Texas Lawmakers Restrict Bail and Raise Criminal Penalties, Punt on Prison and Jail Conditions
When the Texas legislature adjourned its annual session on June 2, 2025, lawmakers had taken some steps to restrict bail and successfully fought back an effort to expand parole. Most other jail and prison reforms—including a bill to air-condition the state’s miserably hot lockups—were left on the table, too. Meanwhile, lawmakers increased some criminal penalties, likely ensuring that the state’s jails remain overcrowded.
Republicans notched anti-reform wins in the state’s GOP-dominated legislature, but most of their criminal justice proposals—a total of 121 measures, according to the state District and County Attorneys Association—failed to pass. Those included efforts to create new mandatory-minimum penalties or harsher punishments.
What they did manage to pass was a new law, Senate Bill (SB) 9, which will limit eligibility for cashless bonds. Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 5, a proposed amendment to the state constitution requiring judges to deny bail to those accused of certain violent felonies, also passed and now goes to voters in November 2025.
For those jailed to await trial, HB 413 was passed, capping pretrial detention at a period not to exceed the maximum sentence of underlying criminal charges. However, it does not apply to those awaiting mental health evaluations, providing a loophole that can only worsen jail overcrowding. That, in turn, is driven by the state Commission on Jail Standards caps, which ratchet lower as a guard shortage explodes, and as PLN reported. [See: PLN, Mar. 2025, p.10.]
On the back end of the incarceration machine, an effort to move people out of state lockups via parole reform met no success. House Bill (HB) 200, which died in chamber, would have changed parole eligibility and jury instructions regarding parole for those whose crimes were committed when they were under 18.
The list of failed bills was lengthy and included two more proposed constitutional amendments. SJR 1 would have automatically denied bail to undocumented migrants charged with certain crimes. SJR 87 would have done the same whenever certain felony charges were handed down to anyone previously convicted of a felony or out on bond when the alleged offense was committed.
Other notable reform bills that died included HB 3006, which would have begun phased installation of air conditioning in state lockups by 2032. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) made sure that failed to advance ahead of deadline. HB 3725 would have prevented solitary confinement based solely on gang classification. HB 1826 would have mandated depression screening for incarcerated pregnant women.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R) called lawmakers back for a special session slated to begin on July 21, 2025, where they will consider whether to strengthen penalties for deed and title fraud—part of a raft of recent laws increasing penalties for property crimes.
Additional source: Texas Tribune
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