Charleston City Council passes marijuana penalty bill

UPDATE (8:19 p.m. on August 19, 2024) — A bill to remove the possibility of jail time for simple marijuana possession passed the Charleston City Council Monday.

The bill will go into effect in five days.

CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — Charleston City Council is expected to vote on a bill on Monday evening that would mean no jail time for simple marijuana possession in the city.

That’s according to City Councilmember Chad Robinson, who is co-sponsoring the bill alongside Councilmember Frank Annie.

This is what Bill 8039 would mean for adults carrying less than 15 grams of cannabis, according to Councilmember Robinson:

• First Offense: $0 fine, one-year expungement option
• Second Offense: Maximum $250 fine
• Third and Subsequent Offenses: Maximum $500

“Saves the city money. Helps the officers with the caseloads. It’s a better thing for Charleston,” Robinson said earlier in August .

Charleston City Council’s meeting is scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m.

Recently, another bill was launched by a petition signed by more than 1,800 Charleston voters. The petition was met by a memo by Charleston City Attorney David Baker who claimed the petition didn’t have enough signatures.

City code states that petitions submitted to the City Council must be signed by at least 10% of the votes cast in the previous mayoral election, but state code says such petitions must be signed by 10% of qualified registered voters in city limits.

Baker said state code supersedes the city code in this conflict. That means the petition would require 3,378 signatures, nearly double what was submitted.

Charleston resident Corey Zinn helped create the petition and has been gathering signatures for two years. He said in August he felt like the city moved the goalposts on him.

“We want to know how the city wants these ballot initiatives,” Zinn said. “They’re interpreting their charter and it seems like they’re changing the rules on us.”

Baker said council is not required to vote on this petition.

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