California Governor Jerry Brown [official website] on Tuesday signed a bill [SB-10] into law that will end the practice of assigning bail to defendants awaiting trial.

A pretrial risk assessment system will replace the bail system in determining if a defendant can be released. Those who are deemed to be low risk of public safety or failure to appear in court will be released. Those who are deemed to be high risk will not be released. Medium risk defendants will be released based on the local rule of the court.

The pretrial risk assessment will be completed by pretrial assessment services, which will be established by the courts. The services can compromise court employees, or be contracted out to a local public agency with relevant experience. A new local agency can be used if no experienced local agencies agree to participate and the new public agency was established specifically for the role of pretrial assessment services. The public agency must not have responsibilities in making arrests or detentions within the jurisdiction.

Victims of the crime will be given the opportunity to appear at the arraignment or submit comments. A new preventative detention hearing can be requested if new evidence, facts, or material changes in circumstances occur.

The decision to release a defendant  shall occur within 24 hours, although it can be extended by 12 hours for good cause. Defendants who are arrested for misdemeanors, with certain specified exceptions, will be released without the need for a risk assessment within 12 hours of booking.

The law will take effect on October 1, 2019. Any bail that is granted before October 1, 2019, will remain in effect.

In April 2017, Human Rights Watch accused [JURIST report] California’s bail system of disadvantaging poor people and pressuring many to plead guilty in order to be released from prison. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] against Texas in April 2018 claiming that the bail system in the state was arbitrary. In July the Third Circuit upheld [JURIST report] the new New Jersey bail system, which removed most cash bail.