Why are 77% of inmates In Harris County, Texas still locked up without being convicted?
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The Harris County Jail in Houston. (Credit: AP/Eric Gay)
What happens if you get arrested in Harris County, Texas?
If you’re charged with a minor misdemeanor, like 22-year-old Maranda ODonnell, who was charged in May for driving with an invalid license, the officer that arrested you calls the assistant district attorney that’s on duty, who decides, usually over the phone, whether to charge you or let you go.
If they decide to charge you, as they did with ODonnell, they determine how much your bail will be. If you can pay it, you’re immediately released, without even being booked into the jail. If you can’t pay, you’re booked. The amount you have to pay is determined by the Harris County Bail Schedule.
As of March, there were more than 6,800 inmates in the Harris County Jail who hadn’t been convicted of any crime, simply because the could not make bail. It costs Harris County $75 per day, per person.
Once booked, and usually within 24 hours, you’ll be brought in with a group of 25 to 40 others to appear before a hearing officer. You aren’t offered an attorney if you can’t afford one yourself .The hearing officer will determine whether there was indeed probable cause for your arrest, and if your bail amount was set correctly. Then, you either pay up and walk out, or stay locked up.
ODonell’s bail was set at $2,500, which she could not pay. And so she was incarcerated in the Harris County Jail, unable to care for her young daughter or go to her new job at a restaurant.
Loetha McGruder was pulled over on May 19 for allegedly driving 10 miles over the posted 40 mph speed limit, and brought in on a misdemeanor charge of failing to present proper ID to the officer who pulled her over. The young mother of a 4-year-old and a 10-month-old had her bail set at $5,000. She could not afford this, and was held away for five days from her children, one of whom has Down Syndrome and requires special care.
In March, Harris County taxpayers paid $513,075 per day to house individuals, like ODonnell and McGruder, who hasn’t been convicted of a crime. A Houston Chronicle investigation found that between 2009 and 2015, 55 people died in the Harris County jail awaiting trial after being unable to pay their bail.
The American money-bail system, plays a significant role in the numbers of incarcerated people across the country. More than 60 percent of people in America’s overcrowded jails are there because they can’t afford to pay their bail. This amounts to about 450,000 Americans in jail on any given day.
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