Short answer
Weed is not legal in Houston. Possession is a crime under state law everywhere in the city, and Houston cannot change that. What Harris County does differently is how small cases are often handled: the District Attorney's Office offers eligible adults with up to four ounces a pre-charge diversion class instead of a charge.
On November 3, 2026, Houston voters decide Prop A, which would make misdemeanor possession HPD's lowest enforcement priority. It would not legalize anything.
State law still applies
Start here, because it trips people up: Houston marijuana laws are Texas marijuana laws. The Controlled Substances Act applies inside the Inner Loop the same as anywhere else. Up to two ounces is a Class B misdemeanor, two to four ounces is a Class A misdemeanor, and concentrates are graded as Penalty Group 2, where under a gram is a felony. The penalty table has the details.
Local officials control enforcement choices, not the law itself. And since 2023 that control has limits: HB 17 lets a court remove a prosecutor who adopts a policy of refusing to prosecute an entire class of offenses (bill history). The law exempts pretrial diversion programs, which is why diversion, rather than "we won't prosecute," is the tool Harris County uses.
Who does what
- Harris County District Attorney's Office decides which cases get filed and runs the diversion program. It covers cases from Houston police, the Sheriff's Office, constables and the many smaller departments in the county.
- Houston Police Department patrols the city and decides, case by case, whether to detain, cite or arrest.
- Harris County Sheriff's Office patrols unincorporated Harris County, which is a lot of the area people call Houston, and runs the county jail.
- The Texas Department of Public Safety (state troopers) enforces state law on highways and anywhere else in the state.
The Misdemeanor Marijuana Diversion Program
Since March 1, 2017, the Harris County DA's office has offered a pre-charge program for misdemeanor marijuana possession (official program page). The way the DA describes it: it is a cooperative effort between the DA and local law enforcement, the person completes an online education program, and someone who finishes has no record of an arrest or charge for that possession.
Who is eligible
Per the DA's office, an adult (17 or older) detained or arrested for Class A or Class B marijuana possession (up to four ounces) can be eligible, as long as there are no other charges from that stop other than Class C offenses, plus the program's other conditions.
Who is not eligible
- People on felony deferred adjudication or probation anywhere.
- People already out on a Harris County bond, or on Harris County misdemeanor deferred adjudication or probation.
- Anyone in possession of a concealed handgun along with the marijuana.
- Possession in a corrections facility.
- Anyone currently in the program who has not finished it.
The DA's office says the program remains in effect and that eligibility was broadened after the current district attorney took office in 2025. Diversion is still an offer the officer and prosecutor make, not a right, and it does not cover concentrates, which are felony-level Penalty Group 2 cases.
Cite and release
Texas law lets officers issue a citation and a court date instead of booking someone into jail for certain Class A and Class B misdemeanors (Code of Criminal Procedure Article 14.06). Harris County runs a cite and release program, and the City of Houston joined it in 2020 by executive order (Executive Order 1-68). That order listed misdemeanor marijuana possession of four ounces or less as handled through the diversion program instead of cite and release.
In 2026, reporting by local outlets found that the Sheriff's Office lists misdemeanor marijuana possession under its cite and release program, while HPD said it has no general order telling officers whether to arrest for misdemeanor possession. In other words, outcomes can depend on who stops you.
What that means in practice
Put together, here is the honest version. If you are an adult caught with a small amount of flower in Harris County, with nothing else going on, a common outcome is an offer of diversion rather than a filed charge. That is not the same as legal. People still get arrested and charged, especially when there is another offense, a gun, a probation or bond issue, concentrates, or larger amounts. Local reporting in 2026 found misdemeanor marijuana prosecutions in Harris County had risen in recent years, and officials disagree publicly about why.
None of this applies to DWI, which is prosecuted on its own terms, or to bringing cannabis through Bush or Hobby airports, where state and federal rules both apply.
Prop A, explained
Houston City Council ordered a charter amendment election for November 3, 2026 after a petition drive. The ballot language asks whether to amend the city charter to require HPD to make enforcement of Class A and Class B misdemeanor marijuana possession its lowest enforcement priority, with reporting requirements, and to prohibit Houston police from requesting or executing no-knock search warrants (city election page).
The full text (notice of election, PDF) is longer than the ballot language. If it passes, the "Houston Freedom Act" would:
- Make misdemeanor marijuana possession HPD's lowest possible enforcement priority, unless and until a binding state or federal court act requires otherwise, and direct the city to update its budget, police manual and policies to match.
- State a city policy of supporting diversion where legally permissible, while preserving police and prosecutor discretion to enforce state law.
- Let officers seize suspected marijuana, but require a written report explaining the grounds.
- Require budget reporting on THC lab testing, and let council fund testing where it serves a compelling public safety purpose.
- Order a one-time audit of five years of HPD misdemeanor marijuana enforcement, plus annual public reports with arrests, citations, demographics and diversion referrals.
- Ban HPD from requesting, executing or participating in any search warrant that does not require officers to knock, announce and wait at least 15 seconds.
What it would not do: legalize marijuana, change state penalties, or bind the DA, the Sheriff's Office, DPS or other agencies. The city estimates no or negligible fiscal impact. Voters cast one vote on the whole package. We do not take a side. The tracker entry will be updated with the result.
What happened in other cities
Voters in several Texas cities approved similar ordinances starting in 2022, including Austin, San Marcos, Killeen, Denton and Elgin, and later Dallas, Bastrop and Lockhart. The Texas Attorney General sued a number of them. In April 2025 the Fifteenth Court of Appeals, the statewide court that hears cases involving the state, ruled against the San Marcos and Austin ordinances, finding they conflicted with state law and sending the cases back for further proceedings. Other cases resolved differently or are at different stages. Houston's measure was drafted after those rulings and includes the "unless and until a binding act of a state or federal court requires otherwise" clause, but whether that changes the legal outcome is something courts, not us, will decide.
Fort Bend and Montgomery
The City of Houston reaches into Fort Bend and Montgomery counties, and so does the Prop A vote. But cases there go to those counties' district attorneys, and Harris County's diversion program does not apply. If you live in Missouri City, Sugar Land, Katy, Kingwood or The Woodlands, check which county you are in before assuming anything about how a case would be handled.