TRENTON, NJ — New Jersey may be at risk of losing federal funds after President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order aimed at cutting off support for states and localities that maintain cashless bail policies, citing public safety concerns and repeat offender cases.
The executive order, titled Preventing Federal Support for Senseless Cashless Bail, was signed Monday and directs the U.S. Attorney General to identify states and jurisdictions with cashless bail systems. It further instructs federal agencies to evaluate and potentially suspend or terminate funding streams directed toward those areas.
New Jersey, which implemented cashless bail reform statewide in 2017, is now under scrutiny as part of the new federal directive. The policy, designed to reduce pretrial incarceration for low-risk offenders, eliminates the requirement for monetary bail in most non-violent cases and instead relies on a risk assessment system.
The Trump administration’s order sharply criticizes such policies, pointing to several high-profile cases of violent offenders being released without bail and later reoffending.
The executive order references a 2023 California study that claims a 163% increase in crime under a similar zero-bail policy, and cites multiple incidents in New York, Illinois, and Florida involving suspects who were released and then re-arrested for serious offenses.
“Cashless bail policies allow dangerous individuals to immediately return to the streets,” the order states, claiming such systems create “a waste of public resources and an obvious threat to public safety.”
While the executive order does not immediately strip funding, it mandates a review process that could lead to the suspension or cancellation of federal grants, law enforcement resources, or criminal justice support for jurisdictions that refuse to abandon no-bail policies.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has not commented on the executive order. However, the state’s cashless bail and pre-trial release hearings framework under the Bail Reform Act has long been defended by lawmakers who say it has reduced pretrial jail populations without compromising safety, especially for low-income defendants who previously remained jailed solely due to inability to pay bail.
Legal analysts note that any potential funding cuts could affect federal support for local policing, court systems, or public safety programs, but those consequences depend on how aggressively the administration enforces the new order and how the courts interpret its authority.
The move is the latest in a series of criminal justice directives issued by the Trump campaign. Earlier this month, Trump signed a separate order aimed at shielding law enforcement officers from civil liability and announced new federal actions involving local police departments and immigration enforcement.
While Trump has positioned the order as a tough-on-crime measure, critics have questioned whether the threat to cut off federal funding may face legal challenges from states like New Jersey that have already codified cashless bail into law.
New Jersey stands ready to sue the administration, with over 24 existing lawsuits and actions already filed against the federal government since January.
The U.S. Department of Justice is expected to release the full list of targeted jurisdictions and affected funding streams in the coming weeks.