Published: August 31, 2007 11:05 am      

Beating the ride?

New law gives officers option of citations rather than arrests for some minor offenses

San Marcos — By ANITA MILLER

& ASHLEY LANDIS

Daily Record Staff



There’s an old saying among lawmen, in Texas at least, that someone accused of a minor offense “might beat the rap, but not the ride,” meaning that they were assured a trip to jail despite what the criminal justice system might later decide.

That maxim appears to be on the cusp of being overturned. Under a new law that takes effect on Saturday, certain misdemeanor offenders might skip the ride but still take the rap.

Envisioned as a means to easing the problem of overcrowding in jails, HB 2391 exempts suspects of certain misdemeanor offenses from having to go before a magistrate or behind bars, giving peace officers the option of writing a citation instead.

The offenses covered, all non-violent, include misdemeanor possession of marijuana, as well as driving with an invalid license, graffiti and other criminal mischief cases where the damage does not exceed $500.

It does not diminish penalties for any of the offenses and applies only to offenders considered legally adults, those 17 years of age and older.

San Marcos Chief of Police Howard Williams said some paperwork quirks are still to be ironed out before his officers will start writing citations for those offenses.

“It will take us a while to work out the procedures,” he said. “New policies will have to be set because officers cannot use the same tickets they use for other offenses. It won’t happen Sept. 1.”

However, Williams said his department has already begun working with the district attorney and other departments to get the details hammered out.

Typically, said Williams and Captain Rickey Lattie of the Texas State University Police Department, when an officer makes an arrest, that uses up at least an hour of his or her time.

“A bare minimum” of one hour is how Lattie put it. Williams elaborated, explaining that the time spent depends on the nature of the arrest. For example in a marijuana case the evidence would still have to be property bagged and tagged, another time-consuming process. “Booking somebody in jail is all the time it’s going to save you,” he said.

Both Williams and Hays County Sheriff’s spokesman Leroy Opiela, meanwhile, stressed that the new law isn’t an automatic don’t go to jail card for those certain offenders.

“There’s an option to arrest them,” Opiela said. “The law says they may write the citation. If it seems like that will put an end to the problem and a citation seems to be appropriate the officer will write a citation. If it’s not it is still a custody arrest,” said Williams.

Overcrowding at the Hays County lockup is a real problem, Opiela said. “For the last several months we have had about 35 prisoners a day being housed in Guadalupe County,” he said. “A few months ago our jail staff explored some options on where to put prisoners if we got to the point where we came close to the maximum we could hold under the Jail Standards Commission. At that time Guadalupe County had some beds available. If they hadn’t we would have had to go to northern Texas or down to the Valley.

“I guess the real problem (overcrowding) is a problem throughout this part of Texas. There are lots of full jails in this part of the country.”

The maximum number of prisoners allowed in the Hays County lockup is 362. Opiela said the county may soon be exploring new options again, as Guadalupe County’s jail is filling up too. “They’re also taking prisoners from Bexar County.”



amiller@sanmarcosrecord.com