A trio of Texas Senate bail reform measures authored by state Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston) advanced in the House on Monday. Two of the measures — Senate Bill 9 and Senate Joint Resolution 5, each of which would make it easier to hold those accused of serious crimes without bond pending trial — passed the chamber on their second readings with overwhelming bipartisan majorities.
But SJR 1 – a proposed constitutional amendment that would specifically deny bail to people in the country without legal status who are accused of a range of serious crimes – garnered a simple majority, requiring it to go to a third reading.
The Texas Legislature has attempted multiple times since 2017 to overhaul the state’s bail system, with an eye toward making it more difficult for individuals accused of serious felonies to leave jail on bond while awaiting trial. Gov. Greg Abbott named bail reform one of his seven emergency items for the current legislative session. Abbott has repeatedly called the current system “broken,” blaming it for the deaths of numerous individuals allegedly killed by people free on bond while awaiting trial for other crimes.
State Rep. John Smithee (R-Amarillo) presented SJR 1 to the House. He noted that the House had amended the Senate's version to narrow the definition of an "illegal alien," as well as restricting its application to those accused only of the most egregious felonies, rather than of any felony.
"Legislative counsel had inventoried all the felonies that we have in Texas," Smithee said. "It's about 30-some-odd pages with probably 30 felonies on each page. It goes from everything from operating a grain elevator without a license to slandering a savings and loan."
The amended version of SJR 1 would apply to about 20 categories of felony, including murder and capital murder, aggravated kidnapping, sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault. Smithee noted that virtually all such individuals would already be subject to being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and denied bail under federal law.
"The purpose of this is to capture that very small group that may slip between the cracks, and these are going to be people who are in the country illegally and who have committed some very, very serious crimes, or are at least accused of committing those crimes, and there has to be a finding of probable cause by a court, not just a grand jury but by a court, that there's probable cause that the acts alleged have been committed," Smithee said.
SJR 1 is also known as "Jocelyn's Law" for Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old Houston girl who was sexually assaulted and killed last year – allegedly by two men from Venezuela who were in the country without legal status.
"Had we passed this constitutional amendment six years ago, there would be little boys and girls still alive today who were tragically killed," Smithee said. "The best time to have passed this would have been six years ago or maybe eight years ago. But the next best time is today."
Several Democrats raised concerns that SJR 1 would violate the due process rights of immigrants – particularly those brought to the United States as children, known as Dreamers or recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
"Not a single member of this body would vote no on this measure if there's a thought that you're trying to protect someone that would do those things," said state Rep. Ramon Romero Jr. (D-Fort Worth). "The question is, can someone be falsely accused, and if so, is that enough to deny someone the right to a trial or the right to bail?"
State Rep. Terry Canales (D-Edinburg) called the proposed constitutional amendment hypocritical for differentiating between people accused of serious crimes who were born in this country and those who were not.
"I would tell you I'm more interested in how big a danger you are to the community, and those crimes committed by someone who's an American citizen don't make that person any less dangerous," Canales said. "If you've been found to have probable cause of aggravated sexual assault, continuous sexual assault of a child, well you're just as dangerous as the guy who's here illegally that did it. Why would you pick one over the other? If you want to get tough on crime, let's deny all of them bail."
That's essentially what SJR 5 would do, albeit with a somewhat narrower range of serious felonies. That proposed constitutional amendment would require a person to be denied bail pending trial if the state's attorney is able to demonstrate that the accused presents a flight risk and a potential danger to the community, to law enforcement, and to the victim of the alleged crime.
Since 1876, the Texas Constitution has, with few exceptions, guaranteed the right of bail to all prisoners pending trial.
"Of all the things I've had an opportunity to work on in my life, this may be the most important," said state Rep. Mitch Little (R-Lewisville). "We have an opportunity to heal a grievous wound to our state and to our communities. This is not a Harris County bill. This is not a Travis County bill. This is a bill for the state of Texas."
SJR 5 passed with a vote of 133-8, passing the House without the requirement of a third reading. If the Senate concurs with changes made in the House, the measure would still have to be approved by Texas voters in November before it becomes the law of the land.
SB 9, on the other hand, will only have to go through a third House reading and, potentially, a negotiation with the Senate over amendments on the House floor. The bill would amend the list of offenses for which a defendant would require a cash bond rather than a personal recognizance bond – adding the offenses of unlawful possession of a firearm, violation of a family violence protective order, terroristic threat, and murder as a result of manufacturing or delivery of fentanyl.
“I think it’s the most important bill not only that I’ve ever worked on but also, as far as I know, I’ve never voted on any legislation more important than what we’re getting ready to consider,” Smithee said, introducing it, “because it holds the very key to life or death of some very wonderful people, some very innocent people.”
In addition, SB 9 would allow a prosecutor to appeal the bail amount if he or she considers it insufficient in the case of a defendant charged with a felony who is also out on bond for another felony.
"We have a crisis in our state of violent offenders that our law enforcement agencies have worked hard to identify and arrest (who) are going right back into our communities," said state Rep. A.J. Louderback (R-Victoria), a former county sheriff. "It seriously does not have to be this way."
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas responded to SB 9's passage with a statement decrying the bill as violating due process rights, particularly of low-income defendants.
"S.B. 9 further cements a two-tiered system of justice in Texas — one for the wealthy and one for everyone else," said Nick Hudson, ACLU of Texas' senior policy and advocacy strategist. "Texas families deserve reforms rooted in evidence, fairness, and public safety instead of fear."
Copyright 2025 Houston Public Media News 88.7