In a recent study, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas asks people to imagine a Wichita-area husband and wife raising a daughter who are living paycheck to paycheck.
In this scenario, the family has a household income of $5,600 a month. Rent is $1,000 a month, which is the average cost in that area. The family also needs to pay fluctuating costs for utilities, groceries, phone bills and other expenses.
But the father of this family is arrested for felony possession of marijuana. He is held in the Sedgwick County Jail and given a $2,500 bond for release.
The ACLU of Kansas argues that the family can’t afford the cost of that bail. So the father could remain in jail on suspicion of a nonviolent crime for months, which also takes away nearly half of the family’s household income. With now only $3,000 of income a month, it is virtually impossible for the family to pay for the father’s release.
MEANWHILE, a wealthy person accused of the same crime may be able to afford that bail price and be released from jail the same day they are arrested.
The ACLU of Kansas study found that low-income residents in Sedgwick County are disproportionately affected by cash bail. Micah Kubic, executive director for the group, said that creates an unfair justice system that brings additional punishment for low-income offenders.
“There’s something really unfair about a two-tiered system of justice,” Kubic said, “where folks get treated differently, have different outcomes based on whether they have money or whether they don’t.”
Standard bail requires a person in custody to pay the entire cost up front as collateral for their release from jail. The money is refunded when their case is resolved and they appear at all their required court dates.
They may also use a standard bond, which is a private agreement with a bondsman to cover the up front cost. A bondsman will often charge a non-refundable 10% fee to pay for the bail with an agreement that the person in custody will pay the full amount if they fail to appear at their court dates.
ACLU of Kansas is calling for expanding the use of no-cash bail. That’s when a suspected offender is released from jail without paying a bail amount, but promises a judge overseeing their case that they will show up for their court dates, or else face a fine and additional charges.
ENACTING BAIL reform to make cashless bail standard for nonviolent crimes in Kansas will likely be an uphill battle because the conversation among conservative political leaders is trending the other direction.
President Donald Trump is calling for the elimination of cashless bail nationwide. He argues that cashless bail lets criminals back out onto the streets and that’s leading to more crime.
But criminal justice reform advocates dispute those claims and suggest cashless bail actually decreases crime without unfairly punishing low-income people.
Effect on Kansas
The ACLU of Kansas study, which looked at arrest and crime data of Sedgwick County 2023 and 2024, showed the vast majority of arrests in the county were for nonviolent crimes.
The study also found that the most common bail cost is $1,000 and the average is $1,500. The average monthly income of Sedgwick County residents is roughly $3,000. So an arrest for a single drug offense would come with an upfront cost that is one-third of their monthly income.
