Pubdate: Mon, 16 May 2016
Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Copyright: 2016 Sun-Sentinel Company
Contact: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-letters-to-the-editor-htmlstory.html
Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159
Author: Andy Reid

PALM BEACH COUNTY MARIJUANA INCARCERATION COSTS QUESTIONED

Palm Beach County's cost for jailing people caught with small amounts
of marijuana may be much less than initially estimated, according to
revised figures released Monday.

Just last week, the county estimated that it cost taxpayers $1.1
million from 2009 to 2015 to jail people whose most serious offense
was having a small amount of marijuana.

But at the urging of the Sheriff's Office, the county's Criminal
Justice Commission on Monday revised its estimate to show that when
marijuana is the only charge involved - excluding trespassing and
other minor offenses that may coincide with a marijuana charge - the
cost drops to about $322,245 from 2009 to 2015.

That's less than a third as much as the previous total.

The incarceration cost is significant because of an ongoing dispute
between Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and the County Commission over whether to
jail people for low-level drug offenses.

To avoid jailing people for having marijuana, the County Commission in
December approved a measure allowing authorities to issue a $100 civil
citation, similar to a traffic ticket, for possession of less than 20
grams of marijuana.

Yet Bradshaw has been unwilling to allow deputies to issue the
citations instead of taking someone to jail or issuing them a notice
to appear in court - both of which can trigger criminal records.

The Criminal Justice Commission's original $1.1 million cost estimate
included cases where marijuana possession of less than 20 grams of
marijuana was the most serious offense associated with someone's stay
in jail.

Criminal Justice Commission Executive Director Kristina Henson said
the theory was that "it's very likely" that the marijuana charge would
tip the scale for an officer deciding whether to make an arrest for
someone also found trespassing or committing another low-level offense
such as disorderly conduct.

But after the report was issued, the Sheriff's Office countered that
it would be more accurate to include only cases were someone was
jailed just for having that amount of marijuana.

The report was revised to include both figures for comparison, Henson
said.

"It's kind of a hypothetical," Henson said. "We are just here to
provide the information and the data."

At a time when other parts of the country are easing marijuana laws,
the County Commission approved the civil citations as a way to cut
costs at the county jail and to also avoid saddling people with
criminal records for possessing small amounts of the drug.

The county's measure leaves it up to the law enforcement officer's
discretion whether to issue the citation or make an arrest.

Paying the $100 fine avoids putting the offense on someone's criminal
record. Citations could be issued twice to the same person, before
repeat offenders would face arrest.

Bradshaw so far has objected to pursuing that alternative to criminal
charges for marijuana possession. Instead the sheriff has "elected to
follow the Florida State Statute guidelines," spokeswoman Teri Barbera
said Monday.

County Commissioner Priscilla Taylor has called for withholding money
from the sheriff's budget to offset the cost of jailing people instead
of issuing citations.
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