A push to deny bail for a broader range of criminal defendants is taking hold in some Republican-led states and even a few Democratic-run cities.

Legislatures in Texas and Tennessee have proposals to eliminate bail for people linked to killings, rapes and shootings to reduce pretrial releases that put the public at risk.

In the nation’s capital, the Democratic-run D.C. Council will decide this spring whether to restrict bail releases permanently.

Proponents argued that the city’s tighter release policies, adopted during a 2023-2024 crime wave and set to sunset in less than 90 days, were key to bringing the surge in homicides, carjackings and robberies under control.

Leaders in other left-leaning cities such as San Francisco, staggered by a 2023 surge in retail theft, also backpedaled on soft-on-crime experiments.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed went as far as to endorse Republican-sponsored efforts last year in the California Statehouse to roll back no-bail and no-jail policies for shoplifters.

In Texas, the cost of more lenient bail policies is evident in big cities. Police organizations say they support efforts to change laws that let violent people loose.

“There’s been multiple situations where suspects ran out on bond and continue to be a nuisance to society, committing further acts of violence against the general public, to include murder,” said Tyler Owen, who works with the Texas Municipal Police Association. “This is a step in the right direction to keeping our community safe, and by doing that, you’re keeping Texas safe.”

A man charged with murder in Austin made bail last week after a Travis County judge reduced his bond from $800,000 to $200.

Stephon Martin Morson, 19, was placed on house arrest and must wear an ankle monitor as part of his release conditions. Even the state’s top executive bashed the leniency.

“This is outrageous. It’s why I made bail reform an Emergency Item,” Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said on X. “We must prevent leftist judges from releasing dangerous murderers out on our streets. Those responsible for this release should be held legally liable if anyone is harmed by this criminal.”

The prioritized bill proposes changing the Texas Constitution to allow judges to refuse bail in a broader range of cases, including armed robbery, aggravated kidnapping and nonfatal shootings.

The Texas Constitution allows no-bail options only if the defendant is charged with capital murder, which can carry the death penalty.

The bill was passed by the Senate on Wednesday. It will now go before the full Legislature. A two-thirds vote is needed to put the proposal on the ballot to change the state Constitution.

Last summer, a man posted bond just days after he was charged in a road rage shooting in Dallas that left 2-year-old Jasmine Garcia with a bullet in her diaphragm.

Police arrested Jason Cain, 50. Authorities who searched his home said they found several weapons and Nazi and satanic symbols.

“We were devastated and worried because of our safety since police said he had multiple firearms in his house,” Jacqueline Garcia, the little girl’s mother, told KDFW. “We just currently don’t feel safe, and it’s really hard.”

The June killing of Jocelyn Nungaray, 12, in Houston is motivating another legislative push.

Lawmakers want to deny bail privileges for illegal immigrants charged with felonies.

Officials said Jocelyn was lured under a bridge and strangled by two Venezuelan nationals, both in the U.S. illegally. They were alleged members of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua.

Mr. Owen, the representative from the Texas Municipal Police Association, said the proposed legislation would help prevent illegal immigrants from fleeing the country while on bail.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican, is a major advocate of the proposed legislation. “Over 100 people have been killed in Harris County that might be alive today if the House had passed the bill,” he said last week. “So, whatever it takes, we will not leave here until these bills pass the House. Period. If it takes two years, we’ll keep coming back.”

Tennessee is also looking at constitutional revisions to its bail guidelines.

State lawmakers want people charged with second-degree murder, rape, torture and “any other offense” to lose bail privileges.

The bill passed through both houses of the General Assembly during last year’s legislative session and must do so again this year before it can become law.

The proposal is undergoing debate in the House. If it receives enough votes, it will take effect in November 2026.

Changing the Tennessee Constitution may motivate judges to come down harder on violent defendants.

Shelby County Judge Bill Anderson angered state officials this fall when he let defendants in two Memphis-area shootings out of jail without posting bond.

One of the defendants, military veteran Christopher Smith, is accused of attempted first-degree murder. Police said he opened fire on officers during a 12-hour standoff in November. Prosecutors said they sought a $200,000 bond, but Judge Anderson allowed Mr. Smith to leave court on his own recognizance.

Tyreese Earnest, 18, who was charged with attempted second-degree murder in the October shooting of a FedEx employee, was also released without bond by the Shelby County magistrate. Prosecutors again said they had sought a $200,000 bond.

“Judge Anderson does not deserve the respect of anyone who is determined to solve our crime problem,” State Sen. Brent Taylor, Shelby County Republican, posted on social media at the time.

Elected leaders in the District of Columbia appear primed for a fight over their tougher no-bail rules once they expire this spring.

At the height of the city’s 2023 crime wave with the most homicides in more than a quarter-century, the D.C. Council enacted emergency legislation that allowed judges to keep those charged with violent crimes behind bars while their court cases played out.

The temporary provision was added to a massive crime-fighting bill last March, but a last-minute amendment called for the broader jailing standards to sunset so they could be studied.

D.C. Department of Corrections statistics show inmate numbers ballooned after the provision was implemented from about 1,000 in July 2023 to just shy of 1,400 by the end of 2024. Officials said violent crime in the city had fallen to around 2019 levels.

Council member Brooke Pinto, the Ward 2 Democrat who authored the aggressive Secure D.C. law last year, said the change helped judges keep hostile defendants off the streets after their first charge. She said judges previously were allowed to jail people pretrial only if they were charged with at least two violent crimes.

The agency that studied the tougher jailing standards could not compile findings by the Feb. 4 legislative meeting, so the council extended its 90-day deadline to finalize its report.

Janeese Lewis George, Ward 4 Democrat, said she would not support the measure if the report is not completed within 90 days.

“Secure D.C.’s pretrial detention standard was meant to be temporary while we gathered evidence on its impact, and we cannot afford to let people unnecessarily be in jail who could otherwise be safely released just because the government can’t fulfill its obligations,” Ms. Lewis George said at the meeting.

New York state is also revisiting some of its discovery laws that have resulted in hasty releases for criminal defendants.

Those looking to change the 2019 law said prosecutors had been penalized by judges for not sharing every piece of evidence in a case, no matter how inconsequential, allowing violent defendants to be released.

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.