A $90 million fine for an illegal marijuana grow? It’s coming to Stanislaus County
Stanislaus County authorities have been cracking down on illegal marijuana cultivation sites and operations.
But the criminal penalties under the state’s more lenient cannabis laws today are not deterring the illegal operations, officials say. The county is now adding a stick to its enforcement campaign in the form of administrative penalties — potentially huge penalties — against illegal growers.
The Board of Supervisors approved the code amendments last month creating a new administrative citation process. The fines taking effect about Dec. 19 are $1,000 per day for every single marijuana plant apart from the six allowed for indoor cultivation in California.
According to the code amendments, the $1,000-per-day fine will be assessed between the time a citation is issued and the growers remove the plants from the site.
For a 3,000-plant operation, the fines could literally amount to more than $90 million over a 30-day period. Failure to remove 3,000 plants in a day could result in a $3 million fine, or $9 million if the plants are not removed in the required three-day abatement period.
With such large fines, the county is conceivably inviting legal challenges.
A $500-per-plant fine in Sacramento — where numerous lawsuits have challenged the penalties as excessive — has often resulted in administrative penalties ranging from $100,000 to $500,000. In October, Capital Public Radio reported the city of Sacramento’s enforcement effort had spawned dozens of lawsuits against the city from residential landlords who claimed the fines were unreasonable.
Many of those landlords complained they didn’t know their tenants were growing pot for sale.
In one case, a Sacramento Superior Court judge ruled the city violated the rights of a landlord and dismissed the fines. According to the CapRadio series, property owners who received citations disputed more than $50 million in penalties and the city had managed to collect $6 million.
In approving the administrative penalties last month, Stanislaus County supervisors said the county could place liens on property equal to the unpaid fines. A property burdened with a multimillion-dollar lien would be impossible to sell and useless, one supervisor pointed out.
The potential fines can be part of enforcement actions in the county unincorporated areas.
“This is going to put some teeth in what we are trying to accomplish,” county Board Chairman Terry Withrow said.
The Stanislaus Sheriff’s Department took down scores of illegal grows in the past year. But the charges against the cultivators were misdemeanors under Proposition 64, which legalized cannabis in California. Officials believe it’s not enough to dissuade cultivators from growing black market weed again.
Sheriff Jeff Dirkse noted that deputies shut down a west Modesto illegal grow with thousands of plants in April and returned to the same property in September, finding 3,000 plants.
“For us to use the search warrant process takes many manhours and there is not a lot of teeth behind it,” Dirkse said. “We hope that with the administrative process, we will be able to abate more (illegal grows) more efficiently and effectively.”
There are an estimated 1,500 illegal cultivation sites in the county unincorporated area, creating health and safety hazards and heightening the risk of crime in rural neighborhoods, authorities said. County leaders have said their strategy of permitting a few dozen legitimate cannabis businesses will generate fee revenue for shutting down illegal operations that are a threat to the public and are unfair competition.
The county won’t go after cannabis operations that are in the land-use permit process. But sites that were denied a permit or operators that never applied could be targeted, county legal staff said.
A code enforcement inspection of the property could trigger a notice of violation and abatement order giving the growers three days to remove the illegal cannabis plants. The county inspector is likely to have support from law enforcement.
Those who are cited can schedule a meeting with a hearing officer, who’s obligated to release a decision in seven days. The hearing process allows a single 10-day continuance.
People who are cited may contest the fines and enforcement action in Superior Court.
County Counsel Thomas Boze said the county ordinance has provisions for the innocent landlord who genuinely is not aware of illegal cultivation or activities on the property. As an example, it might be an owner who lives outside the state.
The penalties may be delayed and the owner given 15 days to correct violations if he or she was not aware of the grow and the lease agreement prohibited the tenant from cultivating cannabis.
County officials said owners need to know what is being done on their property, and it’s a good idea for lease documents to expressly prohibit cannabis growing.
John Lee, a San Jose-based consultant for the cannabis industry, said the new fines are ridiculous and a backward concept.
“It will put more people out of business and drive them into the dark market,” Lee said. “With excessive taxes and permit requirements, the state and counties are doing nothing to support the green market and the legalized market. … We are shooting ourselves in the foot in California.”
As the code amendments take effect, the county will combine the resources of the Sheriff’s Department, district attorney, building and safety, the agricultural commissioner and other services to reduce the black market’s influence, Boze said.
The code amendments also include $100 to $500 fines for illegal activities other than cultivation.
This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
