Texas Denton City Council Overturns Voter-Approved Cannabis Decriminalization Rule

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On May 20, 2025, the Denton City Council voted 4-3 to repeal a low-level cannabis decriminalization ordinance that was approved by more than 32,000 voters in November 2022 (1,2). The approved ballot initiative was called Proposition B and hoped to “prevent arrests and citations for low-level possession, in cases involving a felony narcotics crime or a violent felony. The ordinance also intended to keep the city from using funds to pay for THC testing,” Ganjapreneur reported (2).

The vote comes as growing pressure from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has been suing cities that have comparable legislation (1). Some of the cities, Paxton has sued are Denton, Dallas, San Marcos, and Austin.

According to the Denton Record-Chronicle (1), the City Council members that voted against the decision to repeal the ordinance were District 2, Brian Beck, Paul Meltzer from District 3, and Place 5’s Brandon Chase McGee. City residents urged the council to not to repeal the voter-approved legislation (1).

Paxton’s attacks on these cities have been due to his claim that ordinances like the one in Denton (2) “violate the state constitution and Local Government Code, which requires municipalities to enforce state drug laws.”

Beck told the Denton Record-Chronicle (1) that repealing the cannabis ordinance was like “jumping the ship before the ship is sinking.” Additionally, he mentioned that the courts have expressed that cities with these laws, should not be removing them.

McGee expressed to the Denton Record-Chronicle (1) that local governments “are the last guardrails of democracy.”

“For me personally, I feel the voters sent me to council very much to defend their vote on Proposition B, perhaps more so than on any other issue, and to see it through the court system if necessary,” Meltzer mentioned to the Denton Record-Chronicle (1). “That’s not free, and the outcome is uncertain at best. But that’s my sense of my duty on this as a representative, to ensure that the voters get the full benefit of the court system, not to second-guess the outcome.”

Denton’s city ordinance to decriminalize low-level cannabis possession was refused by city officials to be enforced (1). Denton Mayor Gerard Hudspeth voted to repeal the ordinance and wasn’t fond that “the city was spending money on legal fees for an ordinance it wasn’t even enforcing,” (1). Aside from his vote to repeal, Mayor Hudspeth has issued the city attorney to “give Denton police officers discretion on cannabis and can issue a Class C citation for drug paraphernalia instead of a possession charge,” (2). Additionally, courts and prosecutors (2) are providing “deferred sentencing and expungement of criminal records.”

References

1. McPhate, C. Denton City Council repeals marijuana ordinance in split vote https://dentonrc.com/news/denton/denton_city_council/denton-city-council-repeals-marijuana-ordinance-in-split-vote/article_903c4d4c-2f25-48b8-8465-f11fb4d922cd.html (accessed May 28, 2025).
2. Branfalt, T. Denton, Texas city council repeals voter-approved cannabis decriminalization rule https://www.ganjapreneur.com/denton-texas-city-council-repeals-voter-approved-cannabis-decriminalization-rule/ (accessed May 28, 2025).