Houston Marijuana, No-Knock Measure Added to November Ballot

Houston voters will decide the Houston Freedom Act in the November 3, 2026 general election after City Council placed the citizen-led charter proposal on the ballot August 12. The measure would make Class A and B misdemeanor marijuana possession the Houston Police Department's lowest enforcement priority and prohibit HPD officers from requesting or executing no-knock warrants. Ground Game Texas submitted close to 40,000 petition signatures in June, roughly double the 20,000 validated signatures required under Houston's charter.

What the Houston Freedom Act Would Actually Do

The measure bundles two separate policy changes into one charter amendment. On marijuana, it would require HPD to "make enforcement of Class A and Class B misdemeanor marijuana possession its lowest possible enforcement priority," redirecting resources toward diversion alternatives like treatment referrals and community service rather than arrest. Officers could still seize suspected marijuana; this is a deprioritization measure, not decriminalization in the sense of removing police authority to act. The measure also requires the city to complete a five-year audit of past marijuana enforcement, including arrest and demographic data, track the funds and staff time spent on THC testing, calculate the average cost per case, and publish annual reports on how the policy is being implemented.

Houston Public Media reported that Ground Game Texas submitted more than 40,000 signatures, about 15,000 more than required under city code. The campaign also points to unequal arrest outcomes. An ACLU of Texas analysis found Black Texans remained more than twice as likely as white Texans to be arrested for marijuana possession.

On no-knock warrants, the language is more absolute. It would bar HPD from requesting, executing, or participating in the execution of any search warrant that doesn't require officers to knock, announce their presence, and wait at least 15 seconds before entering. Houston's current Executive Order 1-67 allows a no-knock warrant only with written approval from the HPD chief. The ballot measure would replace that exception-based policy with a firm knock-and-wait rule.

The No-Knock Ban's Origin: The Harding Street Raid

The no-knock provision traces directly to a specific case. In January 2019, Houston police executed a no-knock warrant at a home on Harding Street based on a narcotics tip that turned out to be fabricated. The raid triggered a shootout that wounded several officers and killed the homeowners, Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. The officer who obtained the warrant, Gerald Goines, was later convicted of felony murder for both deaths and sentenced in 2024 to two concurrent 60-year prison terms; he still faces separate federal charges. HPD restricted its use of no-knock warrants after the case but did not ban the tactic outright, which is the gap this ballot measure is written to close.

The Marijuana Provision, and What Harris County Is Already Doing

Houston voters would not be starting from zero on marijuana enforcement. CannaWize has separately reported that the Harris County District Attorney's Office has told local law enforcement it generally won't accept charges over a THC vape pen, citing a lab-testing gap, and that the office's stated priorities already point toward violent crime, organized crime, and serious drug cases rather than low-level possession. Harris County has also run a marijuana diversion program since 2017 that lets most people caught with under four ounces avoid criminal charges by completing drug education classes.

That existing posture and the Houston Freedom Act are not the same thing, and voters should not confuse them. The DA's charging priorities are an informal, revocable practice inside the county prosecutor's office; a new district attorney or a change in policy could reverse it with no public process required. The Houston Freedom Act would apply specifically to HPD's own enforcement decisions, not the county's charging decisions, and it would lock in the mandatory audits, cost tracking, and annual public reporting that the current informal approach does not include. City police enforcement and county prosecutorial charging are two different levers controlled by two different offices; this measure only pulls one of them, and only within Houston's city limits.

The Legal Shadow Hanging Over This

Houston would not be the first Texas city to try this, and the track record for the marijuana half of these measures is not good. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Austin, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin, and Denton over nearly identical marijuana decriminalization ordinances, arguing that cities cannot legally instruct police to decline enforcing a state drug law. A Travis County judge initially dismissed Paxton's case against Austin in 2024, but the Texas Fifteenth Court of Appeals reversed that outcome in 2025 and 2026, ruling in Paxton's favor and striking down both Austin's and San Marcos's ordinances as unenforceable. Denton's version fared no better by a different route: voters approved it by more than 70% in 2022, but the city manager has said it conflicts with state law and it has never actually been enforced.

The two halves of the Houston Freedom Act likely don't carry the same legal risk. Paxton's argument against Austin and San Marcos is specifically about cities directing police not to enforce a state drug law. The no-knock warrant ban is a different kind of policy: it's a local use-of-force and warrant-execution rule, closer to how cities already set their own police procedures, rather than an instruction to ignore a state statute. That distinction doesn't guarantee the no-knock provision survives a challenge either, but it means the two provisions shouldn't be assumed to share the same fate just because they're on the same ballot line. If Houston voters approve this in November, expect the marijuana provision, not the no-knock ban, to draw the state's attention first.

What Happens Next

1. Ballot placement is complete. City Council placed the Houston Freedom Act before voters on August 12 after the petition-verification process.
2. November 3 election. Houston voters will decide the charter amendment in the November 3, 2026 general election.
3. Likely legal challenge. Based on what happened to Austin and San Marcos, the marijuana provision should be expected to draw a challenge from the Texas Attorney General's office if voters approve it, regardless of the outcome at the ballot box.
4. No change yet. None of this changes current law, current HPD practice, or current Harris County charging priorities. Nothing here takes effect unless and until voters approve it in November.

Keep the Ballot Question Separate From Product Law

The proposal is about city enforcement priorities, not which hemp products can be sold. Readers looking for the product rules should use CannaWize's Texas THCA legal guide and July 31 delta-8 rule explainer. Passing the Houston measure would not change either statewide framework.