Appellate court finds San Marcos voter-approved marijuana ordinance unlawul

SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) – An appellate court last Thursday issued an opinion siding with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, stating that San Marcos’ marijuana decriminalization ordinance violates state law. 

In 2022, over 80% of San Marcos voters approved a proposition that ended low-level marijuana enforcement in the city. In 2024, Paxton sued San Marcos and other cities, including Austin and Killeen, over marijuana decriminalization ordinances passed around the same time or shortly after San Marcos.  

“The Texas Local Government Code prohibits the ‘governing body of a municipality... municipal police department, municipal attorney, county attorney, district attorney, or criminal district attorney’ from ‘adopt[ing] a policy under which the entity will not fully enforce laws relating to drugs,’” the opinion filed in the Fifteenth Court of Appeals read. 

“San Marcos, however, has passed a local ordinance prohibiting its police officers from issuing citations and making arrests for certain low-level marijuana offenses,” it continued. 

A Hays County district court judge dismissed the lawsuit in July 2024, but it is now likely to go to trial. San Marcos attorney David Sergi said he believes there will be an increase in citations in the wake of this opinion. 

“I believe you'll see a ramp-up in [raids] and that you will see a ramp-up in enforcement efforts,” said Sergi, an expert in Texas marijuana and hemp laws. 

“People are actually speaking. They're going to the ballot box. They're doing the things you do in a democracy. And [this opinion] is basically going to invalidate that. It's going to invalidate the voice of the people,” Sergi continued. 

KXAN reached out to the San Marcos Police Department and asked how this opinion will change its policies. We will update this story once we hear back.