Oswego Won't Hand Out Tickets for Marijuana, Drinking Arrests

There appears to be little momentum for a plan that would have those younger than 21 who are caught with alcohol or those caught possessing marijuana in Oswego facing only a village-issued fine.

In a 5-0 vote Tuesday night Village Trustees shot down a proposal that would have fined those arrested on the Class IV misdemeanors $750. The ordinance also would not have required a trip to the Kendall County Courthouse to face a judge. Instead, offenders would have been adjudicated through .

In the first half of 2011 made 154 Class IV arrests. Adjudicating those cases within the village could have injected an extra $115,000 in revenue into village coffers.

Trustees were not convinced, however, that a ticket for the offenses would be enough to deter these types of crimes. Trustee Gail Johnson said she had heard from many parents who were concerned that the proposed ticketing process could make the village appear soft on these types of offenses.

Trustee Tony Giles, a teacher at , said it’s important for teens to have that threat of actually having to show up in court to act as a deterrent.

“If you can write a check, pay for it and be done, that makes it not such a big deterrent,” he said.

Village President Brian LeClercq appeared to be the only one who favored the proposal. He said if vehicles are involved in the arrest, fees could reach upward of $1,600, and that would be enough to deter would-be offenders.

Trustees also worried that because the violations would not be entered into a larger database, those arrested again in neighboring communities wouldn’t be known to local law enforcement officials as repeat offenders.