Proposition 207 Program

2022 NACo Achievement Award Winner

Maricopa County, Ariz., AZ

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About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2022

On November 3, 2020, voters in Arizona passed Proposition 207, also known as the Smart and Safe Act. The ballot measure legalizes the adult recreational use of marijuana, specifically by allowing adults 21 and older in Arizona to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana (with no more than 5 grams being marijuana concentrate), and to have up to 6 marijuana plants at their home (with up to 12 marijuana plants in households with two or more adult members.) This change in the law necessitated a multi-prong approach and organized program in order to dismiss pending cases, expunge past convictions and be able to coordinate, track and process these requests and cases – as a result the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office created and implemented the Proposition 207 Program. Immediately following the certification of the election, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office began implementing the Proposition 207 Program, filing motions to dismiss pending cases in Maricopa County that would have been covered by the new statute, but for the date of crime. Proposition 207 also allows anyone convicted or adjudicated as a juvenile of certain crimes related to possession, consumption, cultivation, and transportation of marijuana to petition for the expungement of their criminal record.

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