Pubdate: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 Source: Advocate, The (LA) Copyright: 2003 The Advocate, Capital City Press Contact: http://www.theadvocate.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2 Author: Kevin Blanchard (Acadiana Bureau) COUNCIL REJECTS MUNICIPAL DRUG LAW LAFAYETTE -- The City-Parish Council voted down an ordinance Tuesday that would have made possession and attempted possession of marijuana a city violation. Those crimes are already prohibited by state statute. Several councilmen, a city prosecutor and District Attorney Mike Harson said the proposed ordinance would have added an unneeded extra layer of bureaucracy. Councilman Chris Williams, who proposed the ordinance, said he wanted to make possession of marijuana and attempted possession a city crime so that the cases would be handled by city prosecutors in City Court, not state District Court. Such a system, he said, would allow the city to better track the prosecution of the crimes. "Whatever (system) we have now, it's not working," Williams said. "This is an attempt to do something." City Prosecutor Gary Haynes said handling those cases in City Court would create several hassles and burden an already busy system. City Court can only handle misdemeanor cases. First-offenses of marijuana possession and attempted possession are misdemeanors, but City Court doesn't handle any drug cases, Haynes said. Adding those cases to the City Court docket would probably necessitate hiring another city judge, another city prosecutor and more staff, Haynes said. City Court also would have to set up a new pretrial diversion program for the new cases, Haynes said. "If we added drug cases right now, it would probably be chaos," Haynes said. District Attorney Mike Harson's office prosecutes marijuana crimes based on already-existing state statutes. The proposed ordinance mirrors state law. Harson said, if the ordinance passed, he would have continued to prosecute possession and attempted possession cases through his office since state law gives district attorneys the discretion to force prosecution of local ordinances that mirror state law in state court. The District Attorney's Office generates revenue from prosecuting those cases through court fees. Therefore, Harson said, the ordinance would not change anything if passed. "Theoretically, it really makes no difference (if the ordinance passes)," Harson said, adding that he wouldn't mind if the council wanted to approve the ordinance "for appearances' sake." The council voted the ordinance down 5-4. Councilmen Williams, Bobby Castille, Louis Benjamin and Randy Menard voted for the new ordinance. Councilmen Jerry Trumps, Lenwood Broussard, Marc Mouton, Rob Stevenson and Bobby Badeaux voted no. In other business, the council voted to approve an extra $150,000 for the Lafayette Parish Correction Center to cover a budget shortfall in the cost of medicine supplied to inmates. LPCC Warden Rob Reardon told the council that the $1,100 a month it takes to treat an inmate with HIV/AIDS and the $150 a month it takes to treat mentally ill inmates -- about 15 percent of the population -- has put a strain on the jail's budget. The council tabled the request two weeks ago until Reardon could provide more information. The council also approved a $3,000-a-year land lease agreement between the Lafayette Police Department and the Lafayette Parish School Board. The Police Department will use the land -- located in the northeastern tip of Lafayette Parish near St. Martin and the existing Lafayette Parish Sheriff Training Facility -- to build a $195,000 training facility and shooting range. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom