Dallas can continue to implement a proposition decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana — denying Attorney General Ken Paxton’s attempt to block the proposal as the case moves forward, a judge ruled Friday.
Proposition R, which decriminalizes up to four ounces of marijuana and prevents police from considering the smell of marijuana as probable cause for a search, was approved in November. It passed with more than 66% approve by city voters, becoming the largest city in Texas to decriminalize marijuana.
Paxton sued the city almost immediately after, claiming municipalities can’t refuse to enforce state drug laws.
KERA has reached out to Paxton’s office and will update this story with any comment.
This isn’t the first time Paxton has sued a Texas city over marijuana decriminalization efforts. In 2024, Paxton sued Austin and San Marcos for similar propositions — but judges in Tavis and Hays counties denied also those injunctions. He’s also sued the city of Denton.
“Black and brown residents had been disproportionately criminalized in our city for the possession of a substance that’s legal in over half the country,” Dallas City Council Member Adam Bazaldua, who supported Prop R, wrote in a statement. “Voters quite reasonably chose to end that injustice, and to allow law enforcement to focus on more serious issues.”
The suit is set for trial Aug. 11.
Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.
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Dallas District Court Judge Dale Tillery denied Attorney General Ken Paxton’s attempt of a temporary injunction, which would blocked the city’s decriminalization of misdemeanor marijuana possession. Read More
