Illinois Supreme Court new rules affect marijuana possession

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - The Illinois Supreme Court says it has created new rules to deal with a new state law that decriminalizes possessing small amounts of marijuana.

The high court said Thursday that it has adopted six new rules to establish procedures for the court system to follow when handling civil law violations. Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner signed the marijuana decriminalization legislation in July that creates civil law violations. The state Supreme Court says that type of violation didn't exist before the measure became law.

The new rules lay out a regulatory framework and deal with things like appearance dates, notices to the accused, fines and penalties and procedures if the accused don't appear, among other issues.

Under the new law possessing up to 10 grams of marijuana is punishable by a fine of $100 to $200.