most say misdemeanor marijuana or paraphernalia arrests usually are made in conjunction with other crimes anyway.

Several chiefs said they are looking into the matter, including Bessemer and Fairfield. Chiefs there said they have meetings set up for later this week to discuss the situation with city leaders and judicial officials.

Midfield police Chief Frank Belcher said his officers have actually been doing the cite-and-release initiative for years depending on the circumstances. “We’ve had the Big Ticket book for years and have been doing it for years,’’ he said.

Birmingham Police chief Patrick Smith told AL.com last week that BPD’s policy remained unchanged. Carr has since written to Smith, urging him to have his department observe the policy. Birmingham city officials are still looking into the program.

“I truly believe our limited resources should be focused on more serious offenses,” Carr wrote. “I’m not advocating the use of marijuana, just acknowledging the ability to cite and release personal use marijuana cases would benefit law enforcement, Courts, and the community.”

At least one Jefferson County police chief is fully onboard with the Big Ticket, though he, too, said he has more research to do. “Me, personally, since we don’t have the facility to house these misdemeanor offenders, I’d rather go to citations,’’ said Lipscomb Police Chief Mareshah Moses. “It will cut down on someone manning the jail and cut down on taking officers off the streets to take someone to jail.”

“I say seize the weed and send them on to court,’’ Moses said. “I support Sheriff Pettway and think it’s a good decision.”