HB 318 (2023)

Eliminates bail commissioners and provides that judges will set bail. This bill then rewrites the process to release a defendant before trial. Judges would consider various factors when deciding whether or not to release a defendant with or without bail. Some of those factors include the severity of the offense, the likelihood of the person returning for trial, the potential danger to the public, etc. The bill does state that a person cannot be held until trial solely because they cannot afford bail.

The House completely rewrote the bill. As amended, this bill establishes bail magistrates (similar to SB 249), lowers the proof required to hold some offenders without bail and regulates electronic monitoring (similar to SB 252), increases the bail commissioner fee from $40 to $60 (similar to SB 425), and adds judicial training requirements (similar to HB 1005).

The Senate made changes to the burden of proof to hold an offender without bail, generally tipping the scale towards keeping a person in jail. The Senate version of the bill also leaves more details of judicial training requirements to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and removes sections about electronic monitoring.

A conference committee of representatives and senators drafted a compromise version of the bill. That compromise sets the standard of proof to hold a defendant for risk of flight is preponderance of the evidence. The standard to hold a defendant for dangerousness is clear and convincing evidence. "Clear and convincing evidence" requires more proof than "preponderance of the evidence", but both are less strict than "beyond reasonable doubt." The House and Senate then passed this compromise bill.