A transit rider steps onto a Community Transit bus on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

A transit rider steps onto a Community Transit bus on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Marysville aims to prosecute drug, disturbance cases in municipal court

City officials say certain crimes are rarely prosecuted. Two ordinances seek to change that in Marysville.

MARYSVILLE — Two ordinances passed by the Marysville City Council aim to give the city’s municipal court more room to prosecute public drug use and disturbances on public transit in 2023.

Both changes to city code were adopted unanimously by the council in December.

Under the new ordinances, Marysville will be able to prosecute those crimes in municipal court without waiting for county or state prosecutors to take up a case, Mayor Jon Nehring said.

Nehring said city police have seen a recent increase in incidents of public drug use, though he did not have specific data offhand to support his claim.

Up until the state Supreme Court’s landmark decision decriminalizing drug possession in State v. Blake, people caught using illicit drugs in a public space could be prosecuted under Washington’s possession laws, Nehring said, which made it a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The Legislature amended state code in 2021 to make drug possession a misdemeanor, with penalties of up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Law enforcement must now refer a person to addiction treatment on their first two offenses before they can be arrested or charged with the crime.

Before the Blake decision, Nehring said Marysville police still referred people accused of drug-related crimes to treatment, but those referrals came with the threat of jail time if they didn’t go. He said over 150 people had graduated from treatment programs after being referred before the new law took effect, but very few have accepted the offer now that treatment is optional.

Treatment “is always the goal, it’s less expensive, it’s better for them to get to the root of the problem, better for everybody,” Nehring said. “Nobody wants to throw a bunch of people in jail. But unfortunately the state of mind for most of these individuals is that without the threat of some form of punishment, they almost never take treatment.”

The new ordinance makes public drug use a misdemeanor in Marysville, allowing people to be charged through the municipal court on the first offense if they don’t accept treatment, Nehring said. He said under the law, drug use will be treated similarly to how public drunkenness or marijuana use is already handled under state and city law.

City attorney Jon Walker said the ordinance includes exceptions for drugs prescribed by a doctor, since many commonly used pharmaceuticals are considered controlled substances by state regulations. THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, is still considered a controlled substance, but its public use is a civil infraction under state and city law, Walker said.

The current state law that followed State v. Blake is set to expire in July, but Nehring said he expects legislators will pass a law to replace it in the 2023 session. He said Marysville leaders are working with their representatives to craft a law with similar provisions to the city ordinance, but that the city would likely adopt an updated measure, including both possession and public use, if it does not. Nehring said he’s not concerned the city is stepping on the state’s toes with the recent ordinance, since there are currently no state laws addressing public drug consumption.

The other ordinance addresses disturbances on public transit, which Nehring claimed are also on the rise recently. It adopts into city code an existing state law making “inappropriate behavior,” ranging from smoking to blasting loud music or throwing objects, a misdemeanor.

Despite the existing state law, Nehring said people accused of such crimes on Marysville buses were rarely prosecuted in state or county court. Prosecutors were already under “huge strain,” Nehring said, and relatively minor offenses like transit disturbances are typically at the bottom of the list of priorities.

But Marysville officials saw the need to remove disturbances whenever possible, said Nehring, who serves on Community Transit’s board of directors. Adding the ordinance to city code allows cases to be processed through municipal courts, too, ensuring they get attention, he said.

“If we control our own destiny and have the ability to prosecute with our own city prosecutors, that just gives us more control over those kinds of decisions,” Nehring said. “We want to be taking care of our citizens here locally, should things happen here in Marysville.”

Riley Haun: 425-339-3192; riley.haun@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @RHaunID.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Students from Explorer Middle School gather Wednesday around a makeshift memorial for Emiliano “Emi” Munoz, who died Monday, May 5, after an electric bicycle accident in south Everett. (Aspen Anderson / The Herald)
Community and classmates mourn death of 13-year-old in bicycle accident

Emiliano “Emi” Munoz died from his injuries three days after colliding with a braided cable.

Danny Burgess, left, and Sandy Weakland, right, carefully pull out benthic organisms from sediment samples on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘Got Mud?’ Researchers monitor the health of the Puget Sound

For the next few weeks, the state’s marine monitoring team will collect sediment and organism samples across Puget Sound

Everett postal workers gather for a portrait to advertise the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish County letter carriers prepare for food drive this Saturday

The largest single-day food drive in the country comes at an uncertain time for federal food bank funding.

Everett
Everett considers ordinance to require more apprentice labor

It would require apprentices to work 15% of the total labor hours for construction or renovation on most city projects over $1 million.

Snohomish County prosecutor Kara Van Slyck delivers closing statement during the trial of Christian Sayre at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Thursday, May 8, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Jury deliberations begin in the fourth trial of former Everett bar owner

Jury members deliberated for about 2 hours before Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Millie Judge sent them home until Monday.

Christian Sayre sits in the courtroom before the start of jury selection on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Christian Sayre timeline

FEBRUARY 2020 A woman reports a sexual assault by Sayre. Her sexual… Continue reading

Marysville
Marysville talks middle housing at open house

City planning staff say they want a ‘soft landing’ to limit the impacts of new state housing laws. But they don’t expect their approach to slow development.

Smoke from the Bolt Creek fire silhouettes a mountain ridge and trees just outside of Index on Sept. 12, 2022. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County will host two wildfire-preparedness meetings in May

Meetings will allow community members to learn wildfire mitigation strategies and connect with a variety of local and state agencies.

A speed limiter device, like this one, will be required for repeat speeding offenders under a Washington law signed on May 12, 2025. The law doesn’t take effect until 2029. (Photo by Jake Goldstein-Street/Washington State Standard)
Washington to rein in fast drivers with speed limiters

A new law set to take effect in 2029 will require repeat speeding offenders to install the devices in their vehicles.

Commuters from Whidbey Island disembark their vehicles from the ferry Tokitae on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018 in Mukilteo, Wa.  (Andy Bronson / The Herald)
Bids for five new hybrid ferries come in high

It’s raising doubts about the state’s plans to construct up to five new hybrid-electric vessels with the $1.3 billion lawmakers have set aside.

City of Everett Engineer Tom Hood, left, and City of Everett Engineer and Project Manager Dan Enrico, right, talks about the current Edgewater Bridge demolition on Friday, May 9, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
How do you get rid of a bridge? Everett engineers can explain.

Workers began dismantling the old Edgewater Bridge on May 2. The process could take one to two months, city engineers said.

Christian Sayre walks out of the courtroom in handcuffs after being found guilty on two counts of indecent liberties at the end of his trial at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Monday, May 12, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Former bar owner convicted on two of three counts of sexual abuse

A jury deliberated for about 8 hours before returning guilty verdicts on two charges of indecent liberties Monday.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.