Overview
- Unofficial early and mail‑in results Tuesday evening showed about 64% of voters backing Proposition 3, according to the Texas Tribune.
- The amendment would require judges to deny bail for specified offenses when the state shows detention is necessary to ensure public safety or the defendant’s appearance, and it guarantees a lawyer at the bail hearing.
- Eligible charges include murder or capital murder, aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury or involving certain weapons, aggravated kidnapping, robbery, sexual assault, indecency with a child, and human trafficking.
- Current Texas rules allow outright bail denial mainly in capital murder and limited repeat‑offender scenarios, and Proposition 3 would extend that authority to more serious violent and sexual felony cases.
- Supporters, including Sen. Joan Huffman and Crime Stoppers, frame the measure as a public‑safety safeguard, while opponents such as the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association and Sen. Sarah Eckhardt warn of due‑process risks and potential over‑incarceration; if approved, it would take effect Jan. 1, 2026, with possible court challenges expected.