Texas Lawyer Basic Ken Paxton’s workplace introduced on Wednesday that it had sued Denton, Austin, Elgin, Killeen and San Marcos “for adopting amnesty and non-prosecution insurance policies that violate Texas legal guidelines.”

In a press release included within the AG’s information launch, Paxton described the cities as being run by felony extremists.

“I cannot stand idly by as cities run by pro-crime extremists intentionally violate Texas regulation and promote the usage of illicit medicine that hurt our communities,” stated Paxton.

“This unconstitutional motion by municipalities demonstrates why Texas should have a regulation to ‘comply with the regulation,’” Paxton stated, reported CBS Austin. “It is fairly easy: the legislature passes each regulation after a full debate on the problems, and we do not enable cities the flexibility to create anarchy by choosing and selecting the legal guidelines they implement.”

In November 2022, Denton voters authorised Proposition B, a metropolis ordinance geared toward decriminalizing hashish. The proposition handed with 71% of voters in favor. By August 2023, the 4 different Texas cities joined the hashish decriminalization drive.

The proposition amended the town code to finish citations and arrests for misdemeanor offenses for possession of lower than 4 ounces of marijuana until there have been different crimes related to the investigation of different felony offenses.

Members of a number of regulation enforcement teams had spoken out in opposition to the proposition. Shortly after the measure was handed, Denton Metropolis Supervisor Sara Hensley shared a memo expressing concern concerning the proposition being in “direct battle” with state regulation.

In its court docket submitting, AG Paxton’s workplace requested for a decide to order the halt of modifications to Denton’s metropolis ordinance made by Proposition B and argued that the town of Denton “could not undertake a coverage beneath which the entity is not going to absolutely implement” state and federal drug legal guidelines.

“Additional, the Texas Structure notes that it’s illegal for municipalities to undertake ordinances which are inconsistent with the legal guidelines enacted by the Texas Legislature,” in response to the press launch.

The lawyer basic’s workplace made comparable arguments for the opposite 4 cities that had been sued for native ordinances associated to marijuana.

A Denton spokesperson informed The Dallas Morning Information metropolis officers are “conscious of the Lawyer Basic’s lawsuit and subsequent information launch,” however declined to remark, citing the pending litigation.

Picture: El Planteo