Save Austin Now s petition to reinstate Austin s camping ban failed to meet the signature threshold for the November ballot (Photo by John Anderson)
1) Jan. 23: Council Nixes Low-Level Pot Busts In 2019, the Texas Legislature legalized hemp, defined as cannabis with a THC concentration of less than 0.3%. Because the test to determine that percentage is not widely available, many district and county attorneys subsequently decided not to prosecute low-level possession of marijuana cases. At the beginning of 2020, Council unanimously voted to end such arrests (which are already discretionary) in Austin; however, Austin Police Department Chief Brian Manley pushed back, saying possession is still illegal and APD will still enforce marijuana laws. Even so, though arrests are still possible, there s no longer a possibility of a court case or jail time.