Travis County implemented a new substance abuse class for low-level marijuana possession offenders at a meeting Tuesday morning. The county’s counseling and education services department already provides an eight-hour marijuana curriculum class but felt it was not specifically tailored for the cite-and-release population, or offenders who are ticketed but not arrested. Through this four-hour class, the county intends to divert low-level, low-risk individuals at the earliest stage of their interaction with the criminal justice system and allow them the opportunity to avoid a criminal charge, while also saving the resources of the courts, county attorney’s office and pre-trial services for higher-risk, higher-level offenders. “This is another [way] for us to utilize our judicial capacity for people who we really do feel their behavior is a threat to our safety,” County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said. Commissioners Jeff Travillion and Brigid Shea added studying the demographics of people in this program will help the county better understand the kinds of resources needed to divert Travis County citizens from a criminal trajectory and increase success rates in at-risk populations. "I think we need to do a little more cause and effect to understand what our core issues are and what type of institutions we need to be developing in our community to address these problems," Travillion said. Each class will cost $45 with a $10 rescheduling fee for clients who do not attend their scheduled appointment. The county will offer three classes per month beginning in January.