NBC4 Washington
08/25/2025
President Donald Trump signed an executive order to eliminate cashless bail for arrested suspects in D.C.
D.C. was among the first cities in the country to implement a cashless bail system back in the 1990s over civil rights concerns. Advocates say under bail policies requiring cash, people who cannot pay end up in jail.
D.C.’s cashless bail policies “contribute to […] disgraceful conditions,” the executive order says, “as law enforcement must arrest the same individuals multiple times, and dangerous criminals are sometimes rapidly released.”
“It is therefore the policy of my Administration that all necessary and lawful measures be taken to end cashless bail policies and ensure the pretrial detention of any criminal suspect who threatens public safety,” the order says.
“The Attorney General shall determine whether the District of Columbia continues to maintain a policy or practice of prohibiting cash bail as a potential condition of pretrial release from jail for crimes prosecuted under the Code of the District of Columbia in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia where the arrestee poses a clear threat to public safety and order,” the order says. “Such cases include violent or sexual offenses such as rape, murder, carjacking, and assault, as well as property offenses such as burglary, looting, and vandalism. The Attorney General shall update her determination if the District of Columbia changes its cashless bail policies or practices.”
The executive order also asked law enforcement to work to ensure that people arrested in D.C. are taken into federal custody rather than local custody.
What is cashless bail and how does it work in DC?
To understand cashless bail, we need to begin with what bail is. It’s a system to ensure that someone charged with a crime returns to court for their hearing. People who are on bail have not been found guilty of the crime with which they were charged.
Bail can involve a financial incentive or not. In 1992, D.C. decided to eliminate cash bail. The District was one of the first jurisdictions to do so. The city decided pretrial release was effective without money bail.
In D.C., a risk assessment is done on the history of the suspect. Officials look at the charge, the evidence and whether the suspect is believed to be a flight risk. Then, if approved, they are assigned a pretrial officer. There are status hearings, and if someone is found to be in violation of their pretrial agreement, they can be held.
Between 2017 and 2021, 20 cities created bail reform. More than a dozen jurisdictions have ended money bail. During the pandemic, bail reform was blamed for a rise in crime.
The Brennan Center for Justice stepped in with research looking at 20 cities around the country that had reform between 2015 and 2022. They found there were lower average crime rates in cities with bail reform, according to the FBI's numbers.
Then, in 2022, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights also researched cash bail and found that 80% of those unable to post bail fall within the poorest half of the economic spectrum, while 60% occupy the bottom third.
Researchers say that means the poorer you are, the more likely you are to be in jail for a crime for which you haven’t been convicted. It's part of the reason that organizations like the Council for Court Excellence are advocating for bail reform.
“What the research has shown is that low-income people are the most likely to be held pretrial in the system where money is the determination of whether someone gets out on bail,” Tracy Velázquez, the group’s policy director, told News4 earlier this month. “We’ve seen that many people are jailed just because they can’t pay bail. And what we know is that jail can be a very harmful place.”
“Keeping people in jail increases their risk of reoffending because it jeopardizes their housing, their jobs, their relationships in the community,” Velázquez said.
Amid a backlog of empty judge appointments in D.C., people are waiting longer for their trials. Advocates for cashless bail ask why people who may be found innocent should spend that time away from home, work, family and society if there’s another option for supervision.