Landmark ODonnell Consent Decree Upheld by Federal Court

Houston, TX – Today, the United States District Court denied a motion to vacate the ODonnell Consent Decree, a landmark court order that transformed Harris County’s misdemeanor bail system and ended its practice of wealth-based detention. 

The consent decree requires the prompt release of nearly 28,000 people arrested for misdemeanors every year. For those not promptly released, it requires Harris County officials to make individualized assessments of the person’s circumstances, considering factors such as the person’s ability to pay, the charge, and public safety. The Order ensures that pretrial detention on misdemeanor charges is rare. 

The ODonnell lawsuit was filed in 2016, and the Consent Decree has been in place since November 2019. In 2025, six years after it went into effect, Attorney General Ken Paxton and four judges asked a federal court to vacate the Decree. This ruling on a motion to vacate comes after more than a year of litigation over the future of Harris County’s misdemeanor bail practices, and an unprecedented mandamus order from the Fifth Circuit instructing Judge Lee H. Rosenthal to rule more quickly. Last month, the Court received expedited briefing on whether the Decree should be vacated and an in-person hearing took place at the United States District Courthouse in Houston. 

The plaintiffs are represented by Civil Rights Corps, Texas Civil Rights Project, and Susman Godfrey. 

The Consent Decree has had an enormous positive impact on Harris County. In fact, independent court-appointed monitors have found the Decree protects people’s constitutional rights, saves taxpayers millions, and protects public safety. Every level of county government, from the Sheriff to the District Attorney to a majority of the Commissioners Court, warned of disastrous consequences if the Consent Decree were vacated. You can read their statements here.

Today’s ruling leaves the Consent Decree in place, protecting local residents from being punished and jailed solely because of their poverty.

“For seven years, the Consent Decree has guarded Harris County residents’ rights to due process and equal protection. Now, as due process is under attack, the Court has thankfully reaffirmed the continued vitality of that decree,” said Cody Cutting, Senior Attorney at Civil Rights Corps. “As a result, hundreds of people will be home tonight instead of needlessly separated from their families, today and every day that the decree remains in effect.” 

“The Court’s decision today ensures the Consent Decree will continue to protect the physical liberty of tens of thousands of people every year. Vacating the Consent Decree would have been disastrous for taxpayers, public safety, and presumptively innocent people accused of crimes. Today’s decision is a win for the constitution and the Harris County community,” said Travis Fife, Staff Attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project

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The Texas Civil Rights Project is boldly serving the movement for equality and justice in and out of the courts. We use our tools of litigation and legal advocacy to protect and advance the civil rights of everyone in Texas, and we partner with communities across the state to serve the rising movement for social justice. We undertake our work with a vision of a Texas in which all communities can thrive with dignity, justice and without fear.

Civil Rights Corps challenges everyday injustice in the U.S. legal system. Through innovative civil rights litigation, advocacy, and public education, we aim to re-sensitize the legal system and our culture to the injustice and brutality that characterize it. Our work is guided by a commitment to the people and communities harmed by policing, surveillance, incarceration, discrimination, and the criminalization of poverty.