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City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 original ordinance would prevent the "imminent danger" exception from becoming a catch-all that an officer could use to justify arrests whenever they wanted, again undermining the intent of the ordinance to significantly expand the use of citations. We encourage you to reject other last-minute amendments beyond any simple, clean-up amendments. In particular, we oppose any amendments that would narrow the acceptable forms of identification. We have also submitted a letter to City Council expressing our support in greater detail and are happy to answer any questions that Council may have. By passing this ordinance with its original language, this Council would become a leader among Texas cities in protecting its citizens from unnecessary arrests. We urge you to vote for passage of the ordinance in order to maximize public safety, promote equity and reduce racial disparities in San Marcos. Thank you. Ranjana Natarajan: Dear Council Members and Mayor: I am writing to provide comment and legal analysis that I hope will be useful as the San Marcos City Council considers whether to adopt an Ordinance favoring the use of cite -and -release in lieu of arrest—as authorized by Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 14.06 and other provisions of state law—to guide the San Marcos Police Department. For purposes of identification, I am a Clinical Professor at the University of Texas School of Law, where I teach and direct a Civil Rights Clinic. In the Clinic, students represent low-income Texas residents on a variety of civil rights matters, including police misconduct. As such, I am familiar with legal issues involving allegations of police misconduct, false arrest, and related legal defenses such as qualified immunity. I. Ordinances and their Relationship to State Law As you know, ordinances that touch upon areas also regulated by state law are invalid only if they conflict with state law or the Texas Constitution. See Tex. Const. art. XI, Sec. 5(a); City of Laredo v. Laredo Merchants Ass'n, 550 S.W.3d 586, 589, 593 (Tex. 2018) ("local regulation, ancillary to and in harmony with the general scope and purpose of the state enactment, is acceptable") (internal citation omitted). Here, the proposed cite -and -release ordinance does not conflict with state law so long as it does not require law enforcement officers (LSO's) to take any action forbidden by state law or forbid LEO'S from taking action required by state law. II. Policy Advantages of Cite and Release The proposed cite -and -release ordinance has policy advantages. As you know, the Texas Legislature in 2007 amended Article 14.06 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure in light of the burdens on county jails around the state, City of San Marcos Page 8