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Should any word, clause, phrase, sentence, paragraph, section or chapter of this Charter or amendment thereto, be held invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such ruling or judgment shall not affect the validity of any other portion of this Charter or any amendment thereto, but same shall remain in full force and effect, the provisions hereof being severable.
Amendments to this Charter that are approved at an election on August 12, 1989 create a new system of government that requires an orderly transition. Accordingly, the following transitional provisions shall apply:
(1) The next regular general election for members of the city council scheduled under the present Charter for May, 1991 is deferred to and shall be held on the official election date in November, 1991. Any runoff elections shall be held two weeks after the general election. All general elections thereafter shall be held on the first Saturday in May of odd-numbered years or on such other date as shall be fixed by law.
(2) The candidate filing dates that are prescribed in the present Charter are, for the year 1991 only, reestablished at later dates in 1991 that contain the same number of elapsed days prior to the general election date as are provided in the Charter for the May, 1991 election.
(3) The terms of office of the persons holding office as members of the city council on the first Saturday in May, 1991 are extended to the date that their successors are elected and qualified after the general election in November, 1991. Persons elected to the city council at the November, 1991 general election shall serve until their successors take office after the May, 1993 general election (except for the holder of the office of mayor who shall serve until the May, 1995 general election). Thereafter, the terms of office shall be as prescribed in this Charter, as amended.
(4) In applying the limitations on the terms of office of members of the city council who first took office prior to November, 1991, the limitations shall be measured from the date the member first took office on the city council, and the period from November, 1991 to May, 1993 shall be counted as one term. If, upon adoption and implementation of these amendments, a person will have served as mayor for two consecutive terms, those two terms shall be considered as equivalent to one four-year term in calculating eligibility for an additional term in the general election held in November, 1991.
(5) Sections 1, 2, 3A, 4, 5, 9, and 14 of Chapter III; Sections 3, 4, 5(a), 6, 7, and 8 of Chapter IV; Section 1 of Chapter XVI; Section 2 of Chapter XVII; and Section 13 of Chapter XXIV shall take effect on the date council members take office after the general election in November, 1991, except that for the purposes of preparing city council district lines and for filing for candidacy in that election, they shall take effect immediately.
(6) Section 13 of Chapter III, Policy-making Procedures and Oversight Responsibilities, shall take effect January 1, 1990.
(7) Section 5(b) of Chapter IV, Redistricting Commission, shall take effect January 1, 1991.
(8) All city charter amendments not referred to in Subsections (5), (6), and (7), adopted at the August 12, 1989 election, shall take effect immediately.
(9) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no amendment that is approved at the election on August 12, 1989 shall be effective unless and until the Voting Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice issues a letter interposing no objection to the
implementation of the amendment, if voting rights review is required for the amendment. (Amend. of 8-12-89, Prop. No. 1) [NOTE: The wording and structure of this section may appear unusual or incomplete because of selective preclearance by the United States Justice Department of the August 12, 1989 charter amendments to this section].
The repeal of any provision, section or chapter of any charter by the amendments to this Charter shall not affect or impair any act done or obligation, right, license, permit or penalty accrued or existing under the authority of the provision, section or chapter repealed. Such provision, section or chapter shall be treated as still remaining in force for the purpose of sustaining any proper action concerning any such obligation, right, license, permit or penalty. In addition, any franchise, contract, permit or license obtained under any provision, section or chapter repealed by any amendments to this Charter shall remain effective for the term and under the conditions prescribed by the repealed portion under which the franchise, contract, permit or license was granted or issued; provided that if the franchise, contract, permit or license provides that the same shall be governed by the Charter of the City of Dallas, as amended, then the amended section shall control.
All civil and criminal ordinances and all resolutions of a general and permanent nature in force and effect when this Charter or any amendment thereto shall become effective, which are inconsistent or in conflict with this Charter or any amendment thereto, are hereby repealed except as herein provided. Where any such civil or criminal ordinance or resolution of a general and permanent nature in force and effect when this Charter or any amendment thereto, shall become effective is consistent with and not in conflict with the provisions hereto, same shall continue in full force and effect unimpaired by the provisions hereof.
(a) This policy in this section shall be known as the Dallas Freedom Act.
(b) Pursuant to the home rule authority of the Texas Constitution, to promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the people of Dallas, Texas, the voters of Dallas hereby enact the Dallas Freedom Act, a policy to reform marijuana enforcement by city personnel, with the specific goals of carefully allocating scarce city resources, reducing the risk of discriminatory enforcement practices, and focusing city resources on the highest priority public safety concerns.
(c) Unless and until a binding act of a state or federal court requires otherwise, the Dallas Police Department shall not make any arrest or issue any citation for Class A or Class B misdemeanor marijuana possession, except in the limited cases described by this policy.
(d) In the event of a binding act of a state or federal court which would prevent the City of Dallas’s fulfillment of Subsection (c), the city’s policy shall be to make enforcement of Class A and Class B misdemeanor marijuana possession its lowest enforcement priority. In particular, the city shall update its annual budget, police department manual, and relevant policies and procedures to ensure that public safety resources are not wasted on misdemeanor marijuana enforcement, and are instead targeted at other programs that best promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the people of Dallas.
(e) This policy shall not limit enforcement of misdemeanor marijuana possession offenses if an offense is: (1) revealed as part of a felony narcotics investigation that has been designated as “high priority” by a commander, assistant chief of police, or chief of police; and/or (2) revealed as part of the investigation of a violent felony. Dallas police officers shall not issue any charge for misdemeanor possession of marijuana unless it meets one or more of these exceptions.
(f) In any instance governed by this policy, if a Dallas police officer has probable cause to believe that a substance is illegal marijuana, the officer may seize the substance. If the officer seizes the substance, they must write a report explaining the grounds for seizure and release any detained person if possession of marijuana is the sole charge.
(g) A Class C misdemeanor citation for possession of drug residue or drug paraphernalia shall not be issued in lieu of a possession of marijuana charge.
(h) No city funds or personnel shall be used to request, conduct, or obtain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) testing of any cannabis- related substance to determine whether the substance meets the legal definition of marijuana under state or federal law, except: (1) for purposes of toxicology testing to ensure public safety; or (2) the investigation of a violent felony offense.
(i) Dallas police shall not consider the odor of marijuana or hemp to constitute probable cause for any search or seizure, except in the limited circumstances of a police investigation pursuant to Subsection (e).
(j) The city manager and chief of police shall ensure that: (1) city policies and internal operating procedures are updated in accord with this policy; and (2) Dallas police officers receive adequate training concerning each of the provisions of this policy.
(k) Any violation of this policy may subject a Dallas police officer to discipline as provided by the Texas Local Government Code or as provided by city policy.
(l) The city manager, in consultation with the chief of police and other relevant city personnel, shall prepare quarterly reports concerning the implementation of this policy, to be presented to city council at a public meeting subject to the Texas Open Meetings Act, and with the first report due no later than 120 days following the effective date of this policy. Each report shall include a summary of the city’s implementation of this policy and shall include specific information concerning enforcement of misdemeanor marijuana possession offenses, including total arrests made, total citations issued, estimated personnel hours used in conducting enforcement activities, and demographic information for each person charged with an offense, including age, gender, race, and ethnicity. Each quarterly report shall also be submitted to the Chair of the Community Police Oversight Board at the same time it is made available to city council.
(m) In the event that any court finds any subsection of the Dallas Freedom Act to be unlawful or unenforceable, that subsection shall be severed from this policy and the rest shall continue in force. (Amend. of 11-5-24)