City Ordinance Disorderly Conduct Marijuana Charges in Metro Atlanta Municipal Courts
Have you been given a citation for a disorderly conduct marijuana charge? Did this incident occur in Fulton, Cobb, or DeKalb County? Are you required to appear in one of the metro Atlanta municipal courts? This blog should help provide some information in regards to your city ordinance disorderly conduct marijuana charge. If you have further questions please feel free to call or text anytime 678-753-6431.
Why was I charged with a city ordinance Disorderly Conduct violation instead of state law misdemeanor Possession of Marijuana?
Over the last ten years, municipal police departments, especially the North Fulton police departments of Sandy Springs, Roswell, Alpharetta, Johns Creek along with Smyrna and Dunwoody have been increasingly citing people for small amounts of marijuana under their city’s disorderly conduct statute instead of charging them with the state law Possession of Marijuana charge. These city ordinance citations differ from state law violations in that I am not seeing people arrested for possession of marijuana when they are cited under the city ordinance.
What is the difference between a city ordinance violation and state law violations?
City ordinance violations differ from state law violations in that they do not create new cycles on your criminal history. Your Georgia criminal history will only report specific offenses if they are state law misdemeanor or felony violations. Local ordinance violations including city and county ordinances are not directly reported on your criminal history. If you were arrested on the city ordinance disorderly conduct marijuana it is possible your criminal history may reflect a city ordinance violation. I always recommend anyone who has been arrested to request a copy of their criminal history 30 days after they have been arrested and 30 days after their case has been resolved.
You may be required to provide fingerprints if you were not arrested on a city ordinance marijuana violation. You will be informed at your first court date if you are required to provide fingerprints for the marijuana charge. This is not an arrest, but it does allow for tracking of this offense against future offenses.
If I plead guilty or nolo contendere to a city ordinance Disorderly Conduct Marijuana violation, will it go on my criminal record?
Prosecutors may tell you a city ordinance disorderly conduct marijuana charge will not get reported on your Georgia criminal history. They are probably right. City ordinance violations should not get reported to your Georgia criminal history, but occasionally they do because you were initially arrested for the offense. If you were initially arrested for the offense, your criminal history might have a cycle for the date of the offense and the charge would be local ordinance violation. There would be no details as to the specific charge, but it could be present.
Another consideration beyond your Georgia criminal history is that more and more private background check companies are going to local municipal courts near the area of your home address and checking your name and date of birth for any docket entries in the clerk of municipal court’s database. They may be able to find any plea of guilty or nolo contendere in the municipal court clerk’s record.
What about in the City of Atlanta? I heard there was just a $75 fine for Possession of Marijuana in the City of Atlanta.
Atlanta police officers, along with the Georgia State Patrol, GSU police, Emory police, and other law enforcement departments in the City of Atlanta can choose to charge Possession of Marijuana as either a city ordinance violation or a state law violation. My experience says the Georgia State Patrol almost always charges you with the state law violation, while the Atlanta police almost always charge you with the city ordinance violation. City ordinance marijuana charges are only a $75 fine plus court costs if you choose to resolve your citation with a guilty or nolo contendere plea, however, there will be an entry in the City of Atlanta Municipal Court online database that shows city ordinance possession of marijuana and the manner in which your case was resolved. Convictions for state law violations of possession of marijuana in the City of Atlanta Municipal Court would potentially go on your criminal history as they are treated as misdemeanor offenses. It is important to know if you were charged under the city ordinance or state law violation if you were cited in the city of Atlanta.
Whether you’ve been charged with a city ordinance disorderly conduct marijuana violation or a state law misdemeanor possession of marijuana, it is important to know that you have all your rights under the Constitution of the United State of America and the Georgia Constitution to defend yourself and fight your charges. You also have the right to a jury trial if you so choose even though you were charged with a city ordinance. Before you resolve your case, it is important that you speak to someone to understand your unique situation, all your rights, and any potential defenses you may have to your charge. If you’d like to speak with me about your case, give me a call or text at 678-753-6431 and I would be happy to take all the time necessary to go over everything about your case.
