Sen. Gardenhire critical of bail bill
Senate Judiciary Chair Todd Gardenhire blasted a constitutional amendment to the state’s bail law, saying it will pack county jails and put local governments in a financial bind.
Senators passed the measure 6-3, but not before the Chattanooga Republican lambasted it Tuesday. The resolution would amend the constitution by expanding the list of crimes in which judges have discretion to set bail. Under current law, judges have the authority to decline bail only for capital murder.
Gardenhire, who was ill early in the session, prefaced his comments by challenging House leaders who might question whether he is “soft on crime” and noted he was criticized last year. House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, is sponsoring the House version of the bill and has been outspoken about the need to put constraints on Shelby County and Memphis.
The bill is designed to target Shelby County, Gardenhire said, but he noted he’s worried about “unintended consequences,” especially for rural counties that might have to raise taxes to expand or build new jails.
“My concern is what judge running for reelection is not going to put somebody away for 100% of the time?” Gardenhire said.
Sarcastically, he noted a group of lawmakers had the “wisdom” in a 2023 special session on public safety to divert $50 million from a prison construction fund to nonprofit groups working on mental health. It costs about $600 million to build a state prison.
During debate, Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, the bill’s sponsor, barely answered questions about jail and prison crowding by saying he hopes judges will rarely use the discretion they’re given to deny bail, thus tamping down costs.
Yet the measure would enable judges to deny bail on 24 new offenses, mainly violent ones in which 100% of sentences must be served, and another 16 offenses in which 85% of the sentence is mandatory.
“There’s some real expenses the state could probably have to pick up, and I don’t think anybody has the guts to do it,” Gardenhire said.
The bail industry, which is lobbying against the measure, contends Shelby County would wind up with a 320-jail bed shortage and Hamilton County would be 1,249 beds short if this measure is placed in the Tennessee Constitution.
The resolution would have to pass a constitutional majority (at least 50 favorable votes in the House and 17 in the Senate) in this General Assembly and a twothirds vote in the 114th General Assembly before being placed on the next ballot involving a gubernatorial race, where it must receive a majority vote of those participating in the governor’s election.
Johnson argued that when the state constitution was ratified, capital offenses included more than first-degree murder.
“Since then, it has denied judges discretion to deny bail for the worst offenses,” Johnson said, including repeat offenders.
The bail industry, though, contends the state doesn’t have enough information to determine whether expanding the list of offenses will work.
Jeff Clayton, executive director of the American Bail Coalition, told lawmakers Tennessee is an “ancient rule state,” using the bail system that has been in place for 809 years.