162 murdered by offenders out on bond in Harris County since 2021, state senator says

HOUSTON - Across the Lone Star State, criminals are committing additional violent crimes while free on bail as they await trial for previous violent crimes.

State Senator Joan Huffman says in Harris County 162 people have been murdered by violent offenders out on bond since 2021.

Judges claim they are bound by law to set bond, regardless of how predatory the defendant is or how certain he or she is to re-offend if freed from custody.

Bond reform has been listed as a priority for several in the Republican leadership.

Senator Huffman is battling to change the Texas Constitution and give judges clear authority to keep those who pose a clear and credible risk behind bars. She filed several bills concerning bail reform this session, including Senate Joint Resolution 5.

Senate Joint Resolution 5

Dig deeper:

Senate Joint Resolution 5 proposes a Constitutional Amendment that would allow judges to deny bail to the most violent offenders.

SJR 5 would deny bail, under limited circumstances, to a person accused of certain violent or sexual offenses or continuous human trafficking.

The bill passed the Senate by a 28-2 vote. It has since been referred to the House.

Texas Sen. Joan Huffman on bond reform

Texas Senator Joan Huffman

What they're saying:

Texas Senator Joan Huffman sat down with FOX 26's Greg Groogan to discuss bond reform.

Greg Groogan: "I have heard some Democrats say, Texas judges have all the discretion they need from the Constitution now. Is that accurate?"

Texas Sen. Joan Huffman: "Absolutely not, and the reason being is that they do not have discretion now to keep violent individuals who pose a risk to the community, a safety issue to all Texans, they don't have the ability to keep them without bond in the situations that they think are fitting. It's just a tool that we absolutely need for our judges. We've seen incident after incident, hundreds if not thousands of tragic cases that have occurred since we've been trying to pass this legislation. These victims have come to Austin time after time to testify, and I'm going to share with you this statistic, and it's shocking: since just 2021, and we've even been working on this prior to that, just in Harris County, there have been 162 people murdered by violent offenders out on bond. These are people that should not have died. There should be a way in the system for judges to take the responsibility to see that these are individuals that were on bond for a violent offense. They should not have been out. The time has just come for the people of Texas to have some say in this, and some put an end to this matter."

Groogan: "Senator, I'm not going to put words in your mouth, but I will talk about the words of crime victim advocates who say if the Democrats block this one more time, they will indeed have blood on their hands of the future victims that are certain to be made by predators released on bail."

Sen. Huffman: "Well, that's not hyperbole because it is actually shown by data. So maybe I couldn't have said that five years ago, but I think now, by giving you that statistic of the 162 murders, that's hard data. That's collected. We can give you the names. We could tell you who they were. We could tell you how they were killed."

Groogan: "House Democrats are smarting, angry over the passage of school choice. We hear they're threatening to block SJR 5 in retaliation. What is your message to them?"

Sen. Huffman: "I would say that would be a sad event in the history of Texas, because certainly we can put politics behind us when we're talking about the lives of Texans. You can have your disagreements on school choice, whatever the political issues of the day, but facing protection and dignity to our citizens and the right to be able to be safe on your streets and your kids to walk down the street should be a right that all Texans have. We should all work together. It should be above politics. That's my message to them. Do what you want to do, play your games, but not with the lives of the people of Texas."

Groogan: "You take the lieutenant governor and the governor at their word that this is an issue worth going to the mat for and potentially a special session?"

Sen. Huffman: "I believe that both of them passionately believe in this issue and passionately want to defend the rights of Texans. I do."

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