Bail; prohibit unsecured judicial release.

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To: Judiciary B
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Yancey

HOUSE BILL NO. 983

AN ACT TO PROHIBIT ANY JUDGE FROM GRANTING UNSECURED JUDICIAL 1
RELEASE FOR ANY PERSON WHO HAS COMMITTED A BAIL RESTRICTED 2
OFFENSE; TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS FOR THE TERMS "UNSECURED JUDICIAL 3
RELEASE" "BAIL RESTRICTED OFFENSE"; TO AMEND SECTION 99-5-11, 4
MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING SECTION; AND 5
FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 6
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 7
SECTION 1. (1) As used in this section, the following words 8
and phrases shall have the meanings as defined in this section 9
unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: 10
(a) "Bail restricted offense" means any offense for 11
which the punishment may include imprisonment in excess of one (1) 12
year. 13
(b) "Unsecured judicial release" means any release that 14
does not require the posting of a monetary bond, property, or 15
other security, including, but not limited to: 16
(i) Release on a person's own recognizance; 17
(ii) Release on an unsecured appearance bond; or 18
(iii) Release conditioned upon entering a pretrial 19
release program, pretrial diversion program, or similar 20
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intervention program, where no monetary bond, property, or other 21
security is required. 22
(2) No person charged with a bail restricted offense shall 23
be eligible for release by any judge on an unsecured judicial 24
release. Such persons charged with a bail restricted offense 25
shall only be eligible for release through the use of a secured 26
monetary bond, property bond, or surety bond. 27
(3) In addition to other laws regarding the release of an 28
accused person, and except as provided in subsection (2) of this 29
section, the judge of any court having jurisdiction over a person 30
charged with committing a criminal offense shall have authority, 31
in his or her sound discretion and in appropriate cases, to 32
authorize the release of the person on an unsecured judicial 33
release. 34
(4) The Mississippi Legislature shall have power to enact 35
legislation consistent with this amendment. This amendment shall 36
take effect on January 1 of the year following ratification. 37
SECTION 2. Section 99-5-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 38
amended as follows: 39
99-5-11. (1) Except as otherwise provided by this act, all 40
justice court judges and all other conservators of the peace are 41
authorized, whenever a person is brought before them charged with 42
any offense not capital for which bail is allowed by law, to take 43
the recognizance or bond of the person, with sufficient sureties, 44
in such penalty as the justice court judge or conservator of the 45
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peace may require, for his appearance before the justice court 46
judge or conservator of the peace for an examination of his case 47
at some future day. 48
(2) (a) Financial conditions of bail shall not be set for 49
the sole purpose of detaining the defendant. When bail is set, it 50
is presumed that the amount of bail is both necessary to 51
reasonably assure the safety of a victim, witness or general 52
public and to guarantee the appearance of a defendant as required 53
by the court. The amount of bail is also presumed to be 54
attainable by the defendant. The presumption that bail is 55
attainable by the defendant may be rebutted by the defendant who 56
may file a motion to reduce or set aside the bail requirement with 57
the court due to lack of financial means, which shall also 58
consider the availability of a third-party support system to 59
obtain the defendant's release. The court shall rule on any such 60
motion within forty-eight (48) hours of the filing. 61
(b) * * * No misdemeanor defendant shall be 62
incarcerated solely because the defendant cannot afford to post 63
bail; nor shall a misdemeanor defendant be released solely because 64
the defendant cannot afford bail. It is the duty of the justice 65
court judge or conservator of the peace to ensure that release of 66
the defendant does not jeopardize the community. 67
(c) The accused may waive an appearance before the 68
judge and execute an appearance bond in an amount determined by 69
the court from the bond guidelines set out in the Mississippi 70
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Rules of Criminal Procedure and agree to appear at a specified 71
time and place. 72
(d) If the justice court judge or conservator of the 73
peace is unavailable and has not otherwise provided for the 74
setting of bail, it is lawful for any officer or officers 75
designated by order of the justice court judge or conservator of 76
the peace to take bond, cash, property or recognizance, with or 77
without sureties, in the amount of the minimum bail specified in 78
the bond guidelines set out in the Mississippi Rules of Criminal 79
Procedure, payable to the county and conditioned for the 80
appearance of the person on the return day and time of the writ 81
before the court to which the warrant is returnable, or in cases 82
of arrest without a warrant, on the day and time set by the court 83
or officer for arraignment, and there remain from day to day and 84
term to term until discharged. 85
(3) And if the person thus recognized or thus giving bond 86
fails to appear at the appointed time, it shall be the duty of the 87
justice court judge or conservator of the peace to return the 88
recognizance or bond, with his certificate of default, to the 89
court having jurisdiction of the case, and a recovery may be had 90
therein by scire facias, as in other cases of forfeiture. The 91
justice court judge or other conservator of the peace shall also 92
issue an alias warrant for the defaulter. 93
(4) In circumstances involving an offense against any of the 94
following: (a) a current or former spouse of the accused or child 95
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ST: Bail; prohibit unsecured judicial release.
of that person; (b) a person living as a spouse or who formerly 96
lived as a spouse with the accused or a child of that person; (c) 97
a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild or someone similarly 98
situated to the accused; (d) a person who has a current or former 99
dating relationship with the accused; or (e) a person with whom 100
the accused has had a biological or legally adopted child, the 101
justice court judge or other conservator of the peace shall check, 102
or cause to be made a check, of the status of the person for whom 103
recognizance or bond is taken before ordering bail in the 104
Mississippi Protection Order Registry authorized under Section 105
93-21-25, and the existence of a domestic abuse protection order 106
against the accused shall be considered when determining 107
appropriate bail. 108
* * * 109
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from 110
and after July 1, 2026. 111