Bail for criminal defendants who have a previous conviction for bail jumping and Department of Justice collection and reporting of certain criminal case data. (FE)

Bail for persons with previous convictions for bail jumping Under current law, a person accused of a crime is eligible for release before conviction under reasonable conditions designed to do any of the following: 1) assure that he or she will appear in court; 2) protect members of the community from serious harm; or 3) prevent the intimidation of witnesses. The conditions of release may include monetary bail only if the court finds that there is a reasonable basis to believe that bail is necessary to assure that the defendant will appear in court or, if the defendant is accused of a violent crime as defined under current law, if the court finds that there is a reasonable basis to believe that bail is necessary based on the totality of the circumstances. “Violent crime” is defined to include crimes such as homicide, battery, mayhem, sexual assault, reckless injury, false imprisonment, human trafficking, taking of hostages, kidnapping, stalking, witness or victim intimidation, disarming a police officer, straw purchasing of firearms, endangering safety, arson, felony burglary, carjacking, robbery, harassment, bomb scares, and mistreatment of animals; crimes to which a domestic abuse or dangerous weapon penalty enhancer may be applied; the violation of a domestic abuse, child abuse, or harassment injunction; or the solicitation, conspiracy, or attempt to commit a Class A felony.

Under the bill, if the defendant has a previous conviction for the crime of bail jumping, the court must impose bail to assure appearance in court and the defendant may be released only if he or she executes a secured bond or deposits cash in lieu of a bond in an amount of at least $5,000. Under the bill, if the defendant is accused of a violent crime and the defendant has a previous conviction for a violent crime, the bail amount may not be less than $10,000. Under the bill, the definition for “violent crime” is the same as the definition above.