Gov. Lee Signs Bail Bonds Bill Intended To Cut Down On High Rates Of Recidivism In Tennessee
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The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
A bill intended to cut down on the high rates of repeat offenders and career criminals has officially become law in Tennessee.
Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN) signed the legislation into law on March 27th, 2024, and it officially became Public Chapter 612 on April 3rd, 2024.
House Bill 1642/Senate Bill 2562 (HB1642/SB2562), sponsored by Rep. William Lamberth (R-Portland-District 44) and Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis-District 31), “revises various provisions regarding pretrial release of a defendant charged with a criminal offense to require the magistrate to give first consideration to ensuring the safety of the community when determining whether to impose conditions of release or require a deposit of bail.”
Previous state law provided that an individual charged with a bailable offense could be released pre-trial “on the person’s personal recognizance or upon the execution of an unsecured appearance bond.”
The law also dictated that if a judge orders an individual to be released pre-trial, then the judge must impose the “least restrictive conditions of release that will reasonably ensure the appearance of the person as required and the safety of the community.”
The legislation amends TCA § 40-11-115 to add that if an individual is charged with a bailable offense, a judge is authorized to admit the person to bail.
The individual could be released pending trial with conditions of release that “may include the deposit of bail.”
HB1642/SB2562 specifically dictates that judges must give first consideration to the safety of the community when considering a criminal’s release.
“My constituents do not feel safe knowing that a person is going to be arrested two, three, four or five times and not be held accountable by any court system,” Rep. Lamberth stated. “All they’re asking is that for repeat violent felons, hold them accountable, keep us safe, make sure that when our children are going to school, or we’re headed to the grocery store, a church, that we don’t have to worry about some violent felon gunning one of our friends or loved ones down, that we know they’re going to be held accountable.”
The new law will apply to release decisions for offenses that are committed on or after the effective date of July 1st of this year.
Repeat Offenders in Tennessee
Time and time again, Tennesseans have been negatively impacted by the violent actions of criminals who have committed crimes, been released on low bond or no bond, using their newfound freedom to commit even more crimes.
Some have even described Tennessee’s criminal justice system as a “criminal mill” where offenders, even those charged with violent offenses, “enter, exit and reenter the system with regular frequency.”
This type of flawed system allows for career criminals to continue that “career.”
Take Darryl Roberts for example.
The man had 66 prior arrests on his record and had never spent more than 6 months in jail at one time when he point blank shot and killed a prominent businessman and 38-year-old father of three young children in downtown Chattanooga last fall.
In November of 2023 18-year-old freshman at Belmont University, Jillian Ludwig, was shot and killed by 29-year-old Shaquille Taylor who had been previously charged with robbery, theft of a vehicle, and possession of a handgun alongside several aggravated assault charges.
Yet Taylor was allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges in these instances, putting him pack out on the street sooner than he would have been otherwise.
34-year-old Carl Hamilton plead guilty to kidnapping a woman from a Nashville apartment complex back in 2020, for which he only had to serve 30% of his six-year sentence.
Hamilton had already been arrested several times since then for criminal trespassing, public intoxication, and drug paraphernalia.
These newer charges were dropped in April 2024 and the day immediately following Hamilton’s dismissal of charges, he attacked an Amazon delivery driver at another Nashville apartment complex and was charged with aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, and robbery.
26-year-old Jamien Taylor was released from jail in April 2024 on a $3,000 bond for charges of false imprisonment and assault on a woman in Nashville’s Public Square Park.
Within days of his release, Taylor attempted to kidnap a 15-year-old high school student as she got off a school bus.
Taylor was arrested again on charges of attempted kidnapping and assault.
“The safety of our community should be a real consideration in the setting of bonds and pre-trial release conditions,” Metro Police Chief John Drake said in a statement released after Taylor’s latest arrest. “It’s no secret that our officers are dealing with the same people time and again.”
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
Strike 3, “Electric chair”, no exceptions.
6 month to a year, crime free streets.
The whole system is wonky. Unless a third offender is proven to have “extremely” extenuating circumstances, execution carried out within one year should be the penalty. If these criminals insist on keeping on, keeping on, the system end the threat permanently. We pay and pay and pay to subsidize their criminal sprees, then their incarceration. More prisons is not the answer, sure and swift extermination is.
I’m afraid more prisons are the only answer Ralph for the Supreme Court will almost surely overturn most expansions of the death penalty as “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. We want “law and order” on the cheap and I’m afraid in “law and order” as in most anything else, you get what you pay for.
Let’s make Tennessee the most notorious worst place to commit violent crime because do violent crime three times and you stay in jail until you need the aid of a walker to do your fourth.
Will this anti-recidivist law also apply to CORPORATE criminals like Gabrielle Hanson who groomed girls for heterosexual prostitution (and who did time for her crime) and people like our Secretary of Education who deliberately defrauds the tax-paying public out of money for unauthorized, un-job related, trips? Or, does this bill target only low-income criminals while letting the rich big-shots go away Scott free? Does a mass murderer who is powerful like Israel’s Ben Netanyahoo walk away free for his war crimes against Palestinians?
I guess Hamas would fit your description of mass murders too. They attacked Israel on Oct. 7th. Israel didn’t attack them. Butchering Over a thousand innocent people at concert obviously doesn’t mean anything to you. Instead of being a keyboard warrior do something worth while go and fight for your cause in Gaza. Yeah don’t think you are brave enough. Its easier to sit here in America spout off at the mouth where you are protected.
Matthew 5:44 KJV
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.
In God we trust not government or man.
Have a blessed day.
We need to send our Sheriffs to Sheriff Richard Mack to be trained as Constitutional Sheriffs and all of our law enforcement need to be trained according to our Constitution. Florida has some outstanding Sheriffs who do not put up with criminals.