Marijuana Policy Project

Campton Hills: No criminal charges for first-time offenders

CAMPTON HILLS — First-time marijuana offenders and underage drinkers in Campton Hills would get a chance to keep their criminal records clean under a set of proposed village ordinances.

The Village Board is considering creating ordinances that would fine people for possession of marijuana, underage possession of alcohol, and possession of drug paraphernalia and breaking curfew.

Establishing these offenses as village ordinances means officers would have the discretion to keep offenders out of the Kane County judicial system, village officials said.

"That way, it doesn't go on the kid's record," said Village President Patsy Smith.

Campton Hills Police Chief Greg Anderson recommended to the board that the fines be set at $250 for each of the four violations. The hope is to make the fine stiff enough to discourage underage people from committing the crimes and make sure they are not haunted for the rest of their lives for making one mistake, he said.

"That record could potentially follow these (children) for the rest of their lives," Anderson said.

Those disputing the ordinance would then be referred to the county courts for criminal proceedings, Anderson said. Also, the department would run criminal checks and keep track of those cited under the ordinance previously to determine whether they were first-timers.

Anderson rejected the idea that this would be a potential revenue source for the village. He said that establishing the ordinances could reduce some costs associated with prosecuting criminal offenses, such as sending officers to court proceedings.

These offenses normally are state violations but can change to local ordinances. Last year, Sugar Grove enacted a similar ticket system for similar minor charges.

Since the beginning of this year, Campton Hills has had an estimated seven arrests for marijuana possession and four for possession of paraphernalia.

Another criminal ordinance

The board also is considering an ordinance requiring all liquor establishments within the village to report crimes or potential crimes immediately after an incident happens.

Anderson said this move stems from a bar fight which happened earlier this year.

The crime was not reported until the following day by the victim. Anderson declined to identify which bar failed to report the fight, but said that the bar had not violated the law.

"The problem is we don't know if there are other disturbances at other liquor establishments. ... Unless people are reporting these types of things, we just don't know," Anderson said.

Both ordinances could come up for approval during the next scheduled board meeting on June 16.