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The revolving door that lets criminals loose hours after their arrest is getting shut down as Gov. Chris Sununu signed a bail reform bill into law on Thursday. It followed months of lobbying from Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais.

“We have been fighting for these pro-victim fixes to bail reform for a long time and appreciate Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais leading the effort of local officials to help get it over the finish line,” Sununu said.

Ruais took up the bail reform cause on his first day in office, heading to Concord to demand lawmakers fix the system that he said allowed alleged criminals to go crime sprees with brief time outs for arrests.

“This is a victory for Manchester and every other town and city in our state,” Ruais said. “The safety of our city is non-negotiable, and this bill contains many reforms that will make Manchester safer. I want to thank the governor and legislature for their efforts to work together in a bipartisan way to reaffirm their commitment to the safety of our communities.”

Manchester’s crime problem became emblematic of the problem with the bail system. In March, Ruais said that of the 817 people Manchester Police arrested in the first few months of the year, 306 — or 37 percent — were already out on bail for a previous criminal charge. In the 12 months prior, repeat offenders made up 26 percent of the total arrests, with 1,178 people already on bail of the total 4,529.

Ruais campaigned on the need to fix bail, support police, and clean up the city, winning a stunning victory over Mayor Joyce Craig’s handpicked successor, Democrat Kevin Cavanaugh. 

House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Chairman Rep. Terry Roy (R-Deerfield) said the bill signed Thursday corrects serious flaws in the 2018 law that attempted to make the bill system more just.  

“These flaws allowed offenders to be released despite being re-arrested for violations of multiple bail release conditions. Sometimes these were violent offenders and their release led to tragic results. We heard from law enforcement, that oftentimes, arrestees were released and back on the street before the officer had the opportunity to complete the report,” Roy said on Twitter/X.

The new law saw police chiefs, the New Hampshire ACLU, Republicans, and Democrats work together, said Rep. David Meuse (D-Portsmouth.)

“This bill is the end product of a good-faith effort by legislators from both parties and stakeholders as diverse as ACLU-NH and the New Hampshire Chiefs of Police Association. It shows that enhancing public safety and protecting civil liberties don’t have to be mutually exclusive. I’m pleased that the governor chose to sign it into law,” Meuse said.

Perhaps more surprisingly, the need for bail reform even had House Republicans working with Senate Republicans. 

“After years of violent criminals and re-offenders being released on PR bail because of a flawed system, the House and Senate finally found a compromise that will work,” said Sen. Bill Gannon (R-Sandown). “I am thankful for the bipartisan efforts of Chairman Terry Roy, the House Criminal Justice Committee, and the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who spent countless hours working on this. This is a huge win for the state of New Hampshire and we should be proud to deliver real results for our communities.”

The new law closes the revolving door by stopping the release of people re-arrested while already on bail, as well as causing certain violent offenders to be only allowed bail after review by a judge or magistrate, according to Roy. The old system allowed offenders to get bail reviews by civilian bail commissioners instead of the the bail commissioner. 

Other changes include having the courts pay bail commissioners instead of the defendants, more training for bail commissioners, and more protections for crime victims.  The bill also requires notification for victims of domestic violence before their alleged abuser is released on bail. 

The law also updates the way technology is used so police officers will be able to check someone’s bail status in real time. The prior system had paper bail orders entered into databases, meaning there could be a lag time before the bail was entered into computer systems police access, meaning officers couldn’t know if someone they had in custody was already out on bail, Roy said.

“Under the 2018 system, officers were often forced to rely on the honor system, hoping an arrestee would tell them that they were already on bail from another charge in a different jurisdiction,” Roy said. 

The 2018 reform sought to stop the unintended consequence of a cash bail system that put poor people to jail pre-trial. In some cases, people would be held for weeks or months in jail without a conviction because they could not come up with a few hundred dollars for bail. 

Roy said the bill signed Thursday will still keep people charged with nonviolent crimes from going to jail without a conviction. Cash bail will not be universal, but set aside for people charged in violent crimes or people who allegedly commit crimes while already out on bail.

“Cash bail remains a legitimate tool available to the courts, but only to assure an appearance by someone who is able to pay. It will not be used as a way to hold people,” Roy said.

In fact, Roy said the new law makes sure that no one will be held more than 24 hours without having their case reviewed by the court, including weekends and holidays. 

Between April and December of last year, Manchester police arrested 700 familiar faces — they were all out on bail.

Manchester has also seen a spike in property crimes like car break-ins and thefts. City residents are speaking out about their concerns over public safety.

And the Queen City’s Police Chief Allen Aldenberg thinks he knows a major source of the problem: New Hampshire’s new bail reform law, which makes it easier for people to get released from custody after they are arrested.

“We need some kind of substantial change to hold people accountable,” Aldenberg told Drew Cline on Cline’s WFEA radio show.

Charges from the arrests include robbery, burglary, weapons charges, assault, and one murder, Aldenberg said. In September, homeless man Richard Moore, 40, was arrested after allegedly stabbing 75-year-old Daniel Whitmore, who was out for a walk near his Manchester home according to police reports. Whitmore lived close to a rail trail where he reportedly enjoyed walking, and which was close to a homeless encampment. Moore was on bail for two separate violent incidents when he allegedly killed the Manchester resident.

Aldenberg said police are arresting the same people over and over again, and they are simply put back on the street to re-offend.

“Something needs to change,” Aldenberg said.

New Hampshire changed its bail law in 2018 to make it easier for non-violent offenders to be released after their arrest. Instead, that well-intended reform has created a revolving door that leaves police scrambling to keep up, according to Aldenberg.

“The police department can only do so much,” he said.

Multiple bills in the state legislature are aimed at correcting the overreach of the bail reform law. Some seek to impose a temporary hold on people charged with serious, violent felonies. Another seeks to hold many of those same suspects while their trials are pending, which in some cases can take more than a year. Another proposal would take bail decisions away from bail commissioners, who often respond to arrests on nights and weekends, and require suspects to have a hearing before a judge.

New Hampshire’s historically low crime rate took an alarming turn last year with 27 murders. That was a huge spike compared to the 16 or so in 2020 and 2021. The Granite State usually averages 19 murders a year, making 2022 one of the deadliest years in recent memory.

With surging property crime and an increase in murders, New Hampshire seems primed to reform the 2018 reform. Democratic Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig testified in Concord last week that 2018’s bail reform has failed her city.

“While well-intentioned, the statutory changes made in the name of bail reform in 2018 have had negative consequences in Manchester,” Craig said.

Fixing the broken bail system is a bipartisan concern. Last week Londonderry Republican Sen. Sharon Carson, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the current bail law is keeping dangerous criminals free, while law-abiding Granite Staters are at risk.

“What I am seeing is a revolving door,” Carson said. “That is not in the best interest of public safety and that is what we need to stop.”

Gov. Chris Sununu, who signed the 2018 bail reform bill into law, has been calling for a fix. Prior efforts at strengthening the bail laws were quashed when groups like the New Hampshire American Civil Liberties Union objected.

“You have the ACLU, these extreme left-wing groups that say they do not want to change anything,” Sununu said last year. “You have individuals that get arrested, they are getting out before the cop that arrested them has done the paperwork. It is messed up.”

Changing New Hampshire’s bail reform system, which critics say allows dangerous criminals to walk free, is a top priority for both Republican Gov. Chris Sununu and his Democratic challenger, state Sen. Tom Sherman, D-Rye. 

“There should be outrage and appetite for change,” Sununu told WMUR’s Adam Sexton this weekend.

Sununu signed a bail reform bill in his first term after being assured it would balance public safety and the goal of avoiding putting non-violent offenders in jail for minor offenses. Instead, critics say, serious criminals are being released and reoffending.

“I signed it because it had the support of law enforcement,” Sununu said. “I said ‘Will this work?’ Everyone believed it would be OK, so we signed it. But we all see what was happening.”

Sununu was referencing the August murder of an elderly Manchester man by a suspect who had been arrested twice in the weeks leading up to the stabbing.

Manchester resident Daniel Whitmore, 75, was found with multiple stab wounds on a walking trail near Bradley Street in August. The suspect in the murder, homeless man Raymond Moore, 40, had been arrested twice last summer. Once in July in Nashua for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, and again in August for another apparent stabbing incident. He was released from custody, and without bail, in both cases.

Manchester’s Democratic Mayor Joyce Craig took to Twitter to decry the state’s lenient bail system.

“Our criminal justice system cannot continue releasing violent offenders back onto our streets. I, once again, urge our legislators to act quickly and address this issue. The safety of our residents is at stake,” Craig said.

During his own WMUR appearance last weekend, Sherman also voiced support for changing New Hampshire’s bail laws to keep violent suspects locked up.

“Do I support rebalancing bail reform? Absolutely. Do I support protecting people from violent criminals? I always have,” Sherman said.

Sherman and Sununu supported the effort this year to change bail laws, but that proposal died in the legislature when the House voted it down. The bill lost support largely from Democratic members. Sherman said too many people did not seem to understand how the bill would work.

“The solution is we have to recognize — whatever we do for bail reform, we have to make sure the system will support it,” Sherman said. “That was the problem. The system did not support, with adequate scrutiny, who was being released and who was not.”

Sununu blames the left, especially progressive organizations like New Hampshire’s ACLU, for blocking the bail reform effort.

“You have the ACLU, these extreme left-wing groups that say they do not want to change anything,” Sununu said. “You have individuals that get arrested, they are getting out before the cop that arrested them has done the paperwork. It is messed up,” Sununu said.

New Hampshire’s ACLU claims the bail laws allowing more people to be released from custody has made New Hampshire safer. They say instead of finding ways to keep more violent suspects locked up, the legsilators should fund more community needs.

“Lawmakers should focus our limited tax dollars on investments that will actually make our communities safer and more just, like housing, transportation, and mental health and substance use treatment,” the ACLU stated earlier this year. “Pretrial detention has a devastating human toll. Even for a short period of time, it increases the likelihood of innocent people pleading guilty to a crime, loss of employment, income, and housing, and traumatic family disruption.”

The conservative Americans for Prosperity also opposed this year’s bail reform efforts, but it does support changes to the law. Ross Connolly, AFP’s deputy state director, said the organization wants to see bail commissioners replaced with magistrate judges when it comes to deciding who can be released and who needs to stay locked up.

“Pre-trial detention is a balance between public safety and the presumption of innocence,” Connolly said. “We understand the concerns with bail, and there is a way to address the issue without throwing out individual rights. Replacing bail commissioners with a magistrate system is a fix that all sides can get behind.  A magistrate system will improve public safety, will pass the legislature, and will cost Granite State taxpayers less than other proposals.” 

In a rebuke to progressive activists and the Black Lives Matter organization, 64 House Democrats broke with their party to back a GOP measure tightening bail restrictions. The bill is designed to repair the 2018 bail reform bill passed with a bipartisan majority and signed with much fanfare by GOP Gov. Chris Sununu.

Since then, the politics of the crime issue have changed, as Democrats have fled from the “Defund the Police” and decarceration policies their party once touted.

The rollback bill, HB 1476, limits the ability to release repeat offenders on “personal recognizance,” and requires more offenders to face a judge instead of a bail commissioner. It also cuts the maximum time an arrestee can be held without seeing a judge from 72 hours to 36. 

The bill passed the House in 199-134 vote. Republicans were 135-40 in favor, while Democrats split 64-92 against.

Bill sponsor Rep. Ross Berry (R-Manchester) said the legislation leaves much of the 2018 bail reform in place while addressing the issue of repeat offenders who commit crimes while free on bail.

“This is the culmination of bipartisan effort over the last six months to address bail reform,” Berry said before Tuesday’s vote.

Crime rates across the U.S. have surged over the past two years and, while New Hampshire remains the safest state in the country, there has been an uptick in crime here, particularly in cities. Property crime in Manchester has gone up 10 percent in the past year, for example, and even Democratic Mayor Joyce Craig was on board with reforming the reform.

Craig has told NHPR repeat offenders and violent suspects should not get released on personal recognizance bail.

“However, those causing risk to our community and violent offenders should have bail restrictions imposed and should not be released on PR bail,” Craig said.

“I don’t always agree with my mayor, but we agree on this,” Berry said. “Manchester is done waiting.”

Opponents of the bill fell into two groups: Libertarian-leaning Republicans who want to limit government power as part of their ideology; and progressive Democrats who argued New Hampshire’s racist system unfairly punishes people of color.

Rep. Andrew Bouldin (D-Manchester) said changing bail reform would hurt drug addicts, homeless people, the poor, and minorities. He said amending the 2018 bill to hold repeat offenders would return the state to a system where the wealthy pay to get out of jail and the poor are stuck there.

Rep. Linda Harriott-Gathright (D-Nashua) repeated claims from Black Lives Matter leaders Ronelle Tshiela and Clifton West that police in New Hampshire are racist. According to Harriott-Gathright, changing the bail reform will lead to discrimination and mass incarceration.

“New Hampshire’s criminal laws are enforced with a staggering racial bias,” she said.

Crime data show Black Americans are arrested at approximately the same rate as the crime they commit.

In the past, Democratic leadership would be expected to “whip” the votes and keep more of their members in line. But with the passing of Minority Leader Renny Cushing, Democrats are left with Acting Minority Leader David Cote (D-Nashua), who has yet to attend a House session since COVID-19 struck and hasn’t cast a vote since 2020.

With no-show leadership, the notoriously unified Democratic caucus collapsed into factions.

Outspoken House progressives like Reps. Sue Mullen (D-Bedford), Manny Espitia (D-Nashua), and Tony Labranche (I-Amherst) voted against the bill. Traditional liberals like Rep. Casey Conley (D-Dover) and Peter Leishman (D-Peterborough) voted with the GOP.

Conley argued the issue of repeat offenders needs to be addressed. “It’s not just a Manchester problem,” he said.

Rep. Patrick Long (D-Manchester) backed the bill, saying he hears from too many residents who are getting their cars and homes broken into by the same people.

“I get the police reports and the same people are being arrested again for the same crime,” he said.

One notorious case involves Nashua resident Jency Diaz, who in December of 2020 was released on bail after a domestic violence arrest and then proceeded to return to his apartment and “punched, slapped, head-butted and whipped” the victim, leaving her with a broken nose.

Activists rejected those arguments.

“This is a harmful step that would disproportionately impact and harm Black people in New Hampshire,” the ACLU-NH said after the vote.

And Tshiela had this ominous warning for Democrats who broke ranks: “I do want to remind those who voted in favor of this bill that only supporting racial justice when it’s politically expedient does not fare too well when people remember where you stood in times like this.”

On the libertarian side, Americans for Prosperity-New Hampshire opposes the bill, claiming it “disregards our fundamental legal framework and ignores defendants’ rights, creates confusion with conflicting language, and would result in more backlog for our already strained judicial system.”

The bill passed by the House on Tuesday isn’t the only proposed change. A similar bill sponsored by Sen. Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro) recently passed the Senate with a 20-4 majority. Sununu, who signed the original bail reform bill in 2018, backs the changes saying there are too many unintended consequences from the first reform.