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Agenda Subject:
Ordinance No. 6825 (Comeau)
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Date:
June 15, 2021
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Department:
City Attorney
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Attachments:
Ordinance No. 6825
Exhibit A
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Budget Impact:
Current Budget: $0
Proposed Revision: $0
Revised Budget: $0
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| Administrative Recommendation: |
| City Council to adopt Ordinance No. 6740. |
| Background for Motion: |
| The State Legislature revised the State’s drug laws when it passed ESB 5476. The revisions render ACC 9.22 inconsistent with State law and obsolete. Ordinance 6825 proposes to repeal ACC 9.22 and to amend ACC 9.24.010 to bring the City’s code in line with State law as revised. The City supports the adoption of Ordinance 6825. |
| Background Summary: |
In State v. Blake, the Washington Supreme Court invalidated the State’s drug possession law (RCW 69.50.4013) because the law lacked the legally required element of “knowing” possession. The State Legislature passed ESB 5476 in response to the Blake decision. In addition to other law changes, ESB 5476 reduces RCW 69.50.4013 from a felony to a misdemeanor, and decriminalizes some drug paraphernalia possession under RCW 69.50.412.
With these changes, the City’s drug possession and paraphernalia ordinances in ACC 9.22 are no longer needed and are now inconsistent with State law as revised by ESB 5476. To conform with ESB 5476, the ordinances in ACC 9.22 should be repealed, and ACC 9.24.010 should be amended to remove its reference to ACC 9.22 and to add precision and clarity to that code section. |
| Reviewed by Council Committees: |
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| Councilmember: |
Jeyaraj |
Staff: |
Comeau |
| Meeting Date: |
June 21, 2021 |
Item Number: |
ORD.C |
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