HOUSTON – One item on Houston voters’ Nov. 3 ballots could put two policing policies into the city charter.
Proposition A would ban Houston police officers from requesting or executing no-knock search warrants and require the Houston Police Department (HPD) to make enforcement of Class A and Class B misdemeanor marijuana possession its lowest law-enforcement priority.
Voters cannot choose between the two provisions. A “yes” vote would approve the entire charter amendment, while a “no” would reject it.
The measure would not legalize marijuana in Houston. Possession would remain illegal under Texas law.
SEE: Texas election guide 2026: Dates, voting requirements and Houston-area contacts
What else would Proposition A require?
The proposal goes beyond changing enforcement priorities.
If approved, Houston would conduct a one-time audit looking back at five years of misdemeanor marijuana enforcement. That review would include arrests, citations, and demographic information.
The city would also be required to issue annual reports containing information including arrests, citations, referrals to diversion programs, and staff time used for enforcement.
Why supporters want the policy in writing
The proposal originated with Ground Game Texas and reached the ballot after roughly 40,000 Houstonians signed the petition.
Supporters argue that putting the restrictions into the city charter would prevent a future police chief from reversing the policies.
They also nodded to the 2019 Harding Street raid, when Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas were killed after Houston police entered their home using a no-knock warrant secured with false information.
ALSO READ: Texas voter rolls hit record 19M as Harris County turnout soars
Why opponents say it is unnecessary
Mayor John Whitmire and Houston Police Officers’ Union President Douglas Griffith have argued that HPD already rarely uses no-knock warrants and that low-level marijuana cases are already generally deprioritized.
That creates the central choice for voters: whether practices that officials say are already largely in place should become requirements written into Houston’s charter.
Houston voters will decide Prop A on Nov. 3.
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.