The Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee on Wednesday passed a series of bills and constitutional amendments designed to fulfill Gov. Greg Abbott’s call for bail reform.
Sen. Joan Huffman’s (R-Houston) bills (SB 9, SB 40, SJR 1, and SJR 5) would prohibit bail for those with prior felonies, those charged with violent offenses, and illegal immigrants charged with felonies.
“This is about targeted violent offenders who have been released multiple times to commit horrible crimes upon the citizens of this state,” Huffman said.
It marked the third time the Texas Senate has passed significant bail reform over the past three sessions only to have the legislation fail in the House.
“Since January of ’21 when we passed this out of the Senate prior to that and we tried to get this done, 162 people have been murdered in Harris County by individuals who were out on one or more bonds. So just chew on that fat for a while folks,” Huffman said.
Senate Joint Resolution 1 calls for a constitutional amendment requiring the denial of bail for a person in the U.S. illegally charged with a felony. Alexis Nungaray, the mother of slain Houston teen Jocelyn Nungaray testified for the resolution.
“I feel outraged that the Texas judges are allowed to provide bail for evil people who do heinous things,” Nungaray said. "(The killers) didn't give her any type of mercy. I was in the process of planning my daughter’s funeral while I had to take a pause to go to court on separate occasions for both individuals to make sure they got an adequate bond.”
In both cases, the bond was set at $10 million.
“I feel like it was a slap in the face to Jocelyn and our family to even have to make sure that they got an adequate bond,” Nungaray said.
Opponents of the bill testified that the reforms violate the legal principle of innocent until proven guilty.
Travis Fife of the Texas Civil Rights Project said the reform “lifts the presumption of innocence on its head by saying, 'No we’re not going to look at individual circumstances, we’re not going to trust our judges.'”
Aaron Johnson of The Texas Association of Pretrial Services testified against the bills.
“This is not ancient medieval England. You don’t throw people in a tower just because you don’t like them, and/or they’re not following a specific rule, due process exists for everyone under the law," he said.
One of the most powerful testimony against SJR 5, which would deny bail to a person accused of violent or sexual offenses, came from Anthony Gray, who was wrongfully convicted in 1992 and sentenced to death. He served more than a dozen years before being cleared.
“My experience underscores the grave risk posed by bill SJR 5. This bill proposed an expansion of preventative detention that can lead to unjust outcomes for individuals who are innocent,” Gray said. “It allows for the denial of reasonable bail options and the imposition of exorbitant bonds.”
In the Senate press conference, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick (R) promised the Senate would pass all the bail reform bills next week and he called on the Texas House to do the same -- even calling out Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock).
“There should not be one ‘no’ vote in the Senate or the House on this legislation, but I’m counting on him to get this done,” Patrick said. “This is serious stuff. This is life and death. These are people who will never forget their sons and daughters, so whatever it takes. We will not leave here till these bills pass the House.”
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Tell your Smart Speaker to "PLAY 1080 KRLD"
Sign Up to receive our KRLD Insider Newsletter for more news
Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube