Political and voter engagement group Ground Game Texas announced the city had certified its petition for the "Austin Freedom Act" containing the marijuana and no-knock measures, setting them up for a possible vote in Austin's May election. The policing and enforcement items now head to City Council, which can either call an election on the proposed Freedom Act ordinance or vote to approve it outright.
Ground Game said it submitted its petition in December with 33,332 signatures, one-fourth of which were randomly reviewed for certification. City Clerk Myrna Rios said Jan. 10 that more than 70% of the sample was validated, a margin leaving the petition well above Austin's requirement to get petitions on the ballot.
"We're so proud of the tremendous work of our organizers and volunteers who secured more than 30,000 signatures to put progressive change on the ballot in Austin," Ground Game's political director Mike Siegel said in a statement. "With the certification of the Austin Freedom Act, voters in Austin will soon have the ability to use their vote to end the criminalization of cannabis in their community and eliminate the dangerous practice of no-knock warrants by Austin police."
Both pieces of Ground Game's proposed ordinance would adjust existing law enforcement practices in Austin.
The Austin Police Department currently does not enforce instances of misdemeanor marijuana possession due to earlier council action. The passage of the Austin Freedom Act would cement that policy and also ban the use of city resources for testing for tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive in cannabis that is illegal under state code.
No-knock warrants, currently permitted in the city with some limitations, would be completely halted if Ground Game's measure is approved. Officers would instead be required to announce themselves and wait at least 15 seconds before entering and executing a warrant.
