Gov. Greg Abbott declared bail reform as one of his emergency items for the 89th legislative session.
During his state of the state address, Abbott called for stricter laws around bail.
“Activist judges have too much discretion to let repeat offenders out on bail, only to see them harm more Texans,” he said. “Lawmakers must choose – support the safety of the citizens they represent, or the criminals who kill them.”
The senate committee on criminal justice is hearing a number of bills related to bail reform during a hearing on Wednesday. Blaise Gainey, who covers the state house for The Texas Newsroom, said there are six bills on the agenda this week.
“We have SB 9, it stops people from being able to use charitable bail organizations. We have another one that prevents public funds from being used to pay for bail bonds,” he said.
“And then the other ones are more so about actually setting bail for people who have been charged with a crime. So if you’ve been charged with a violent crime, obviously like a felony or anything, you will be denied bail. And also, if you are undocumented person, you would then also be denied bail. These violent crimes also include sexual offenses as well.”
Gainey said several of the bills under discussion were recently refiled to have lower numbers, since the governor named the issue an emergency item. Bills with lower numbers tend to be higher priority.
Gainey said it’s not clear which of the bills will pass, if any.
“The one that has to do with undocumented folks, I would assume that would pass. This administration seems very tough on undocumented people,” he said. “My guess is that they’ll want to pass that bill. That has to do with undocumented people not being able to get bail for violent offenses and sex-related crimes. That just shows that they’re in lockstep with President Trump’s agenda.”
In recent years, bail reform bills have failed in the Legislature.
“It’s a tough thing sometimes to get people to agree to get rid of bail,” Gainey said. “As you can imagine, somebody could be charged and not guilty of a crime. They may not have the funds to be released and therefore, you know, are stuck being in jail. Whereas if they were denied bail, that innocent person could have to wait three months or six months for a trial.”
Gainey said he also expects the House to take up SB 2, the senate’s school voucher bill, as soon as committee assignments are handed down by Speaker Dustin Burrows. That could be this week.
“Trump posted (on X), he was congratulating Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on passing the bill (in the Senate). It’d be the biggest launch of a school choice program at $1 billion and then he just said, ‘now the Texas House must do that,’” Gainey said.
“House Speaker Justin Burrows replied and said, ‘We will.’ Sort of a big statement. It’s failed numerous times in the past… And so it’d be interesting to see, with Dustin Burrows saying that, if they actually pass this bill soon.”