The bill that would limit community bail funds and others to only bailing out three defendants a year has been recommended for passage.
Senate Bill 1708, sponsored by Rep. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis), passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday with seven ayes and two nays.
The bill previously appeared on the Senate floor, where Taylor moved it back to committee, pending an amendment from the Attorney General’s office. Taylor said the office determined it wasn’t needed.
Taylor said he initially wanted the bill to allow litigation against community bail funds if the person they help commits another crime. He said after conversations with the Attorney General’s office, Taylor was asked to keep the bill in the original form.
Prior to voting to re-passing the bill and sending it to the Senate Calendar Committee, the Judiciary Committee heard testimony from the Nashville Community Bail Fund.
Cyrus Wilson, executive director of the Nashville Community Bail Fund, voiced his opposition to the bill and dispelled narratives that support the bill. Wilson said as a community bail organization they have a failure-to-appear (FTA) rate of 1.5 percent over the 10 years they’ve been in operation.
“[This] means people do want to go back to court,” Wilson said. “We make a concerted effort to make sure they go back to court by talking to their family members, getting information from them — we even have a Lyft program to make sure they get back and forth to court.”
Wilson said violent crime isn’t an issue with the people they help, and they do not recidivate. He said Taylor’s bill seems to only target poor people, and that money is a form of speech. Wilson emphasized that their funds come from donors and community members.
If passed, Wilson said the bill would limit people from donating to causes they want to support. He also said a similar bill in Georgia is now caught up in litigation. Through his understanding of Tennessee law, he said the proposed legislation would be considered unconstitutional.
Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) brought up “drug-dealers” who may have bonds of $500,000, pay it, and proceed to commit further crimes. Gardenhire asked Wilson what his thoughts were on the prospect, and Wilson said it was something they don’t come across as a community bail fund.
“That is a thing a bonding company would do,” Wilson said. “They would represent those people because they would have money to pay them. We are a small organization that is very limited with our money through community donors.”
Wilson said the types of bail they’re able to make are small and because of minor infractions and misdemeanors. He said the bill excludes bonding agents, who typically deal with people who can handle larger bails.
Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) and Sen. Sara Kyle (D-Memphis) voted against the bill. Lamar said she believes money is a form of free speech and people have the right to choose who they want to bail out.
“We don’t want bad folks back on the streets to commit other crimes — I just think there’s a better way to do it,” Lamar said.
Lamar asked Taylor if we would be open to holding the bill for further examination in the summer. Taylor said he preferred to pass the bill.
Kyle asked if Taylor was restricting the constitutional right to bail, and Taylor said he didn’t believe so.
“Anytime the legislature passes a law, it’s presumed constitutional until court strikes it down,” Taylor said. “It’s not our place to decide the constitutionality of these bills.”
Kyle said the bill needed work as it was going to cause “a lot of disruption and chaos.”