Call to Action HB 4517 by Moody

 


On Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 10:3O am. The House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee will hold a hearing on HB 4517 by Moody. This bill creates a presumption to use personal bonds. This undermines the bail reforms enacted last session as a result of SB 6 last session.


We have started an email campaign regarding SB 4517. The message that we are sending is as follows:


***


{LegislatorFirstName},


HB 4517 removes accountability and will increase the numbers of failures to appear further stressing court backlogs. This bill will bring the current problem in Harris County and will bring it to the entire state.


The research confirms this conclusion:


• Harris County entered into a settlement to use almost exclusively simple release for misdemeanor offenses.

• The district attorney was the first to issue a report saying that the failures to appear for misdemeanor defendants increased to over 50%.

Cite- https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZIzziTYC_BVVsOxoykUGp6U3wWC0pgZb

• The Houston Police Offices Union issued a report after reviewing a random week of dockets. The report documented a failure to appear rate that week on personal bonds of 75%.

Cite- https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZIzziTYC_BVVsOxoykUGp6U3wWC0pgZb

• Then https://HarrisCountyCourtWatch.com downloaded two years of data from the county and documented an average failure to appear rate of 80%. on personal bonds.


The private surety bail industry has a failure to appear rate of less than 10%.


Additionally, HB 4517 will undermine SB 6 which was the major bail reform bill passed last session. Please oppose HB 4517.


{ParticipantName}{ParticipantName}




***


If you are willing to participate in this campaign CLICK HERE.  


Thank you so much for your willingness to assist in getting our messaging out so that we can continue to fight for our industry.

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