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Honsal. | File photo.

The Humboldt County government ponied up roughly $2,700 in travel expenses for Sheriff William Honsal’s recent trip to Arlington, Va., where he testified at a DEA hearing on behalf of three states opposed to downgrading marijuana’s status under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). 

According to emails obtained by the Outpost via a public records request, the political organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana three states, which oppose the proposed reclassification of cannabis from Schedule I to the less-restrictive Schedule III of the CSA, have offered to reimburse those costs.

Honsal flew via United Airlines from Humboldt County to Washington, D.C., on July 16 and returned two days later, with a layover in San Francisco on the way there and in Chicago and Denver on the way back. The tickets cost $1,945.02, including extra fees for preferred seating on each flight, according to a receipt from the airline.

Honsal spent two nights in the DoubleTree Crystal City Hotel by Hilton, which cost $642.77. He was also charged $48 for parking at the California Redwood Coast-Humboldt County Airport. 

On July 17, Honsal testified as a key expert witness for three states that oppose the federal government’s push to relax weed’s legal status: Nebraska, Indiana and Idaho. The group Smart Approaches to Marijuana participated in the hearing on behalf of those states, with legal representation from the D.C.-based firm Torridon Law PLLC. [CORRECTION: The firm Torridon Law PLLC was representing the states directly.]

In a June 26 email to Honsal, Torridon associate attorney Chase T. Harrington reminded the sheriff of his upcoming appearance and said, “We will be in touch to prepare your testimony and get ready for the hearing.”

In a July 2 follow-up email to Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Executive Secretary Katie Hill, Harrington offered recommendations for a hotel (the DoubleTree) and ground transportation (Uber), adding, “Please ask [Honsal] to send us all receipts—we will reimburse for travel.”

On Monday of last week, Hill emailed the receipts to Harrington as requested and directed him to include a federal per diem rate for meals and incidental expenses, which, in the D.C.-metro area, is currently $92. (It’s unclear whether Honsal will get that for all three days of his trip or just his one full day in Arlington.)

Honsal has declined to answer the Outpost’s questions about the nature of his testimony and his reasons for voluntarily agreeing to testify as an expert witness for three anti-marijuana states. 

On Friday, the Outpost followed up with the Sheriff’s Office to ask whether Honsal’s travel expenses have been reimbursed yet. Public Information Specialist Erin Inskip said she would reach out to the business office that day to check on the status of the request. She has not yet gotten back to us.

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CORRECTION, July 29: This post originally misidentified Torridon Law’s client in the DEA hearing. It was the states of Nebraska, Idaho and Indiana. The Outpost regrets the error.