Cashless bail explained: What it is, how it works and why Trump is targeting it

When President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month threatening to withhold federal funding from states and localities that have adopted "cashless bail" policies, he escalated a national fight over how courts decide who should remain behind bars before trial.

The move has already rippled into state capitols. In North Carolina, Republican lawmakers are considering legislation this week that would tighten pretrial release rules after a high-profile fatal stabbing on a commuter train last month.

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The bill, which was first introduced in March and altered earlier this week with the title "Iryna's Law," would require people to post money bail for certain offenses and would restrict judicial discretion for violent and repeat offenders. The bill also would add a new category of violent offenses that require specific pretrial conditions, such as electronic monitoring. It passed the state Senate on Monday.

"When we were looking at drafting this bill, a lot of it was looking at the situation that happened in Charlotte," said North Carolina state Sen. Danny Britt, a Republican and criminal defense attorney, to WRAL-TV.

In New York, Republican lawmakers are pushing to advance legislation that would further limit pretrial release and allow judges to weigh a defendant's "dangerousness" in setting conditions. New York ended bail for most misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies in 2019, but has since scaled back the law at least three times to allow judges more discretion.

And in Texas — where legislators passed new bail restrictions earlier this summer — voters in November will consider a constitutional amendment banning bail altogether in certain cases for violent offenses such as murder, aggravated assault and indecency with a child.

Trump signed the cashless bail order three days after Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, was killed in a seemingly random stabbing in Charlotte, North Carolina. The suspect, who has a lengthy criminal record, had been released without bond last winter after being charged with misusing the 911 system.

Trump's order directs U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to identify which jurisdictions have "substantially eliminated cash bail," though it does not define what that means — leaving its scope and enforcement unclear. Some legal experts say they expect challenges in court, as has happened with previous efforts to tie federal funding to state or local policies.

Trump issued the directive alongside another order aimed at Washington, D.C., where he declared a "crime emergency" and sought to roll back the city's decades-old bail law. The district did not fully eliminate cash bail when it passed its Bail Reform Act in 1992, but judges are required to consider nonfinancial conditions — such as electronic monitoring, curfews or check-ins — before setting a monetary bond.

Trump's orders are part of his broader crackdown on crime and public safety, which has also included deploying the National Guard to Memphis, Tennessee; Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.

Same charge, different outcomes

Cash bail is a guarantee to show up to court: A defendant pays money and is allowed to go home. At the end of their case, they may get the money back. A judge or magistrate may set the amount based on the severity of the charge and whether the defendant is considered a flight or safety risk.

But someone unable to pay the bail, even after being charged with a low-level misdemeanor, may remain in jail for days, weeks or months. Defendants by law are presumed innocent, but stuck behind bars, they can lose jobs or housing and be unable to care for their family.

Dozens of jurisdictions, including some states, have taken steps to change their bail systems, but there is no single definition of what constitutes "bail reform" or how such changes are applied.

Some states, counties and cities have moved toward fully or nearly eliminating, cash bail. Under these "cashless bail" systems, people may be released before trial without paying money unless a judge determines they pose a public safety risk or are unlikely to return to court. These decisions, experts say, are made intentionally, based on the facts of the case — including the charges involved — rather than on a defendant's ability to pay.

The policies can affect a large share of the people in the justice system. About 5 million felony cases and 13 million misdemeanor cases are resolved in state courts each year, according to the National Center for State Courts. Since misdemeanors make up the bulk of cases, state and local bail policies can shape outcomes for millions of people charged with lower-level offenses.

Some opponents of cashless bail policies argue that lenient policies may result in the release of defendants who could reoffend or fail to appear. Supporters counter that keeping people in jail simply because they cannot afford bail is unfair and disproportionately affects Black, Latino and low-income defendants.

The ongoing debate has fueled misconceptions, partly because some news coverage repeats unproven claims that cashless bail policies cause upticks in crime.

Trump has frequently drawn that connection himself. In a July post on Truth Social, he wrote: "Crime in American Cities started to significantly rise when they went to CASHLESS BAIL. The WORST criminals are flooding our streets and endangering even our great law enforcement officers. It is a complete disaster, and must be ended, IMMEDIATELY!"

Supporters of cash bail often raise concerns that released suspects might commit new, potentially more serious crimes. While that is possible in individual cases, some research suggests that eliminating cash bail does not lead to a widespread increase in crime. Some research also suggests that setting money bail isn't effective in ensuring court appearances or improving public safety.

How the bail system works

Washington, D.C., the immediate target of Trump's executive orders, largely eliminated the use of cash bail in 1992. Judges are required to first consider nonfinancial conditions, such as check-ins or curfews, though cash bail may still be used in serious cases.

Several states also have adopted major changes. Alaska, California, Illinois, New Jersey and New York have passed laws scaling back or fully eliminating cash bail, though some of those laws have since been revised.

In 2016, New Mexico voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment that limited the use of cash bail. Judges may impose a cash bond if they determine it is necessary either to ensure a defendant returns to court or because the person poses a public safety risk.

In 2023, Illinois became the first state to fully abolish cash bail through the Pretrial Fairness Act, which also guarantees defendants legal representation at pretrial hearings.

"Those early decisions about someone's liberty are much more deliberative," said Don Steman, a professor and co-director of the Center for Criminal Justice at Loyola University Chicago. The center's team has been evaluating the implementation and impact of the Pretrial Fairness Act. "It's about, 'Is this person a threat to public safety or a threat to willful flight?'"

In Houston, a 2019 settlement and consent decree resolved a lawsuit challenging Harris County's misdemeanor bail practices as unconstitutional, requiring the county to release most people charged with misdemeanors on a personal promise to return to court.

In the latest independent monitoring report, from 2024, observers wrote that the changes "have saved Harris County and residents many millions of dollars, improved the lives of tens of thousands of persons," and resulted in "no increase in new offenses by persons arrested for misdemeanors."

In August, just a day after Trump issued his executive order, Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton asked a federal court to vacate the consent decree.

He argued that the order conflicts with a Texas law passed in 2021 and another state bail law that took effect this month. Those laws require people charged with violent crimes in Texas to post cash bail in order to be released from jail, and expand the list of offenses for which defendants must post a cash bond, respectively.

This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Pennsylvania Capital-Star, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.