Pretrial Release in the 1990 s : Texas Takes Another Look at Nonfinancial Release Conditions

The conditions under which an individual accused of a crime can remain at liberty prior to the resolution of the criminal charge against him have evolved over time in the American system of criminal justice.' For most of this country's history, pretrial release conditions were almost exclusively defined in financial terms, i.e., the amount of "bail" a defendant or his surety was required to pledge to assure appearance in court.2 Mounting dissatisfaction with the financiallybased American bail system, however, ultimately resulted in a decade of bail reform in the 1960s during which various forms of nonfinancial release conditions designed to assure court appearance were developed.3 The introduction of these nonfinancial release conditions significantly expanded the extent of pretrial release.4 This expansion of