The Texas Civil Rights Project Warns New Bail Proposals Will Expand Pretrial Incarceration

The Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP) has issued a strong warning against two bail-related measures — Senate Bill 9 (SB 9) and Senate Joint Resolution 1 (SJR 1) — ahead of an expected Texas House vote next week. The organization argues the proposals would significantly expand pretrial incarceration and disproportionately harm poor and immigrant communities across the state.

“These proposals aren’t about safety — they’re about expanding the state’s power to lock up poor and marginalized people without due process,” said Chris Harris, Associate Director of Advocacy at TCRP.

Expanded Pretrial Detention and Reduced Judicial Discretion

SB 9, if passed, would broaden the state’s authority to detain individuals before trial, particularly in Texas’s largest counties such as Harris, Dallas, and Bexar. According to TCRP, the bill would:

• Increase the number of individuals required to post cash bail.
• Remove judicial discretion from magistrates in counties with populations over 200,000.
• Lengthen pretrial detention without requiring findings of danger to the community.
• Presume incarceration over release, a shift critics say criminalizes poverty and fuels jail overcrowding.

Targeting Immigrants Through Constitutional Amendment

SJR 1 would enshrine bail denial for many immigrants in the Texas Constitution, according to the advocacy group. Though amended to exclude most naturalized citizens, the resolution still applies to a broad range of legally present individuals, including:

• DACA recipients.
• Survivors of trafficking and domestic violence.
• Applicants for U visas and protection under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

TCRP argues that the measure would deny these individuals the ability to even request pretrial release if charged with specific offenses, regardless of the circumstances or their legal status, thereby violating the principle of presumed innocence.

“This is an effort by lawmakers to make injustice permanent by rewriting the Constitution,” Harris said. “These proposals reveal a disturbing willingness to erode hard-won freedoms in the name of fear and political expediency.”

TCRP also highlighted the ongoing crisis in Texas’s pretrial system. In 2024, 134 people died in state jails, the majority of whom were awaiting trial. The group warns that both SB 9 and SJR 1 would worsen conditions by increasing the number of people held without conviction.

“True bail reform expands pretrial freedom and reserves incarceration without conviction only for cases with clear and convincing evidence of a threat to the public or a flight risk,” Harris said. “These bills promise only to lock up more people, based mostly on their immigration status or the size of their bank account.”

This is a developing story. We are awaiting updates from the hearing scheduled for May 19.