Austin News

Bills in the Texas Legislature that, in part, call for banning arrests for non-jailable, fine-only violations are being promoted by those who have long advocated the of ending jail bookings for Class C misdemeanors.

The Texas George Floyd Act, authored by State Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston) as House Bill 88 and Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) as Senate Bill 161, is the “highest profile piece of criminal justice legislation being consider[ed] during the 2021 legislative session,” according to the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston's Texas Policy & Politics 2021: Legislature Issues report.

“The 87th legislative session has ramped up and these fierce advocates for criminal justice reform are right in the thick of it,” Thompson said on her Facebook page.

Texas State Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston) is the author of the Texas George Floyd Act that in part calls for the end of arrests for non-jailable, fine-only violations. | Facebook

The Texas George Floyd Act is in response to the May 2020 death of George Floyd after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for approximately 9 minutes, Britannica.com said.

“Today, I will file the much discussed, George Floyd Act, in the Texas Senate. Our intent is to prevent what happened to George Floyd from happening to other people, particularly people of color in our state,” West said in a March 9 post on Facebook.

The Texas George Floyd Act calls for changes in “policing practices,” in particular ending arrests for non-jailable, fine-only violations, requiring a local policy, the Alliance for a New Justice System’s website said.

The bills relate “to interactions between law enforcement and individuals detained or arrested on suspicion of the commission of criminal offenses, witnesses to the commission of those offenses and other members of the public, to peace officer liability for those interactions, and to the confinement, conviction, or release of detained or arrested individuals,” said the “introduced version” of HB 88.

In response to a survey on “The George Floyd Act and Criminal Justice Reform,” 74% of Texans were in favor of ending arrests “for fine-only offenses like traffic violations and disorderly conduct,” the Texas Policy & Politics 2021: Legislative Issues report states.

“An Analysis of Texas Jail Bookings: How Texas Counties Could Save Millions of Dollars by Safely Diverting From Jail,” released in April 2019 by Texas Appleseed, said jail stays are harmful to taxpayers and those jailed. That analysis recommended ending jail bookings for Class C misdemeanors such as traffic violations, which “are intended to be punished by a fine and no jail time."

A University of California Irvine study reported that “12.2 million individuals arrested every year” and the “2.2 million people incarcerated in the U.S.” have their mental health adversely affected, the UCI News website said.