A legislation currently simmering in the Texas House and Senate would change bail and bond regulations for criminals charged with serious offenses including capital murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and sexual abuse of a child is a step in the right direction to fix alarming homicide by felonies rates in Houston, according to Crime Stoppers of Houston Director of Victim Services Andy Kahan.
According to Kahan, 110 people have been murdered in Harris County since mid-2018 by defendants either released on multiple felony bonds, released on felony PR bonds, or forfeited on a bond and became fugitives.
Kahan noted that the majority of the 110 murders have occurred in 2020 and 2021.
Senate Bill 21 and House Bill 20 would raise bail prices and tighten up bail regulations for repeat offenders and those charged with serious crimes; Kahan says this legislation would help ease the criminal activity rates of habitual offenders in Harris County and improve safety for victims, law enforcement and the community.
Others don't agree. According to a March 18 report from Houston Public Media, Harris County Justice Administration Department official Colin Cerupan told the Senate Jurisprudence Committee in a hearing for the bill that the new legislation would violate federal mandates.
“SB 21 would require Harris County to violate federal consent decrees, exposing Harris County to costly litigation [...] which cost Harris County taxpayers $60-$100 million,” Cepuran said. He referenced O'Donnell v. Harris County, a suit that found the county's use of misdemeanor bail money unconstitutional.
Kahan stands behind the bill, though, citing the alarming amount of victims murdered by roaming felons. According to data that Kahan provided Southeast Texas Record, the majority of the murdered victims were male, there were more Black people murdered than any other race, three of those murdered were unborn children and 60 of the killings occurrred in 2020 alone.
"We are in a Harris County bond pandemic," Kahan told Southeast Texas Record. "That's how I'm framing it. People are paying the price for felony bond reform."