Pinellas might not be developing any civil citation programs for minor marijuana possession, but could instead lean towards a pre-arrest diversion program for the offense and others like it.
A task force assembled by Clerk of the Court Ken Burke met January 7 to develop a rough outline for the program, which is being based, in part, on Pinellas County’s juvenile diversion program, in which some minors are dealt with through peer review, sanctions, counseling and community service, while also being provided with an opportunity to have adjudication withheld or earn a complete dismissal of charges against them.
The consensus among task force members favored creating a diversion program over a county ordinance that would have given police the power to issue civil citations for minor marijuana possession. The reasoning behind the decision had to do with not wanting to issue a civil citation for a criminal offense, as is marijuana possession of any kind in Florida.
The program’s aim is to be county-wide, run by a government entity, applied consistently among all law enforcement, and be developed by police chiefs and other stakeholders. Issuing more notices to appear in court, rather than making arrests, will also be part of the plan.
Some of the crimes being considered for eligibility are petty theft under $50, possession of alcohol under the age of 21, trespassing, disorderly conduct, “house parties,” the sale of alcohol to a minor, retail theft under $50, open container, and possession of under 20 grams of marijuana.
“I’m in favor of doing whatever we have to to ensure minor offenses don’t affect people down the road,” said Public Defender Bob Dillinger, before considering the stress the local legal system is under due to petty arrests.
“We’re looking at more than 1,000 arrests per year out of St. Pete for open container,” said Dillinger. “Which, to me, is an incredible waste of money and time and accomplishes nothing […] that’s three or four [people] a day going into the county jail who plead to get time served and a fine that’s never going to be collected.”
However, likely the bigger issue still seems to be misdemeanor marijuana arrests.
According to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, who was in attendance, in 2015, there were 7,702 misdemeanor marijuana charges in Pinellas County. Of those offenders, 5,882 were booked into county jail. While the remaining 1,820 received notices to appear in court.
“When you’re talking about some 10,000 cases,” said Gualtieri, adding up Pinellas’ misdemeanor marijuana offenses with the St. Pete and Clearwater open container violations Dillinger had mentioned, “it’s going to require some resources. I can’t do it with existing staff. I don’t think it would be super expensive, but, with that 10,000 case volume, it’s not something you could do with existing staff.”
So far, Miami-Dade, Broward, Leon, and Palm Beach counties all recently enacted similar measures.
Pinellas County Commission will examine the topic independently during a workshop slated for sometime after February. Despite the task force’s probable pre-arrest diversion program recommendation, commission will still have the option of creating an ordinance of some type, should the board see it more fit for the county.
