A few years ago, Travis County pushed for a new law that would allow officers to issue a ticket for jailable misdemeanor crimes. Prosecutors argued that the bill failed to set up any reliable method for getting the defendant to court. Wonder how that came out statistically?

Details.

Was the percentage of no-shows much lower, when they had been released only on bail?

The law seems to make sense, so long as a charge under 38.10(a) is added to the original charge (and fully prosecuted). A conviction for FTA dissuades bondsmen in the future; so a real fear of that happening should theoretically be as much of an incentive to come to court as anything else. Of course, a picture should still probably be taken of the person being released.

I always wonder how that was going to go with the, "wasn't me" defense... at least with a traffic citation you've got the roadside video and audio. I would expect the 'lake ticket' to be more difficult to prove.

Isn't part of the problem that they are never arrested and, therefore, never released on bail?