States typically have a constitutional provision mirroring the federal Eighth Amendment prohibition on excessive bail. There also are constitutional or statutory provisions that provide the “right to bail”—the right to be released from jail before trial after a defendant agrees to return for court. These provisions provide the foundation for pretrial policy and are distinguished from financial conditions of release imposed by a court, which are often referred to as “bail” or “money bail.”
Learn more about probation and parole violation definitions with our searchable statutory database. Compare states and filter by topic or violation type.
Visit the homepage to see our resource collections on community supervision and criminal records and reentry. Topics of COVID-19 and data-driven criminal justice can also be located on this page.
Visit our juvenile justice homepage for links to reports, maps, chart and the juvenile justice bill tracking database.
Visit the homepage to see our reports, blogs, legislation trackers and other resources that span the front end of the justice system—policy and budget impacts on local justice systems, jails, mental health and competency, and more.
NCSL tracks many criminal justice hot topics like marijuana; human trafficking; juvenile life without parole; death penalty; drug crime policy and other issues.
NCSL maintains criminal justice legislation and bill tracking databases. Check out the new community supervision and reentry resources.