East Lyme — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Thursday visited the Janet S. York Correctional Institution to unveil details of proposed legislation he said would help fix a bail system that’s discriminatory toward the poor.

If passed, House Bill 7044 would prohibit judges from setting bail for those charged with misdemeanors unless a judge deems the person has a history of failing to appear in court or poses an immediate threat to the health or well-being of another person.

It also would give defendants a new option of paying 10 percent of their bail without going through a bail bonds agent.

Right now, defendants have to enlist a bail bonds agent, who will charge a fee, in order to pay a small percentage of the bond. Otherwise, they must pay the full amount on their own.

According to Malloy, court rules allow defendants to use their own money but state statutes don’t, so the option isn’t often exercised.

The bill further requires bail redetermination hearings to be held more frequently and asks the court to follow certain steps to determine a person’s ability to pay the set bond.

“Poverty should not be a basis to hold someone in prison when someone who committed the exact same crime is getting out,” Malloy said.

He told the story of a York Correctional inmate to illustrate the need for such legislation.

When she was arrested in August, the court assigned her a bail of $7,500, which through a bonds agent could be made with about $750.

According to Malloy, the woman had been clean for years but relapsed not long before getting arrested. She didn’t and still doesn’t have the $750 necessary to get home to her children.

“We don’t need to be footing the bill of $168 per night for those who are low-risk,” Malloy said, noting that her incarceration alone has cost the state tens of thousands of dollars.

Malloy further noted the damage a short amount of time in jail can cause. Unable to report to work, those incarcerated because they can’t afford bail often lose their jobs. Unable to get a paycheck, they later can lose their homes.

“Bail is not a tool to punish someone,” the governor stressed. “It’s a tool to make sure someone appears in court.”

On Thursday, 3,043 people in Connecticut jails, or 21 percent of the state's entire prison population, were there because they couldn’t post bond. Officials said 296 of those were women at York and 610 had bonds lower than $20,000.

If passed, Malloy said, his legislation could reduce the prison population by more than 300 inmates. That, he said, would be sufficient to close a correctional facility or take another “proportionate” measure.

The prison population, at 14,712 on Thursday, already is at a 20-year low. It's also down 26 percent from the all-time high of 19,893 inmates in 2008.

The state's violent crime rate, despite an uptick in murders from 2014 to 2015, is at a more than 40-year low, according to the most recently available data.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut and the Yankee Institute for Public Policy, groups that often find themselves on opposite sides of issues, both have thrown their weight behind Malloy’s proposed legislation.

David McGuire, executive director of ACLU-CT, called Malloy’s bill a “logical step.”

He said the state’s system disproportionately impacts minorities and those who are from inner cities. It also can lead people to agree to plea deals they otherwise wouldn’t have taken just so they can get out of jail, he said.

McGuire cited one case he was involved in where a person unable to post bail had to stay in jail for about a year as the case played out. The person’s charges ultimately were dropped.

“That’s wrong and a waste of taxpayer dollars,” McGuire said. “This legislative package is common sense and should be embraced by both sides.”

Suzanne Bates, policy director for the Yankee Institute, called the human cost of the state’s current policy “considerable.”

Because so many of the charges in question are nonviolent, Bates noted, many people wouldn’t end up with a jail term even if they were convicted.

“Requiring them to stay in jail makes little sense from a public safety perspective ... and it winds up costing taxpayers millions per year,” she said.

Malloy said he and others looked to states including New Jersey, Arizona and Indiana, where bail reform already has happened, for advice in developing the legislation.

They also took note of state and federal court decisions that ruled it unconstitutional to incarcerate someone solely because they’re too poor to post bond. One such decision, from the Maryland Court of Appeals, came earlier this month.

“We’re ahead in some areas (of criminal justice) and behind in others,” Malloy said. “This is an area we’re behind in and we should catch up.”

l.boyle@theday.com