SJR 87 Texas Senate · 89th Legislature (2025)

Proposing a constitutional amendment requiring the denial of bail to persons accused of certain offenses punishable as a felony who have previously been convicted of or who were released on bail for certain offenses punishable as a felony at the time of the new offense.

This proposed constitutional amendment (SJR 87) would require Texas judges to deny bail to people accused of specific serious felonies if they have prior convictions for similar offenses or were on bail for such offenses at the time of the new crime. It applies to charges like murder, aggravated assault with weapons or serious injury, sexual assault, human trafficking, and related offenses. Judges would need to hold a hearing to confirm probable cause for the new crime and the prior conviction/bail status before denying bail. The amendment requires voter approval (scheduled for November 2025) but failed adoption in the Texas Senate in May 2025.
Bill status failed 4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
May 2025
Committee Review
May 2025
Senate Passage
May 2025
House Passage
May 2025
Governor
Introduced May 13, 2025 Last action May 28, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Engrossed · 4 edits · May 14, 2025
MODERATE
The bill text was reformatted and corrected to fix several legal and typographical errors. The substantive policy content regarding bail denial for repeat felony offenders remains unchanged.
TECHNICAL

The header and byline were corrected to reflect the correct bill number (SJR 87) and version (Engrossed), replacing placeholder text and incorrect formatting.

Section 1(b) was corrected to require the state attorney to demonstrate probable cause and prior bail history, replacing the previous language that required a judge to determine these facts.

Section 1(c) was added to explicitly state that a person is entitled to counsel at the hearing, which was missing in the original draft.

Minor grammatical corrections were made throughout the text, such as changing 'instant offense' to 'new offense' in the ballot language and fixing spacing and punctuation errors.

Floor votes · Senate May 14, 2025 · House May 26, 2025

How they voted

282
Passed
Total votes 30
May 14, 2025
D Democratic10
8 Yea 2 Nay
80% Yea
R Republican20
20 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
50
Key actions
13
Committee
9
Amendments
6
May 26, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed to 3rd reading as amended
lower
May 26, 2025
Lower · Passed
Amended
lower
May 26, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (93-31-23)
house
May 24, 2025
Introduced
Placed on Constitutional Amendments Calendar
lower
May 22, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report sent to Calendars
lower
May 21, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report distributed
lower
May 21, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
lower
May 16, 2025
Committee
Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence
lower
May 16, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
lower
May 14, 2025
Introduced
Received from the Senate
lower
May 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed
upper
May 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed to engrossment as amended
upper
May 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
Amended
upper
May 14, 2025
Introduced
Amendment(s) offered
upper
May 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee report printed and distributed
upper
May 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported favorably w/o amendments
upper
May 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
Vote taken in committee
upper
May 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
Testimony taken in committee
upper
May 13, 2025
Committee
Referred to Criminal Justice
upper
May 13, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
upper
3 primary · 4 co-sponsors

Sponsors