CONCORD, NH – Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais was joined by State Senator Donna Soucy (D-Manchester) as well as several aldermen and state representatives from Manchester on Wednesday morning to express the urgency for personal recognizance bail reform.
Also known as PR bail, personal recognizance bail laws in New Hampshire have allowed most individuals arrested for a crime to be released immediately on bail, including many who have recently committed other crimes. The law was intended to help individuals arrested for minor crimes who might not be able to afford bail.
One day fresh from his inauguration, Ruais noted that this press conference was one of his first official acts as mayor, something he said was intentional given that there were 813 individuals in 2023 that were arrested, released, and re-arrested for various crimes.
“There is nothing, and I mean nothing that would have a more transformative impact on the city of Manchester’s safety than reforming our state’s bail laws,” he said.
Ruais thanked Manchester’s legislators for their work on the issue and vowed to continue working with the Concord delegation going forward, but said he was grateful for action expected later in the day on bills addressing PR bail.
State Representative and Alderman Pat Long (D-Manchester), also addressed the need to reform the laws on the topic that were passed several years ago, thanking now-former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig for her work advocating on the issue as well as members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Criminal Justice Committee.
“As legislators we have the opportunity to overhaul this system,” he said.
While she noted that the State Senate may not entirely agree with legislation from the House on PR bail reform, Soucy echoed Long and Ruais’ sentiments that this is an issue that must be addressed and is an issue for the entire state, not just Manchester.
“Although well-intentioned, I think we all recognize that this law needs fine-tuning,” she said.
State Representative Ross Berry (R-Manchester) also echoed Soucy’s statement that the law was well-intentioned but in need of reform, as he noted that one of his constituents was murdered by a man who was out on PR bail.
Berry stressed the bipartisan nature of bills addressing the topic before the legislature on Wednesday, praising that action expected to be taken a few hours from the press conference, but noted that there might be disagreements on future action needed.
He said some less publicized crimes, such as driving while intoxicated, can also cause harm to victims and should be addressed. Berry believed that addressing those smaller crimes creates a knock-on effect through the “broken windows” theory. He also noted that continually arresting offenders over and over again was not a helpful exercise.
“We’ll start and the city will start improving slowly, these low-level offenders, they drag the city down,” he said. “Getting them off the streets is the right thing to do. It’s not humane to just pick somebody up and dump them back onto the streets if they’re going to commit crimes again. That’s not rehabilitation, that’s not social justice, that’s just catch and release.”
According to the New Hampshire Department of Safety, Group A crimes (crimes against persons, property and society) dropped from 9,298 to 7,912 in Manchester from 2018 to 2021 and arrests dropped from 3,522 to 2,346 in Manchester during that period for Group A crimes. Arrests related to Group B crimes, such as driving-related crimes or crimes relating to bank fraud, went down in Manchester from 528 to 358 from 2018 to 2021.
