Philadelphia will stop keeping a portion of defendants’ bail

PHILADELPHIA >> The city of Philadelphia will no longer keep a portion of defendants’ bail deposits even if they appear for court hearings, officials said Thursday.

The First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, which covers the Philadelphia County court system, announced the change at a news conference. The revision means the city will return the entire bail amount to defendants who meet their court obligations. The previous rule allowed the city to keep up to 30 percent of a defendant’s bail deposit.

“I believe justice has to be just and fair. You still have to hold individuals accountable, but it can’t be a system that favors one group of individuals versus another,” said City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson. “When we talk about economic impact of using cash bail to detain individuals, we know some people have the ability to make cash bail in a timely fashion and some people don’t. But we wanted to look at more progressive ways to make sure people come to court.”

The money — about $3 million annually — was sent to the city’s general fund, not used to specifically fund the court’s operations. Mayor Jim Kenney commended the move, saying the money was not included in the budget plan this year because officials had hoped that the court would agree to eliminate the practice.

The change came as the court decided to do away with another rule that outlined policies on detainers, or orders to keep people on parole or probation in jail if they are arrested on a new crime.

The court plans to replace the rule requiring hearings before issuing a detainer with a rule that reflects the current practices of the court, said Criminal Division Supervising Judge Leon Tucker. It is too early to provide details, he said, but the detainers will be used only when “absolutely necessary.”

Public defenders and criminal justice reform advocates have complained that the courts have often issued automatic detainers for lowerlevel crimes without holding hearings.

MATT ROURKE - THE AP Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney arrives for a news conference at City Hall to discus bail reform at a news conference at City Hall in Philadelphia, Thursday, Oct. 11.