Amid the intense debate over bail and discovery reform in the legislative session that has just ended, the Legislature enacted a third iteration of changes to the bail and discovery statutes. Although certain political leaders called for substantial revisions of these laws, the changes were not transformative but do present a mixed bag for prosecutors and defense counsel. The changes were effective on May 9th (L. 2022, Ch. 56).

There were three general categories of revisions. First, in the area of bail, the Legislature expanded the number of bail eligible offenses, added new factors that judges must consider when setting bail, added a mental health assessment as a non-monetary condition of release, and added three circumstances in which a desk appearance ticket can be denied to a defendant.