100+ felony bonds reduced by Travis County Justice of the Peace

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The release of an Austin man charged with capital murder after a Travis County Justice of the Peace granted him a significant bond reduction prompted a KXAN investigation. It uncovered that same judge has reduced or modified bonds for at least 100 additional defendants facing felony charges since she took office in January.

Aden Munoz, 18, was arrested on Feb. 13 and faced a Capital Murder charge. An Austin Municipal Court Judge required him to post a $750,000 bond. Less than four weeks later, court records show another judge reduced his original bond to $5,000, and he was released from custody.

Three days after Munoz was released from jail, the Travis County District Attorney‘s Office filed a motion to reinstate the original $750,000 bond, alleging a violation of Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Section 17.091, which requires the attorney representing the state receive reasonable notice of any proposed bail reduction and be given the opportunity to have a hearing on the proposed reduction for all first degree felony offenses as well as any offense listed in Article 42A.054 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.

"No representative of the State was notified of any of these proceedings," the motion stated.

Reduced by a Justice of the Peace

The order modifying and reducing the original bond to $5,000 was issued by Tanisa Jeffers, the newly-elected Travis County Justice of the Peace for Precinct 5, which serves downtown and parts of central and northwest Austin. She formerly served as an associate judge at the Austin Municipal Court before beginning her current term in January 2025.

In Travis County, Austin municipal court judges provide criminal magistrate services and are tasked with determining bail amounts and bond conditions as appropriate during preliminary proceedings in felony and misdemeanor cases, according to the Interlocal Agreement between Travis County and the City of Austin.

A Texas Justice of the Peace has jurisdiction to perform magistrate duties in Texas, however, the criminal workload for JPs in Travis County typically involves class C criminal misdemeanors and various civil law duties, according to the Travis County website.

KXAN asked Judge Jeffers why the State was never notified of the bail reduction and what factors she considered before agreeing to a reduced bond of $5,000 for a defendant facing a capital murder charge.

In response to questions about this case specifically, as well as several other questions related to KXAN's findings, Judge Jeffers stated:

"I appreciate your questions. However, rules of judicial ethics prohibit me from commenting publicly about cases, so unfortunately I cannot answer your questions at this time." 

KXAN reviewed felony case records from Travis County as well as bail data from the Office of Court Administration, or OCA, and found Munoz to be one of many felony defendants whose bonds Judge Jeffers had reduced and/or modified since she began her term as JP5 in January.

KXAN asked the Travis County District Attorney's Office and Judge Jeffers whether notification was provided about other felony cases that had been reduced or modified according to Section 17.091.

KXAN has not received a response from either the DA's office or Judge Jeffers but will update this story when a response is provided.

Data: Felony bonds reduced and modified

According to the OCA records, which are publicly available, of the 341 felony bond modifications Judge Jeffers processed since January 2025, 123 of those instances included bond reductions. The remaining 218 felony bond modifications handled by Judge Jeffers consisted of recategorizing the bonds from cash or surety bonds — which may require a full upfront (refundable) cash bond payments or a partial nonrefundable contribution and bond agreement with a surety bondsmen — to personal bonds which consists of an administrative fee and/or very small percentage bond payment and then personal release with a promise/commitment to return for the hearing or trial date(s).

The Travis County Sheriff's Office provides details about different bonds and explains that a person released on a personal bond is required to pay a $40 administration fee or 3% of the original bond, compared to having to pay the full amount up front, either personally or through a bail bond company.

KXAN spoke with three judges who served as magistrates and set the original bonds on the cases in which Judge Jeffers reduced bond amounts. Each of them said they were unaware that Judge Jeffers had reduced felony bonds for cases that remained in their court's jurisdiction.  Some of those modifications happened as quickly as the next day after the establishment of the original bond amount.

In the course of this investigation, KXAN learned from a credible source that district court judges recently sent Judge Jeffers an email requesting and/or ordering her to discontinue the practice of modifying felony bonds after a different judge served as magistrate and determined the original bond type, amount and conditions.

KXAN asked Judge Jeffers whether she has discontinued this practice since receiving the judges' request and/or order, and will update this story once a response is provided.

According to OCA records, Judge Jeffers has modified 36 felony bonds so far this month, 16 of which consisted of bond reductions.

'The judge is operating outside of their authority'

A Justice of the Peace in Texas is considered a judge who has the authority to act as a magistrate in criminal cases. KXAN learned magistrate duties for JPs across Texas vary depending on county size or judicial structure.

Since January 2025, the majority of felony bonds in Travis County have been set by Austin Municipal Court judges or magistrate judges.

KXAN's investigation found no other JP office in Travis County other than Judge Jeffers' Precinct 5 has set bonds on felony charges since January.

Regardless of whether it's a Justice of the Peace or another judge with magistrate jurisdiction in criminal cases, KXAN learned there are limits to when and how a judge is supposed to make bond modifications in Texas.

Case law, JP training manuals, as well as multiple current Texas judges and attorneys we spoke with all indicated the bonds KXAN identified that Jeffers reduced and/or modified were done so without proper jurisdiction.

According to the Texas Justice Court Training Center manual on magistration, “If an indictment or information has not been filed, then the magistrate who magistrated the defendant following his arrest will decide whether to modify or revoke the defendant’s bond.”

KXAN asked a current Texas judge to review an example of a case and provide context on how bond reduction works in the state. KXAN provided an example of a case where an Austin Municipal Court judge set a $20,000 bond on a felony family violence assault charge.

Two months later, Judge Jeffers reduced the bond to $250 without a motion filed by the defense or records substantiating the reduction, according to Travis County court records.

In response, the judge who reviewed this case stated:

"The bond reduction order I reviewed was extremely problematic for a number of reasons.  The most disturbing of which is the judge is operating outside of their authority. Once a bond has been set by the magistrate who performed the commitment/arraignment, changing that bond requires a specific legal process. The state or defense may file a motion to amend that bond and state the basis for that motion. The only appropriate court/s to hear this motion would be the judge who set the bond or a judge with jurisdiction over the matter.  In this situation, the court in question has neither of these conditions. Moreover, it’s unclear how these are even brought before a judge who has no legal relationship to the case whatsoever." 

The judge also referred to the case of Guerra v. Garza as the precedent ruling on the topic clarifying that the magistrate who received the case maintains jurisdiction over any proceedings until formal charges are filed in the appropriate court.

“To allow the modification of a bond by a court without jurisdiction 'could lead to a chaotic bail system, where unilateral, unbidden judicial actions abound, where all judges have jurisdiction over all things at all times, and where forum shopping to reduce or increase bail amounts flourishes,' which 'would be unacceptable,'” the court in Guerra v. Garza explained.

Bond reinstated, suspect arrested near border

In Munoz' case, Judge Jeffers reduced his bond, leading to his release on March 15 with electronic monitoring and conditions that he abide by a curfew, obtain employment within 30 days of release, and not have a gun or communicate with his co-defendants, according to court records.

A Travis County District Court Judge promptly approved the State's motion to reinstate the original bond and a new arrest warrant was issued for the released Travis County capital murder suspect.

Nearly six weeks after reinstating the original bond and issuing a new warrant, Munoz was found near the Mexican border and taken into custody by the Maverick County Sheriff's Office.

According to Travis County records, Munoz was booked back into the Travis County Jail on May 6 where he is currently being held on a $750,000 bond.

Reforming "Texas' deadly and broken bail system"

Earlier this month, Gov. Greg Abbott announced he was signing "the strongest bail reform package in Texas history," with the implementation of four new laws aimed at protecting Texans by keeping violent offenders behind bars.

"This session, we confronted a crisis, a revolving door bail system that repeatedly released dangerous criminals back onto the streets," Abbott said. 

The announcement came nearly a month after Abbott held a round table and press conference where he urged the Texas legislature to reform "Texas' deadly and broken bail system."

Among the four new Texas laws signed by Gov. Abbott, three will take effect Sept. 1, 2025, with the fourth being a proposed constitutional amendment that requires a vote which will be held on Nov. 4, 2025.

According to Abbott's press release, the new laws will make the following changes to Texas's current bail system:

1. Senate Bill 9 (Huffman/Smithee) gives prosecutors the ability to appeal bad bail decisions made in cases involving the most heinous crimes and repeat felons. This bill also ensures only elected judges may reduce the amount or conditions of a bail set by an elected judge. 
2. Senate Bill 40 (Huffman/Smithee) prohibits the use of public funds to pay a nonprofit organization that will then post bail for criminals. 
3. House Bill 75 (Smithee/Huffman) ensures transparency in the initial stages of a criminal case, requiring magistrates provide a written explanation on why they determined an arrest was made without probable cause. 
4. Senate Joint Resolution 5 (Huffman/Smithee) is a constitutional amendment that will require a judge to deny bail to a defendant charged with the most heinous crimes — such as rape, murder or human trafficking — when the state proves the defendant is a threat to public safety or will not show up for trial.