MORGANTOWN — Morgantown City Council will cast a vote on an ordinance prescribing a $15 fine and no jail time for possession of less than 15 grams of cannabis within the city.
Should the measure pass, it will ultimately be up to officers with the Morgantown Police Department as to whether it has any practical impact.
“I don’t want you or anybody else to come away from this meeting tonight thinking that should this pass, police officers are going to start issuing municipal citations,” Police Chief Ed Preston said. “It’s probably not going to happen.”
Preston said he has no issue with city council passing an ordinance that gives his officers the choice to charge under city or state code — as the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department, West Virginia State Police and WVU Police will continue to do within the city.
Asked by Deputy Mayor Rachel Fetty what council would have to do beyond passing the ordinance to ensure the MPD followed the new municipal code, Preston suggested, “You get a new chief.”
“I absolutely oppose the elimination of officer discretion and I’m telling you right now, and I don’t throw ultimatums and I’ve never thrown an ultimatum before. You do that, I will quit,” Preston said.
Members of council ensured Preston it was not the intent of the ordinance to remove officer discretion. The ordinance included in council’s packet notes Morgantown officers may still issue citations under state code.
While he did so at council’s request, Preston was just one of many to address the topic.
A capacity crowd filled council’s committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday in support of the law, which pertains specifically to plant material.
Under current state law, possession of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by not less than 90 days, nor more than six months in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000. Penalties double for a second offense.
First-time offenders caught with less than 15 grams are often placed in a one-time diversion program that can prevent a conviction and allow the arrest to be expunged one year after the program’s completion.
One of the perceived stumbling blocks has been the fact that the MPD’s drug citations are handled in the circuit and magistrate courts, not the municipal court.
This was due to a lack of city funds for testing of controlled substances, impaneling juries and establishing a municipal probation office as required by state code.
Because the city’s law would remove the possibility of jail time and set a specific fine amount, City Attorney Ryan Simonton said people cited under the new municipal code would go to municipal court.
“Officers would have to charge this crime with this associated penalty in municipal court. I spoke to the prosecutor in municipal court, who is separate counsel, but has no objection to prosecuting those crimes if charged by the officers,” Simonton said. “And those officers are the ones who would make that initial decision of whether to charge under city code.”
Among those to speak during public comment was attorney Scott Dicken, who said the state has fallen woefully behind and is desperate for leadership on this issue.
“The State of West Virginia is watching. The state of West Virginia needs a city council like this one in a university town like Morgantown, with West Virginia University, to push our state legislature in the right direction,” Dicken said. “We’re going to see this prohibition fall, eventually.”
Council moved the issue forward for future consideration.
