House Bill 1325 was signed into law by the Governor last month and became immediately effective. The House Bill creates a State of Texas Hemp Production Plan, and now allows farmers to grow hemp as a crop.

The new definition of hemp necessarily changes the definition of marijuana. From HB 1325:

“Marijuana means the plant Cannabis sativa L., whether growing or not, the seeds of the plant, and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of that plant or its seeds. The term does not include ... hemp, as that term is defined by Section 121.001, Agricultural Code.”

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HOUSTON- Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, flanked by law enforcement and community partners, marked the two-year anniversary of the Misdemeanor Marijuana Diversion Program during a press conference, Friday.

Over the last two years, $35,135,520 of Harris County tax dollars were redirected from the arrest and prosecution of misdemeanor marijuana offenders toward enforcement of more serious criminal laws—more than 9,000 individuals have been diverted.

The initiative, started in March 2017, is a pre-charge diversion program offered by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to offenders who would otherwise be arrested and charged with possession of misdemeanor marijuana, regardless of criminal history.

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Over the past decade, criminal justice data shows that on average 10,000 misdemeanor marijuana cases are prosecuted annually by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.ⁱ These cases, on any given day, comprise over 10% of the misdemeanor court dockets in the Harris County Criminal Courts at Law.ⁱⁱ The routine processing of these cases impact the budgets of Harris County’s 160+ law enforcement agencies, three crime labs, and the Harris County jail in significant ways.

Calculated generally, the following breakouts illustrate current annual costs:

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Marijuana program participants given final opportunity to make things right

Hurricane Harvey disrupted countless lives, but prosecutors have a warning for those who have failed to complete a class required to avoid being charged with a crime over small amounts of marijuana.

They have until this coming March 1 to complete a program, or warrants will be filed for their arrests, making them subject to prosecution, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said Thursday.

“There comes a time when everyone must be held accountable,” Ogg said. “That time is now, as the Houston region has largely recovered from a storm of historic proportions.”

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