Cashless bail policies offer people charged with low-level offenses a chance to be released to await trial, even if they don’t have cash for bail.
People who have money to pay bail do this all the time, and supporters say it’s only fair. Critics argue it gives criminals a free ride and some may abscond before they face the law.
President Donald Trump agrees, and he signed an executive order on Monday that punishes any state, county or city that allows cashless bail. He plans to do this by withholding federal funds from jurisdictions that have a cashless bail system.
It’s part of his crackdown on what the president says is rampant crime in cities.
Harris County has had a form of cashless bail for certain misdemeanors since 2019. So what happens now?
Lucio Vasquez, who covers breaking news for The Texas Newsroom, said statistics show Harris County’s cashless bail system has not led to an increase in crime rates.
“Independent monitors say that crime is actually either flatlined or decreased, at least misdemeanor crimes,” he said. “This is all talking about misdemeanors. When we’re talking about felonies, that’s a whole another can of worms.
But when we’re talking at least about misdemeanors and how this misdemeanor bail reform has affected crime in Houston, there’s been no spike in re-offending or misdemeanor arrests. And jail stays are actually down, and re-defense rates are either flat or a little lower than before the reforms were put in place.”
Critics in Texas have echoed President Trump’s concerns about public safety when it comes to this policy.
“They say that it puts public safety at risk, that people accused of these crimes are being released a little too easily and sometimes commit new crimes while out on bond,” Vasquez said. “Again, the data for that rhetoric doesn’t necessarily add up. The bail bond industry also argues that it’s bad for their business and some law enforcement leaders say it doesn’t do enough to protect the victims of crime.”
Supporters tend to emphasize that this policy is fair and equal.
“Before the reform, people were often stuck in jail simply because they really just couldn’t afford bail, even for very minor charges – say, trespassing,” he said. “Now, for these low-risk defendants, they can keep their jobs, support their families, and fight their cases from home…
The independent monitor has also pointed out that it’s actually saving taxpayer money, as well, from not keeping these low-level defendants behind bars.”
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Bail reform was also a topic at the Texas Legislature this year. Vasquez said Gov. Greg Abbott signed what he called the “strongest bail package in Texas history” a few months ago.
“(This package) gives judges more power to deny bail in violent cases,” Vasquez said. “It limits who can get non-cash bonds and even puts a constitutional amendment on the ballot this November to let judges deny bail outright in certain serious cases. So voters will be able to decide whether or not they want to push that policy forward later this year.”
Vasquez said it’s a little unclear as to how Trump’s executive order will affect Harris County in the short term.
“Within the next 30 days or so, the [U.S.] attorney general is going to put together a list of certain jurisdictions that they believe basically have cashless bail policies that are nonconstitutional,” he said. “Then within those 30 days, we’ll have a list. After that, then they’ll go through certain grants and federal funds that go to these jurisdictions, and they’ll see essentially what they are able to take away.”
There are also organizations that plan to take this executive order to court, Vasquez said.
“I did speak with an organization called the Bail Project; they’re one of the leading voices nationally pushing forward for the end of cash bail,” he said. “They said that they are expecting legal action regardless of whether or not it impacts Harris County or any other jurisdiction in the country. This is definitely going to get some pushback if we’re seeing a large number of regions impacted by this.”
