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Sen. Mike Young (R-Indianapolis) says he plans to revive the prosecutorial discretion override bill in 2021.
FILE PHOTO: Lauren Chapman/IPB NewsLegislation aimed at Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears’s decision not to prosecute simple marijuana possession won’t advance this session.
The bill didn’t make it past the Senate floor.
The legislation said if a local prosecutor makes a policy decision not to prosecute certain crimes, the Indiana Attorney General could appoint a special prosecutor to do so and charge the county to pay for it. It garnered almost no support from those who testified on it, though the committee passed it.
READ MORE: Marion County Prosecutor Explains Marijuana Possession Policy
There were other versions proposed on the Senate floor. One would allow the governor to appoint that special prosecutor. Another would’ve withheld state funds from the county. And Sen. Mike Young (R-Indianapolis) says the differing ideas doomed the bill this year.
“We had about six or seven different ways we could go and we couldn’t coalesce around one way,” Young says.
Young says he wants the legislature to study the issue further this summer and plans to revive it next year.
Contact Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.
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