[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6058268,"mediaKeyId","3297569-69eb9b444771e3fa45d5377f4e6c9d72","parentId",3297569,"title","Senate committee sends constitutional amendment to deny bail for certain repeat violent offenders to floor","audioSeconds",781,"startMs",48000,"endMs",829000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3297569-69eb9b444771e3fa45d5377f4e6c9d72&start=48&end=829","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3297569-69eb9b444771e3fa45d5377f4e6c9d72/thumbnail_48000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6058268/Texas/Senate-committee-sends-constitutional-amendment-to-deny-bail-for-certain-repeat-violent-offenders-to-floor","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6058268-30a858ca1e682496c6925dbcaafaaafe/orig.mp4?Expires=1770510729&Signature=OfyPqacXxLzc0N1kULnZdT1kr0sRMlze6g63M2WXVTJst~223nnyCN4esCghNwiolqafeQS1MoHLIUUQWXYEDREnr1MCSnsrax8j3xT6AspdEF2DwJI3nvYuWNKjFKlnRuUOyYJsT7-qAlxm2IksD1EWccoVWDNvJQ2O4q~L4BcuIUlAVucyPDo13jkIX1qkgdCsY23SMrInILM1aQq0H3bd9VR6HWQ6gUlNV4UYiFGJJpRu8eOSEZpENKealqBTT8bmdRH8yWW9zp5tFINk4KOvHGnslyBXi1BK5Sfh7Yk~YjbtiZmicQlvaEsvvMdbmM0hkF7ngs-VvZ615OaGPg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Texas Legislature","date","2025-05-14T00:00:00Z","article","The Senate Committee on Criminal Justice voted 7–0 to send Senate Joint Resolution 87 to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation. The measure, as explained by Senator Huffman, would amend the Texas Constitution to require courts to deny bond to a person who has been convicted of or is currently on bond for certain listed serious felonies when there is probable cause to believe the person committed another of those same offenses.

Why it matters: The amendment would remove judicial discretion in a narrow set of repeat-offender circumstances and change how pretrial liberty is handled for the most serious charges, a shift advocates say raises due-process concerns.

Senator Huffman, who explained the measure to the committee, said the amendment targets a “very unique” subset of cases involving the “most serious of the most serious offenses.” He listed offenses covered by the proposal as murder and capital murder, aggravated kidnapping, indecency with a child, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated robbery, and trafficking or continuous trafficking of a person. Huffman told the committee that the provision would apply when a person has been previously convicted of, or is currently on bond for, one of those offenses and there is probable cause to believe they committed another listed offense; in that circumstance, “the judge shall deny bond,” he said.

Huffman told the committee he reviewed statewide data from the public safety report and said it showed substantial numbers: “There were 30,764 people processed just for those offenses” statewide in 2024, and he cited counts of people on bond for specified offenses (he said about 1,000 for murder; 1,500 for indecency with a child; 16,000 for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; and 3,857 for aggravated robbery).

Civil-rights organizations opposed the measure at public testimony. Nick Hudson of the ACLU of Texas said the amendment “requires detention without due process for certain serious allegations,” and stressed that the presumption of innocence and individualized hearings have long been central to pretrial liberty. Kirsten Budwein, a policy attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project, said the proposal “doubles down on stripping the discretion away from judges” and urged maintaining individualized assessments rather than a mandatory-denial rule.

Senator Miles asked whether the proposal would be presented to voters; Huffman confirmed that Section 2 of the joint resolution would refer the proposed constitutional amendment to the ballot for approval by Texas voters. Huffman also told the committee he plans a floor amendment to clarify ballot language.

The committee chair moved the measure be reported favorably and the roll call produced seven ayes, zero nays. The resolution will proceed to the full Senate for further consideration.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Committee on Criminal Justice May 14, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","The Senate Committee on Criminal Justice voted 7–0 to send Senate Joint Resolution 87 to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation.","taxTitle","Committee on Criminal Justice, Senate, Legislative, Texas","taxId",16924,"location","Texas","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6058259,"Committee approves substitute for bill standardizing law-enforcement personnel-file practices",474,966000,1440000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3297569-69eb9b444771e3fa45d5377f4e6c9d72&start=966&end=1440","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3297569-69eb9b444771e3fa45d5377f4e6c9d72/thumbnail_966000.jpg","/articles/6058259/Texas/Committee-approves-substitute-for-bill-standardizing-law-enforcement-personnel-file-practices","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6058259-8d7c9357ae491f3f1f39d52414553a28/orig.mp4?Expires=1770510728&Signature=nFrwCV1bGIcS4gT30DZkIx~1eTMTa1BiEF0yUaE2OK9mXfvL79cBZ-zDdSfWMMYayTwrKSYnlBbeDbITdJrWzT59HTT1C-KXxOePK4JUap08s-BNTQgopQkvANcrPHxIdCOrJb29dUhb5odAHApYZPCd7zb33fw7qwwKQVj31KL8Ow1F~a9Tk7pYX2MnUKlcPLqebscXWHerWVLBt-jFj2KMQSsKHFjkZUd29W2GToMSXZz-b1Q4LKxj7oHT4jCvXPS2470TxWLksaeIrZ-TpkuZC2R-czeSJS~fDYQPGf08emIO4GbgfmsbSYmn4B9SUBXo637BKSpuXiJALzAo6A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Senate Committee on Criminal Justice voted 6–1 to adopt a committee substitute to Senate Bill 781 and report it to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation. Senator King described the measure as an effort to make personnel-file policies consistent across Texas and to codify a model policy developed by a Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) work group.

Why it matters: The substitute aims to create consistent procedures for what information is public and what is held in a sealed personnel file for law-enforcement officers, affecting public records requests, hiring background checks, and discoverability in criminal proceedings.

Senator King told the committee the TCOLE work group produced a model policy that is already voluntarily in effect for governing files for more than 20,000 officers in Texas and that cities subject to state civil-service law already follow similar rules. Under the approach King described, agencies maintain two personnel files in practice: a public file containing information available to the public and a sealed file containing background or exonerated-allegation materials that are not released in routine public-records responses. King said that sealed or investigative materials remain discoverable when relevant to criminal discovery: “if it is in a criminal court, those files would be available through the defense,” he said.

Senator Miles said he would not support the bill because sealed files can keep information about prior allegations from the public and jurors; he said he was concerned about the effect on assessing an officer's propensity and past conduct. King and other supporters said agencies already have mechanisms for interagency review: applying agencies can request full personnel records when screening candidates, and prior legislation requires agencies to consider a candidate’s file when transferring officers across departments. King described the substitute as an attempt to standardize what is public and what is private while preserving discoverability in criminal cases.

The committee first discussed that a related House bill failed on a point of order; supporters said they were advancing the Senate bill to preserve the policy work. The roll call on the committee substitute produced six ayes and one nay; the substitute for SB 781 will be transmitted to the Senate floor for further consideration.","The Senate Committee on Criminal Justice adopted a committee substitute and voted 6–1 to report Senate Bill 781, a measure to standardize handling of law-enforcement personnel records based on a TCOLE model policy and to align practices across jurisdictions, with clarifications about sealed files and criminal discovery.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":46,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6058264,"Senate committee backs bill requiring written findings when magistrates rule no probable cause",132,961000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3297569-69eb9b444771e3fa45d5377f4e6c9d72&start=829&end=961","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3297569-69eb9b444771e3fa45d5377f4e6c9d72/thumbnail_829000.jpg","/articles/6058264/Texas/Senate-committee-backs-bill-requiring-written-findings-when-magistrates-rule-no-probable-cause","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6058264-77753ac3d477345e72ed13b0875a385e/orig.mp4?Expires=1770510728&Signature=GyLHYzrOpmCIn8mfOm~ji5LmqqG2QFzD~wwmp8XdiKiV0C9GXimtzvCgC8U8s1mc1He4hZggHWUSXAGcM0IQwfiWzb12dybAjiTOtfDmTjxsUc8Lm-8uRAP3LLbRhsPlCdM1BYQn572G3pr-1QH2xp9PRIGuIwh-goIuuq04zJ8xPc3DwOUeNQBY8gE7RybST-tgqUZkvijL8KUk9DggZYRsyP9eM0rz7h5HTHZaOHlfLkLUVynjybXFFyfnJ9xy1psFQEHZOhsM7NMj5snAbGqY8zbqsrbryZAJrPOgqaLepmkSfAi8G~UH~Y0tKGy0hIz4n36uE8QAgmkgAORCvg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Senate Committee on Criminal Justice voted 6–1 to report Senate Bill 3073 to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation. Sponsor Senator Huffman told members the bill requires magistrates who find no probable cause to enter written findings in the record explaining that determination.

Why it matters: Committee supporters said the change increases transparency and gives prosecutors and law-enforcement personnel clarity when magistrates decline to find probable cause; opponents raised concerns tied to one recorded nay vote.

Senator Huffman said his office received reports that magistrates in some instances have “indiscriminately” made no-probable-cause determinations without explaining the basis. SB 3073 would not change the magistrate’s discretion to make a probable-cause finding, he said, but would require that a written record explain why the magistrate concluded probable cause did not exist. “If they're gonna deny a probable cause, they just put it in writing,” Huffman told the committee.

The committee recorded one dissenting vote from Senator Miles; the roll call produced six ayes and one nay. There were no invited or public witnesses registered for SB 3073 at the committee hearing, and the chair closed public testimony before the vote.

The bill will proceed to the Senate floor for further consideration.","The Senate Committee on Criminal Justice voted 6–1 to report Senate Bill 3073 to the full Senate. The bill would require magistrates who determine no probable cause exists for an arrest to enter written findings on the record explaining that determination.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Senate committee sends constitutional amendment to deny bail for certain repeat violent offenders to floor

Committee approves substitute for bill standardizing law-enforcement personnel-file practices

Senate committee backs bill requiring written findings when magistrates rule no probable cause