Legal Sanctions

In addition to violating the Student Code of Conduct, a student’s behavior may also be a violation of the law. In these cases, action by law enforcement authorities may also occur. Thus, students may be adjudicated through the Office of Student Conduct & Community Standards as well as through the court system.

The use, possession, or sale of marijuana is illegal in the State of Texas. 

State laws are rapidly changing with the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana laws around the U.S.   Thirty-three states have laws that either allow marijuana to be used medically and/or recreationally.  Eleven states (Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and the District of Colombia) have made recreational cannabis legal for individuals over the age of 21 years.  Other states have decriminalized the use of cannabis but have not legalized its use.  Although some states have either legalized or decriminalized cannabis use, it is still illegal federally under the Controlled Substances Act.

Alcohol Minors convicted in the criminal court system of possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages may be subject to fines, suspension of driver’s license, community service and a mandatory alcohol education class. Convictions for providing alcohol to minors may subject individuals to fines and a jail term of up to one year. Convictions for driving while intoxicated may subject individuals to fines totaling as much as $2,000 and a jail term of up to six months for a first offense. Fines and jail terms escalate after the first conviction.

Controlled Substance (Drugs) Sanctions upon conviction in the criminal court system for possession, distribution, or manufacture of controlled substances range from fines to probation to imprisonment. Amount of fines, terms of probation, or years of imprisonment generally are contingent upon the circumstances and amounts of drugs in possession, sale, distribution, or manufacture.

Fictitious license or certificate Students under the age of 21 may not possess documentation which represents them as being 21 years of age or older. Texas law states, “A person under the age of 21 years commits an offense if the person possesses, with the intent to represent that the person is 21 years of age or older, a document that is deceptively similar to a driver’s license or a personal identification certificate unless the document displays the statement ‘NOT A GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT’ diagonally printed clearly and indelibly on both the front and back of the document in solid red capital letters at least one-fourth inch in height.” This type of offense is a Class C misdemeanor.