AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas House Republican Caucus met with municipal police unions Tuesday to discuss bail reform. Bail reform was the first item on Gov. Greg Abbott’s agenda for the Texas Legislature’s special session.
The House Republicans and unions met at the Texas State Capitol to discuss the bail reform bill, House Bill 2. HB2 would keep individuals accused but not convicted of violent or sexual crimes in jail unless they have enough cash. It would also restrict charitable bail groups’ ability to pay to get people out of jail.
According to the Vice President of the Austin Police Association Justin Berry, this bill is aimed at "repeat criminals." Berry explained that these are "career criminals" who are responsible for the increase of violent crimes in the Austin area and throughout the state.
"These are people that have a long documented history of arrested convictions for robberies, sexual assault, murder and many other violent horrendous crimes that are taking place in our community," said Berry. "We need this bail reform to go forward so we can keep our community safe."
Rep. Reggie Smith (R-Sherman), one of the bill's authors, said he believes that this bill will simplify bail decisions and make sure that individuals do not stay behind bars for nonviolent crimes or because of their income status.
"In crafting this bill, we wanted to make sure that we strike a balance between the safety of the general public and the rights of the accused," said Smith.
The Texas State Senate passed an identical version of this bill, Senate Bill 6, during the special session. However, the House cannot take any actions as the majority of House Democrats remain in Washington, D.C., to break quorum.
Bail reform is a strong priority on Abbott's agenda and one of the main reasons he names for calling the special session. This came after House Democrats walked out of the chamber to stop the passage of Senate Bill 7, also stopping the passage of House Bill 20, which would make it harder for people arrested to bond out of jail without cash.
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