Bettencourt bill would put limit on PR bonds
Legislation named for victim would curb some defendants
As debate on bail reform continues to roil Texas politics, state Sen. Paul Bettencourt on Monday announced legislation to limit the use of personal recognizance bonds and impose stiffer cash bail limits on defendants charged with multiple felonies.
“America is the land of second chances, but that doesn’t mean you get a third, fourth or fifth chance to then go out and commit some serious offense like shooting a deputy sheriff or killing a citizen of Harris County,” said Bettencourt, R-Houston, introducing Senate Bill 532.
The so-called Caitlynne’s Bill is named after Caitlynne Infinger Guajardo, who police say was killed in 2019 by her husband, Alex Guajardo, who was out on bond after being charged with assaulting her.
Bettencourt announced the news Monday morning at Crime Stoppers of Houston, where he was joined by Republican state Rep. Dan Huberty, local law enforcement labor leaders, City Council Member (and bail bondsman) Michael Kubosh, several community advocates and relatives of homicide victims in Houston and Harris County.
He said the bill would prohibit magistrates from releasing a defendant on a personal recognizance bond (meaning the person doesn’t have to post money in order to be released) for offenses committed while already out on an existing PR bond, or on a felony offense when two or more felony charges are pending against the defendant.
His proposed legislation also sets a minimum bail of $10,000 per offense in cases where the defendant is accused of three or more prior felonies.
During his news conference, Bettencourt criticized Harris County judges for releasing defendants on low bonds.
“Bail reform is one thing, but bond destruction is another,” he said. “The pendulum has gone too far in this area.”
Opponents of bail reform have raised Guajardo’s death as an example of problems with how Harris County treats defendants accused of serious crimes. Guajardo’s husband had previously been charged with drunken driving and had recently been arrested on charges of assaulting her. Soon after his arrest, he was let out of jail on a PR bond. He is accused of stabbing her to death days later.
“These PR bonds are being handed out like popcorn. These criminals are laughing at Harris County and our justice system. It has to stop,” said Melanie Infinger, mother of Caitlynne. “I knew that my daughter’s death was preventable.”
The legislation drew support from Harris County law enforcement leaders, including Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, who said she supported the proposed legislation.
"Violent offenders who commit more crimes while on bail should not be repeatedly released to prey on innocent people,” Ogg said.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez also expressed tentative support for Bettencourt’s bill, saying the current system leads to “inconsistent application of
bond” and said he supported efforts to use risk-based assessments to determine how the state detains defendants.
“Judges should have more discretion,” he said. “Sometimes they’re limited in who they can hold with no bond.”
The proposed legislation drew immediate pushback from Democratic lawmakers, who said it appeared to be a bill “written by bail bondsmen” that promises a quick fix to a complex issue.
“It’s just flawed on its face and it’s unfortunate Crime
Stoppers of Houston lends its good name to a bill that will not improve public safety,” said state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, who called the bill “soft on crime” and said it fails to address real problems preventing judges from detaining violent criminals.
Whitmire said the bill does not acknowledge the realities of the Texas Constitution.
“If you’re a high-risk danger to the public, you should receive no bond,” he said. “I don’t know anyone who would argue that, but the Constitution of Texas guarantees a bond. It’s outdated and should be changed.”
In response to Whitmire’s criticism, Bettencourt defended the bill, saying it was written without input of any bail bond influences.
“Without a constitutional amendment, that is as far as the law can go because bail is constitutionally guaranteed,” Bettencourt said.
State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, argued that “cash bond is why people get stuck in jail” and said the proposed legislation would potentially prevent people from returning to work or caring for their families after a run-in with the law.
Nick Hudson, policy and advocacy strategist for the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement that “Texas needs reform to its broken bail system.”
“It’s not just, smart, or safe to decide whether to release someone from jail based on how much money they can pay,” he said. “Bills like this one would move Texas backward by increasing wealth-based incarceration, especially for Black and brown Texans. Overall, this increases costs to taxpayers without improving safety.”
But labor leaders for the county’s law enforcement officers at the news conference argued that Harris County has become a “safe haven” for criminals.”
The proposed legislation comes as Harris County and Houston both weathered sharp upticks in homicides in 2020, mirroring a nationwide trend.
Andy Kahan, Crime Stoppers
of Houston’s director of victim services and advocacy, has said many murders have been committed by defendants out of jail on a personal recognizance bond, on multiple felony bonds or after forfeiting their bond.
Veteran criminal defense attorney Patrick McCann criticized law enforcement’s description of Harris County as a “haven” for criminals. He characterized Bettencourt’s proposed legislation as a “plea to the return of the days of cowboy justice.”
“That’s something they come up with from their imagination because they are struggling to adapt to modern times,” he said. “They can’t handle increased civilian scrutiny and increased community policing methods they’re being forced to adopt.”
But he said he agreed with one of the proposed law’s provisions.
“If you’re dumb enough to blow a PR bond, you probably don’t need to be out with rest of us,” he said.