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Committee hears opposition to $5,000 cap on charitable bail funds in HB1450
Summary
Witnesses and lawmakers debated House Bill 14-50, which would cap third‑party bail at $5,000 and bar charitable bail funds from bailing the same person more than once per year. The committee placed the bill behind the budget after testimony raising concerns about increased pretrial incarceration costs.
The House Finance, Ways and Means subcommittee heard public testimony and sponsor remarks on House Bill 14-50, a measure that would limit entities not otherwise connected to the arrested person from posting bail to no more than $5,000 and prohibit such entities from bailing the same person out more than once in a 12‑month period.
Cyrus Wilson, executive director of the Nashville Community Bail Fund, opposed the bill in a three‑minute testimony. Wilson warned the measure would raise local taxpayer costs by increasing pretrial detention, saying the state already saw “14,664” average pretrial detainees in 2017 and that counties were spending “over $285,000,000 on jail incarceration” by 2019. “This bill will only increase those numbers for Tennesseans and taxpayers,” Wilson said, arguing charitable organizations help people avoid extended pretrial stays.
Sponsor Chairman Baum said the bill is intended as a set of guardrails rather than an absolute ban: entities that are not licensed would be limited to $5,000 and one bail posting per year, while individuals and licensed bail bondsmen could still post bail. Baum told the committee the cap is meant to measure “how serious the crime is” and to address oversight and liability concerns for unlicensed actors.
After questions and discussion, the committee recorded that HB14-50 has a small fiscal impact and, without objection, placed the bill behind the budget for further consideration.
