Officials pushing for 'no bail, no jail' for non-violent offenders in King County

If you attend a first appearance or bail hearing at almost any court in King County, you are most likely will hear these words from the judge: ‘I’m going to release you on your promise to appear.”

It means the defendant, who may or may not be charged with a crime, is free to leave jail or remain out-of-custody with the promise they will make their next court hearing.

Bail has always been used as an incentive for the defendant to make their next court date, or they could be out of a large amount of cash.

“It’s an incentive that has worked well for years," said Denny Behrend, co-owner of Lacy O’Malley Bail Bonds.

But there’s a new incentive for judges and the courts. It’s not to send people to jail whenever possible.

Washington State has a law requiring a judge to send a person to the ‘least restrictive’ alternative to jail whenever possible while balancing the need to keep the public safe.

But COVID and a backlog of cases, including many violent cases, is putting pressure on judges to not send people accused of non-violent crimes to jail.

“We have historic levels of backlogs," said King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg.

There is a tremendous push to keep non-violent offenders out of jail, to save money, to lower the lower the jail population to avoid outbreaks and COVID and there’s pressure on judges to keep it that way.

A 2019 report by the Washington Bail Reform Task Force said 77 percent of jail populations statewide are people waiting for the trails.

“The bail system needs be reformed and some of that reform has to be through the legislature," said Seattle Municipal Court Judge Damon Shadid who runs Community Court. “Everybody gets released who comes in without having to post bail in Community Court."

It’s a form of pre-trail diversion for lower level offenders to avoid jail altogether if they complete treatment or other out-of-custody assignments handed down by the judge.

Seattle State Senator Jaime Pedersen is trying to make changes Shadid speaks of at the state level.

He’s sponsoring SB 5307 which would create the Uniform Pretrial Release and Detention Act.

Essentially, it would allow judges to “PR” or release defendants on their own personal recognizance without having to post a bail bond.

“There are an awful lot of folks who don't need to be in jail, but are in jail," Pedersen said.

The focus would be on people who are accused of non-violent crimes, but Pedersen would not say where the legal threshold would be. Would it be all misdemeanors? Some non-violent felonies?

“That’s a good question and that's one of the things we are going to have to work out," Pedersen said.

It’s an indication his bill may not be ready for prime time. Even the often liberally minded American Civil Liberties Union is opposing it.

“Because of some possible unintended consequences," said Jaime Hawk, Government Policy Director for the ACLU.

The bill would require a court hearing within 48 hours of an arrest.

“That would significantly stress the entire court system,"said Laura Riquelme of the Superior Court Judge’s Association and a Skagit County Superior Court Judge.

Her association, as well as other associations representing municipal court judges, sheriff and police chief like the concept behind it but oppose it as written.

Beherd said he’s seen an increase number of judges PR’ing people more often than not, for non-violent crimes during bail hearings.

“An auto theft that a couple of years ago would have been a $5,000 bail will now be PR’d," Beherd said.

Pedersen said he’s convinced his bill needs more work. He says the threshold for bail versus personal recognizance may be if the defendant poses a threat to another person.

“That’s probably where that we'll go but that's one of the issues, we are going to do more work on over the next year," Pedersen said.