Stricter bail rules advance through Texas House, which had blocked an overhaul in previous sessions
Lawmakers adopted the package's centerpiece proposal asking voters to amend the state Constitution to create a list of violent offenses for which, in certain cases, judges must deny bail. Once the Senate concurs on the House's version, as expected, the measure will be placed before voters on November's ballot.
But a constitutional amendment to automatically deny bail to any unauthorized migrant accused of certain felonies failed to win the 100 votes required for passage. Because it received support from a majority, 88 to 50, it will have one more shot at adoption this week.
And the House gave initial approval to Senate Bill 9, which would restrict who is eligible for release on cashless personal bonds and allow the state to appeal bail decisions, leaving a defendant jailed for up to 20 days as the appeal is litigated. House lawmakers also advanced Senate Bill 40, which would bar municipalities from using public funds to bail defendants out of jail. Both bills must pass the House once more before going to the Senate, which has already passed its versions of the legislation.
Under the state Constitution, almost everyone who is arrested has the right to be released on bail. The limited exceptions are people charged with capital murder and those accused of certain repeat felonies or bail violations. According to the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Supreme Court, bail cannot be excessive, and pretrial detention largely should not be considered the default, as criminal defendants are still legally presumed innocent.
Rep. John Smithee, R-Amarillo and chair of the House Criminal Jurisprudence committee, argued that stricter bail laws were necessary to protect the public from crime committed by dangerous defendants out on bail.
'I've never voted on any legislation more important than what we're getting ready to consider, because it holds the very key to life or death of some very wonderful people, some very innocent people,' he said, telling lawmakers about the families of violent crime victims he had spoken to. 'This is what crime has done to some of our families. And what all of these cases and so many more have in common is, they are a result of what Governor Abbott has described as a broken bail system.'
'It may not be perfect, but it's the best we could do to fix a system that's been broken for a long time,' Smithee added. 'We've been working on this for 10 years now, and it's finally time to get this done.'
The House's approval of the bail package marks a significant victory for Abbott, who has made tightening the state's bail laws an emergency item for three consecutive sessions. While lawmakers have previously approved more modest measures limiting the use of cashless bonds, more expansive proposals to overhaul the state's bail laws have repeatedly died in the lower chamber.
'Of all the things I've had an opportunity to work on in my life, this may be the most important,' Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville, said. 'We have an opportunity to heal a grievous wound to our state and to our communities.'
Bail is a legal tool used around the country to incentivize people accused of a crime to appear at court hearings. Defendants can pay the full bail amount, which is refundable if they go to all their hearings, or they can pay a nonrefundable partial deposit to a bail bond company that fronts the full amount. People who cannot afford to pay a deposit or their bail are often left detained for weeks or months, even though bail amounts are not meant to serve as a form of punishment.
The bipartisan effort to push the package over the finish line, despite initial opposition from some Democrats and civil rights groups, reflected the shifting politics of crime and immigration across the nation. The package's movement in the House continued a longer-term evolution in the state's approach to criminal justice reform, from a focus on reducing mass incarceration and wealth-based detention to increasing certain criminal penalties and keeping dangerous defendants in jail.
'We wouldn't be here if there weren't real life examples of people being released who plainly should not have been,' said Rep. Joe Moody of El Paso, the lead Democratic negotiator, adding that he was committed to addressing low-level offenders locked behind bars simply because they could not afford their bail.
'That's how the bail reform conversation started a decade ago,' he said. 'For every improperly released defendant who commits a serious crime, there's 100 low-level offenders held when they shouldn't be, whose lives are upended. We need to do both.'
Top Republicans and Democrats spent weeks negotiating a package that could gain traction across parties, and they ultimately produced legislation more stringent than initially proposed even while narrowing the types of defendants who would be subject to the harsher rules.
Republicans cast the issue as one of life-or-death, arguing that stricter bail laws are necessary to keep dangerous defendants locked up and to hold judges accountable. They pointed to numerous examples of violent crime committed by people let out on bond, and highlighted the stories of victims and their loved ones.
Civil rights groups and some Democrats, meanwhile, argued that the measures tied the hands of judges and infringed on the civil rights of anyone accused of certain crimes.
Senate Joint Resolution 5, which would require judges to deny bail in certain cases, was approved overwhelmingly, 133 to eight — winning approval by a larger margin than a less stringent proposal in 2021. That legislation, House Joint Resolution 4, was approved 104 to 35, but failed as a casualty of a Democratic walkout over a voting bill.
As approved by the House, SJR 5 goes further than the Senate's original proposal by requiring judges to deny bail in certain cases, rather than simply giving them the discretion to do so.
The stiffer language was demanded by Abbott, who argued that constitutionally requiring the denial of bail for certain violent offenses was necessary to rein in 'activist judges' setting low or cashless bail for defendants who proceed to commit more crimes while out of jail.
But the legislation softens Abbott's proposal by requiring the state to show that a defendant is either a flight or public safety risk to obligate a denial of bail — instead of forcing defendants to prove that they are not a danger and will appear in court to get bail. It also grants defendants the right to an attorney in their bail hearings.
Some Democrats initially blasted the idea that judges would be forced to deny bail in any case, arguing that detaining more defendants before trial would inflate the state's already overcrowded jail population and hamstring judicial discretion. Still, only eight opposed the resolution.
'This historic vote shows that the Texas House has decided to put public safety above party politics,' Nikki Pressley, Texas state director of Right on Crime at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said in a statement. 'This collaboration will undeniably make Texas stronger and our communities safer.'
Civil rights groups argued that SJR 5 flew in the face of the U.S. Supreme Court's finding that liberty, not detention, is the 'norm,' and pointed to stories of people who were wrongfully accused and detained for weeks. Advocates argued that holding more people behind bars before trial would separate them from their communities and hurt public safety, citing studies finding that pretrial detention increased a person's likelihood of committing crimes in the future.
Senate Joint Resolution 1 — a novel proposal to automatically deny bail and detain any unauthorized migrant accused of certain felonies — faced greater opposition and won just two Democratic votes in favor.
Smithee said Monday that he would work with Democrats on an amendment to exempt more protected immigration statuses from the legislation's automatic denial of bail, with the hopes that that would be enough to earn enough Democratic support when the House tries again.
SJR 1 includes a narrower definition of 'illegal alien' than initially proposed to avoid sweeping in lawful permanent residents and those granted protected statuses, such as asylum and military parole in place, which is given to certain family members of U.S. service members.
Still, Democrats also offered several amendments to expand the protected classes under the resolution.
Rep. Ramon Romero Jr., D-Fort Worth, asked lawmakers to protect Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals defendants and those with active applications for lawful presence in the United States under the Violence Against Women Act.
'The DACA people that I know are as American as every single one of us,' Romero said, adding that his siblings were both recipients of the program. 'They know no home other than the United States of America, and they are not a flight risk.'
Both of his amendments were rejected.
Rep. Mary Gonzalez, D-Clint, offered, then withdrew, an amendment to exempt victims of human trafficking and other crimes who receive T and U visas after Smithee agreed to work with her on an alternative.
Democrats in opposition to SJR 1 argued that the measure would unconstitutionally undermine defendants' due process and equal protection rights by precluding individualized consideration of each case to determine bail conditions.
'Immigration determinations are an extremely complex matter,' Rep. Erin Gaméz, D-Brownsville, said, arguing that the magistrates responsible for bail do not have the training nor resources to determine defendants' immigration status. 'There are immigration judges who spend hours making this careful determination — entire courts that have been carved out alone to make these very carefully planned out judicial determinations.'
The House's version of SJR 1 also limits the types of offenses for which an undocumented defendant would be denied bail — from all felonies as proposed by the Senate, to certain election felonies, drug-dealing crimes and the most serious violent felonies, including murder, sexual assault, human trafficking and aggravated robbery. And it provides for a transfer of an undocumented defendant to federal custody.
'This resolution began as something that I would never vote for,' Moody said before outlining the changes made to narrow its provisions. 'On a policy level, the concept here is not offensive — if a person has already broken our immigration rules, they're probably a flight risk as well. … But I also get how incendiary this issue is. So it's a very reluctant vote from me.'
He voted in favor of the legislation, but objected to rhetoric that cast all unauthorized migrants as dangerous criminals.
'From Twitter to town halls, the language around immigration is toxic,' he said, noting the anti-immigrant sentiment that drove the 2019 mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart. 'It's dehumanizing, and in some cases, it's nakedly racist. … And that makes it very hard to deal with just the policy on the paper.'
While SJR 5, SJR 1 and SB 9 are the primary bail provisions this session, both chambers have also approved a measure requiring judges to produce written findings explaining their decision to set bail after finding 'no probable cause' that a defendant committed the offense for which they were arrested.
And last week, the Senate swiftly approved another bail constitutional amendment, Senate Joint Resolution 87, to require judges to deny bail to certain repeat offenders if they find, before trial or any evidentiary hearings, that there is probable cause that the defendant committed the crime. Its sponsor, Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, said the measure was necessary to keep dangerous criminals behind bars.
Little offered an amendment on Monday that would have grafted the provisions of SJR 87 onto SJR 5. The amendment was taken down on a technical challenge.
Civil rights advocates, the only witnesses to testify before the Senate panel considering SJR 87 just hours after it was introduced, condemned the legislation as requiring detention without due process, and highlighted the hundreds of Texans wrongfully accused and convicted of crimes.
'I am confused and disturbed by the introduction of yet another constitutional amendment that doubles down on stripping discretion away from judges, and the unconstitutional practice of automatically denying bail without an individualized assessment of risk,' Kirsten Budwine, a policy attorney at the Texas Civil Rights Project, testified last week.
SJR 87 has yet to be heard in committee in the House. It was unclear if it would have a path to 100 votes.
'The bail package that has already been negotiated will overhaul the entire bail system in a way that will be felt for generations to come,' Budwine added. 'This constitutional amendment adds insult to injury.'
Disclosure: Texas Public Policy Foundation has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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Los Angeles Times
2 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
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The Hill
2 minutes ago
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Trump wields funding card in fight with DC
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USA Today
2 minutes ago
- USA Today
The IRS has had six leaders in 2025. What that means for taxpayers.
Turnover at the top of IRS means fewer IRS agents, fewer audits and questions about implementing the new tax law The IRS is on its seventh commissioner of the year, has lost one-quarter of its staff and is faced with implementing a raft of new regulations. Whether and how this turmoil could affect Americans remains to be seen. But the first impacts are likely to be lower tax collections and a harder time getting answers to tax-related questions, according to a former commissioner and a policy analyst. 'You can be fairly confident of the direction of the impact, that having this level of instability is not good for IRS' core functions and for taxpayer service," said Alex Muresianu, Senior Policy Analyst at the Tax Foundation, a tax policy think tank. 'This level of instability coinciding with the implementation of a new set of tax laws ‒ that is a dangerous mix." The IRS got its seventh leader of the year Aug. 8 when President Donald Trump tapped Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as its temporary head, after removing Commissioner Billy Long. Trump ousted Long after 53 days on the job, giving him the shortest tenure of any Senate-approved IRS Commissioner. The IRS media office referred USA TODAY to the Treasury Department, which did not return a request for comment Aug. 12. Long, who said he will be nominated as ambassador to Iceland, was the fifth person picked by Trump to lead the agency since regaining the Oval office in 2025, but the only one approved by the Senate. Biden's IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel resigned his five-year position three years early in January, rather than be fired by Trump. New priorities with each new leader Each IRS commissioner sets priorities, moves resources and staff around and problem solves differently, Werfel told USA TODAY. Constant flux over the last 8 months has likely made it difficult for staff to function, he said. The IRS Commissioner's job is to make sure the agency runs well. Werfel compared it to keeping trains on time. "Every time you have a new leader these rules and processes can change," he said. "It just sows confusion." CNN and The Washington Post reported that Long was fired after the IRS clashed with the White House over using tax data to help locate suspected undocumented immigrants. Long, a former Republican Congressman and auctioneer, previously had to walk back plans to start tax season later and eliminate the IRS' free tax filing program. Fewer agents to process returns and answer taxpayer questions The Biden administration added nearly $80 billion in new IRS funding, largely to collect unpaid taxes from the wealthy. That money brought the agency to one of its highest staffing levels just before Trump took office. The new administration almost immediately began mass layoffs and offered early retirements for federal employees, in an effort to downsize the government. A quarter of the IRS staff had left the agency as of mid- July, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Among the hardest hit positions are people responsible for reviewing and processing federal tax returns, and agents, who conduct individual and business audits. Other fired workers were involved in modernizing IRS technology or helping taxpayers by telephone. Werfel said the staffing cuts will impact customer service unless those people's jobs have been replaced by technology, and he said there is no indication they have been. Contact with the IRS is stressful for most taxpayers, Werfel said. Fewer employees means fewer people answering phones and responding to requests for help, fewer available inperson appointments and longer waits for audit results, he said. "The higher functioning IRS you have, the less stressful this is," he said. "If you're going to engage that bureacracy, you want it to at least work." Fewer audits means less revenue Conducting fewer audits means the country is collecting less revenue, which Werfel said should bother Americans worried about the national debt. "We should want our country to be fiscally responsible," he said. "The more money that we leave on the table that is actually owed to the country, the more that we have to put on the credit card at a high interest rate." For every dollar spent auditing America's highest earners, for example, the IRS reaps more than $4 in recovered tax dollars, research shows. Werfel said there is an estimated $700 billion in taxes that are owed each year but not paid, an amount he said could climb if the risk of an audit drops and there is less pressure to pay. "It creates an incentive for more people to break the rules and that means less revenue," he said. Implementing the GOP tax law The IRS and Treasury Department are rushing to stand up Republicans' new tax law. Lawmakers left it up to the agencies to fill in the details of the policy changes, many of which take effect this tax year, including sorting out specifics of how new breaks for overtime pay, tips and other provisions will work. Muresianu, the tax analyst, said taxpayers often need more clarification from the IRS when new tax laws take effect, and the call volume will likely be higher next year. 'If you have instability at the IRS, management problems at the IRS, and their ability to provide service declines, that is particularly bad if it's coming at a time where there a lot of people looking for clarity,' he said.
