[420 Girl]

The Sauk County Board voted 28-1 Tuesday night to make possession of marijuana-related paraphernalia a fine, not a crime.

The amendment to the county’s Public Peace and Order ordinance will allow prosecutors to issue a $100 forfeiture to anyone caught with pot related items in Sauk County, rather than charge them with felony or misdemeanor crimes.

The county’s ordinance already includes language from state statutes regarding the possession of the drug, making it a violation of county codes. But until now, the ordinance did not deal specifically with the equipment related to using marijuana.

Possession of pot and pot paraphernalia is a criminal offense under state law. But prosecutors in counties that have adopted those laws into their own codes have the option of charging the offense as a simple ordinance violation, which is less serious.

"What this does is it gives the (District Attorney) another prosecuting option and I think it’s a good idea to provide her with that option," said supervisor Bill Wenzel of Prairie du Sac.

A fiscal note attached to the amendment voted on Tuesday night says the change will save county money, because people accused of ordinance violations are not entitled to have an attorney appointed at the cost of the county. Also, the revenue from any forfeitures goes to the county, whereas criminal fines go to the state’s coffers.

The amendment didn’t pass without criticism, however.

"A $100 fine is so minimal," said supervisor Lowell Haugen, the only board member who voted against the ordinance change. Board members Marcy Huffaker and Bob Cassity were excused from the meeting.

Haugen said there should be some provision in the law that allows the county to deport violators of the ordinance.

Supervisor Don Stevens of Loganville sits on the two committees that gave nods of approval to the new paraphernalia rule, sending it to the full board Tuesday night. He voted against amending the ordinance once, then for it in a different committee.

During Tuesday night’s board meeting, Stevens explained that he does not like a section of the county’s Public Peace and Order ordinance that sets curfew hours for minors.

He voted against amending the ordinance during an executive and legislative committee meeting because of those rules. When the pot paraphernalia amendment was being discussed in a later meeting of the board’s law enforcement committee, which Stevens chairs, he was informed that officers do not use the curfew rules as a primary reason for pulling someone over, he said. That’s why he said he decided to vote in favor of adding the pot paraphernalia rules to the ordinance in the second meeting.

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