Local law enforcement offers mixed reaction to system set to replace cash bail

For Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley, California’s decision to become the first state to end cash bail is a significant one.

“This new law is radical,” Dudley says. “This is the end of the bail bonds industry. Nobody will be seeking bail money anymore.”

The law is set to take effect next October. The new system will involve a judge deciding if someone in custody is a threat to themselves or to others. That judge will then determine if that person can be released before trial or not.

Dudley is happy to see bail bonds become a thing of the past.

“The hopeful part is that people who previously had to stay in custody and weren’t a threat to themselves and weren’t a threat to others… will now have an opportunity to go back home,” Dudley said.

Santa Barbara County Probation told NewsChannel 3 the new law “provides a framework for a pre-trial system that will prioritize public safety, while also focusing on return to court and mitigate the risks presented.”

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown also released a statement to NewsChannel 3, saying he is “guardedly optimistic” that the new system will hold serious and serial criminals more accountable, but that “to some extent, the devil will be in the details that have not yet been developed.”

Dudley agrees that the new system will bring its share of challenges.

“I foresee an incredible increase in hearings which will take up judges’ times, lawyers’ times, courts’ times,” Dudley said. “I think there will be a big delay in our court system.”

With the framework still being decided, Dudley says “it’s a lot of ‘wait and see.'”