Kalamazoo judges let many gun defendants out on no-cash bonds, records show. What Michigan’s bond rule says, and what the JAIL Act would change

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Judges in Kalamazoo’s 8th District Court frequently released people charged with gun crimes on bonds that required no cash up front, or set a bond lower than the prosecutor asked, according to police arraignment logs obtained by WWMT News Channel 3 through the Freedom of Information Act.

The station’s I-Team reviewed six months of Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety video arraignment results, from August 2025 through February 2026. In gun cases, it found Judge Alisa Parker-LaGrone lowered the prosecutor’s bond recommendation or granted a personal recognizance or own recognizance bond 75% of the time, followed by Chief Judge Kathleen Hemingway at 70%, Judge Richard Santoni at 50%, Judge Christopher Haenicke at 45%, Judge Becket Jones at 40%, Judge Tiffany Ankley at 31% and Magistrate Mark Holsomback at 27%.

Across all felony arraignments, Hemingway granted PR or OR bonds in 69% of hers, the highest rate, WWMT reported. In one example the station cited, prosecutors asked for a $30,000 cash bond for a man charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, and he was released on a personal recognizance bond instead.

“I think that there’s a risk every time somebody is released on a personal recognizance bond, especially in weapons offenses,” Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting told the station. Mark Proxmire, whose son, Kalamazoo Public Safety Sgt. Ryan Proxmire, was killed in the line of duty in 2021, said his biggest concern is that rulings are inconsistent from one judge to the next.

The judges’ responses were not included in the portions of WWMT’s reports we read. District judges in Michigan are elected, and they make bond decisions with judicial immunity.

What Michigan’s rule says. The numbers make more sense alongside the law judges work under. Michigan Court Rule 6.106 tells a court to release a defendant on personal recognizance or an unsecured bond, with conditions such as showing up for court and committing no new crimes, unless the judge finds that kind of release will not reasonably ensure the defendant appears or would present a danger to the public. In other words, release without cash is the starting point, and the judge must find a reason to require more. That is why critics focus on whether the danger finding is being made in gun cases, and why prosecutors’ recommendations carry no automatic weight.

What the JAIL Act would do. The Judicial Accountability for Irresponsible Leniency Act, endorsed by the National Police Association, is a short federal bill. The House version, H.R. 5312, was introduced Sept. 11, 2025, by Rep. Randy Fine of Florida with two Republican co-sponsors; a Senate version, S. 3239, followed Nov. 20, 2025, from Sens. Tim Sheehy and Marsha Blackburn. Both sit in the Judiciary committees.

The text would let a person harmed by a “covered defendant” released on bail, or that person’s immediate family if the victim died, sue the judge or other government entity in federal court. A covered defendant is someone charged with a crime of violence who already has a conviction for one. Judicial immunity would not be a defense. Because the bill applies only to repeat violent offenders, many of the gun-possession cases in the Kalamazoo logs would not be covered unless the defendant had a prior violent conviction.

What comes next. The House bill’s latest action on Congress.gov is its referral to committee, and WWMT described the JAIL Act as being in the early stages of the legislative process. For now, any change in Kalamazoo would come from the judges themselves, from prosecutors asking for danger findings on the record, or from voters when 8th District Court seats come up for election.

Sources:
WWMT News Channel 3, “FOIA reveals which Kalamazoo Co. judges grant PR bonds in gun cases as JAIL Act introduced,” Oct. 22, 2026 (gun-case rates by judge, prosecutor and NPA quotes, example case), https://wwmt.com/news/i-team/jail-act-cashless-bonds-gun-crimes-kalamaoo-county-8th-district-court-judges-national-police-association-judge-kathleen-hemingway-crime-victims-judicial-immunity-kdps-pretrial-release-judge-alisa-parker-lagrone
WWMT News Channel 3, “5 years after Sgt. Proxmire’s death, I-Team probes cashless bond releases for gun crimes” (felony PR/OR rates by judge, data period, Mark Proxmire quote), https://wwmt.com/news/i-team/personal-recognizance-own-recognizance-8th-district-court-sgt-proxmire-community-safety-chief-judge-kathleen-hemingway-judge-alisa-parker-lagrone-judge-richard-santoni-judge-christopher-haenicke-judge-becket-jones-judge-dangerous-defendants-out-on-bond
Congress.gov, H.R. 5312, JAIL Act, introduced Sept. 11, 2025 (full text, sponsors), https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hr5312/BILLS-119hr5312ih.htm
Congress.gov, S. 3239, JAIL Act, introduced Nov. 20, 2025, https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3239/text
Michigan Court Rules, Chapter 6, MCR 6.106 Pretrial Release, https://www.courts.michigan.gov/siteassets/rules-instructions-administrative-orders/michigan-court-rules/michigan-court-rules-responsive-html5.zip/Michigan_Court_Rules/Court_Rules_Chapter_6/Court_Rules_Chapter_6.htm
Photo: MSwierenga, “Kalamazoo County Courthouse 2024.jpg,” March 27, 2024, Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/), cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kalamazoo_County_Courthouse_2024.jpg

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Tags: Kalamazoo · Public Safety · Courts · Bail · JAIL Act · Kalamazoo County