Minnesota Legislators Are Considering Eliminating Cash Bail. Here Is What That Would Mean for Black Communities.
Prison reform legislation before the Minnesota Legislature would eliminate cash bail in favor of an intentional release and detain framework, as advocates and data show that Black Minnesotans make up 36 percent of the pretrial jail population despite being just 8 percent of the state's population.
Several prison reform bills are expected to come before the state Legislature this session, including one that would eliminate cash bail in favor of an “intentional release and detain” approach. The bill would end a practice that many legal advocates and formerly incarcerated individuals call predatory.
“Moving away from a wealth-based system toward a more intentional, risk-based framework allows courts to make clearer, more consistent determinations about who truly needs to be detained and who can be safely released,” said Danielle Matthias, director of policy and advocacy at the Minnesota Freedom Fund. “This is why the Intentional Release and Detain bill is important. It puts the focus back on what matters: safety, not whether someone has access to resources.”
The bill is part of a larger legislative agenda led by the Minnesota Freedom Fund and includes the Pre-Trial Data Transparency Act.
“More than half of the people in Minnesota jails are legally presumed innocent and held pretrial, often because of inconsistent standards or an inability to afford bail,” the bill’s description reads. “Minnesota’s pretrial system should be guided by constitutional principles, public safety and individualized decision-making rather than default detention or wealth-based outcomes.”
Data from the Vera Institute of Justice shows that 67% of Minnesota’s jail population consists of those held pretrial, with Black Minnesotans making up 36% of that population despite being just 8% of the state’s overall population.
“Many inner-city people simply don’t have the means to post cash bail,” said Darla Howard, a member of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee. “I think Black and brown people are more susceptible to arrest just because that’s how the system is created… they racially profile and they over-sentence. Because of redlining and housing, more Black and brown people live in impoverished communities, unfortunately. And with that comes drugs, crime, less income and fewer job opportunities. It’s really the tale as old as time. Not a whole lot has changed.”
A World Metrics report shows that 62% of people detained pretrial nationwide cannot afford bail, with the average bail amount set at $10,000.
“We also know, based on both national research and our own data, that bail is not applied equitably,” Matthias said. “Black and brown individuals are often assigned higher bail amounts than their white counterparts facing similar charges. These disparities reinforce a system where race and wealth intersect to determine who remains jailed pretrial.”
Beyond the immediate hardship, sitting in jail before conviction can set people on a destructive cycle, Howard said.
“If you sit in jail, you might lose your job… It can affect custody situations. It’s all another collateral consequence of being in jail,” she said. “When you’re in jail, you’re not proven guilty yet, but most of the time you’re being treated as if you are. You really get stuck in the system from the first arrest all the way until even years after.”
The bill would eliminate cash bail and instead base detention decisions on the safety risk posed by the individual.
“It establishes a statewide pretrial system that eliminates cash bail and reinforces the presumption of liberty by making sure people are jailed before trial only when truly necessary for safety or court appearance, not because they cannot afford to pay,” the bill reads. “It replaces inconsistent and wealth-based decisions with fairness and constitutional standards.”
As of April 23, the Hennepin County jail dashboard showed 760 inmates in adult custody, with a median stay of 28 days. Of those inmates, roughly 63% are Black. Prison reform advocates say this racial disparity is compounded by cash bail, with many people spending months in jail simply because they cannot pay.
The legislation would also strengthen cite-and-release practices so that people accused of low-level offenses are issued citations rather than booked into jail whenever appropriate, reducing unnecessary detention, preserving community stability and saving local resources, according to the bill.
The bill further proposes creating a Pretrial Services Organization network to provide court reminders, case management, needs assessments and voluntary connections to support services for those released. While recent years have seen some bail reforms in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, this bill would establish a new statewide framework, one that advocates say could lower the jail population and ease reintegration for those who have been arrested.
“I think it would allow you to still have some agency over how much your arrest affects your life,” Howard said. “Instead of the system just taking over and it being consequence after consequence, maybe just the eventual sentence is the consequence, instead of a million other things on top of it. Because if you get out, you can make arrangements and have an opportunity to still save those things and have them when you are released.”
The bill has not yet been officially introduced into the legislative session. Matthias said the Minnesota Freedom Fund is anticipating an upcoming hearing on a related constitutional amendment bill.
For more information on Minnesota Freedom Fund, visit www.mnfreedomfund.org/.