The Role of Private Legal Representation and the Implicit Effect of Defendants’ Demographic Characteristics in Setting Bail and Obtaining Pretrial Release
Open accessAbstract
Misdemeanor bail schedules use the seriousness of the alleged crime and the defendant’s criminal history. Court officials contend the schedules ensure that only legal factors are considered for bail. Using longitudinal data from randomly selected misdemeanor cases filed during the first quarter of 2012 in Harris County, Texas we use ordinary least squares (OLS) to test the influence of demographic characteristics of defendants and their ability to retain private representation on the process of setting the monetary amount for bail. We find evidence of implicit bias and a distinct advantage of private representation. Using logit analysis, we estimate how demographic factors and monetary bail influence the probability of pretrial release, and present point estimates of making bail by demographic type. Demographics matter but retaining private counsel increases the probability of bail by sevenfold. Policy recommendations include expanding the use of public defenders and allowing them access to clients much earlier in the process.
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Black defendants pay as much as 6-10% more in bail compared to White defendants.
“In fact, results show Black defendants pay as much as 6-10% more in bail compared to White defendants (Hissong & Wheeler, 2019;Williams, 2018).”
From A Scoping Review of the Relationships Between Cash Bail, Failure to Appear, Re-Arrest, Health and Well-Being, Race, and Gender (2026) · cites this paper as Hissong & Wheeler, 2019
Males had 63% higher bail amounts in comparison to women.
“Freiburger & Romain (2018) found that male defendants received bail amounts that were 51.7% higher than female defendants while Hissong & Wheeler (2019) found that males had 63% higher bail amounts in comparison to women.”
From A Scoping Review of the Relationships Between Cash Bail, Failure to Appear, Re-Arrest, Health and Well-Being, Race, and Gender (2026) · cites this paper as Hissong & Wheeler (2019)
Cash bail amounts remained 25% higher for men even after controlling for other variables included in the study (e.g., type of charge).
“Hissong & Wheeler (2019) clarified that cash bail amounts remained 25% higher for men even after controlling for other variables included in the study (e.g., type of charge).”
From A Scoping Review of the Relationships Between Cash Bail, Failure to Appear, Re-Arrest, Health and Well-Being, Race, and Gender (2026) · cites this paper as Hissong & Wheeler (2019)
Hispanic defendants are more likely to be detained compared to White defendants.
“and are more likely to be detained when compared to White defendants (Cadoff et al., 2021;Hissong & Wheeler, 2019;Freiburger & Romain, 2018).”
From A Scoping Review of the Relationships Between Cash Bail, Failure to Appear, Re-Arrest, Health and Well-Being, Race, and Gender (2026) · cites this paper as Hissong & Wheeler, 2019
Black and Hispanic defendants pay higher cash bail and are more likely to be detained compared to White defendants.
“For instance, Black and Hispanic pay higher cash bail and are more likely to be detained compared to White defendants (e.g., Freiburger & Romain, 2018;Hissong & Wheeler, 2019).”
From A Scoping Review of the Relationships Between Cash Bail, Failure to Appear, Re-Arrest, Health and Well-Being, Race, and Gender (2026) · cites this paper as Hissong & Wheeler, 2019
Cited by
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Scheadler, T. R., Radney, A., Smith, B. L., Munshi, A., & Cole, E. (2026) · American Journal of Criminal Justice · doi:10.1007/s12103-025-09860-5 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“In fact, results show Black defendants pay as much as 6–10% more in bail compared to White defendants (Hissong & Wheeler, 2019; Williams, 2018).”
Influential
- Authors
- Hissong, R. V., & Wheeler, G.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas at Arlington, TX, USA
- Themis Research, Katy, TX, USA
- Venue
- Criminal Justice Policy Review
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2017-07-10
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 708-730
- ISSN
- 0887-4034 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-3586
- OpenAlex
- W2755602504
- Cited by
- 10
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 1.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Criminal Justice Policy Review (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- UTA ResearchCommons (University of Texas Arlington) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Law, Economics, and Judicial Systems
- Social Sciences › Law › Criminal Justice and Penology
- Keywords
- pretrial release, implicit bias, misdemeanor cases, public defenders, Harris County, Texas
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