Rep. Mary Jo Daley, D-Merion Station, speaks at a library in her district earlier this month.

In what could be a first step toward bail reform in Pennsylvania, one state lawmaker wants county jails to send information about inmates awaiting trial to the state.

Rep. Mary Jo Daley, D-Merion Station, is circulating a co-sponsorship memorandum for legislation she is drafting that would require a monthly update on local jails’ total pre-trial prisoner populations, number of prisoners held on monetary bail, number of prisoners held without bail, number of pretrial prisoners held on misdemeanor charges, the average length of time pre-trial detainees are held in the jail and demographic information on pre-trial prisoners, including gender and race.

“About one-third of those incarcerated in county jails in Pennsylvania find themselves behind bars without having been found guilty of committing a crime,” Daley wrote in her legislative justification. “These individuals are the state’s pretrial prisoners. They come from every walk of life and are found in every corner of the state, but unfortunately, the most basic elements of their stories are not tracked or told. I have recently been made aware that there is a disturbing lack of formal, published data on pretrial prisoners in our state, which is something I think needs to be addressed.”

Daley’s legislation doesn’t mention bail reform. But, it was concerns over the length of time some people were spending in jail awaiting trial, inability to afford bail and racial gaps that led NewYork’s legislature to reform the way New York uses bail in 2019. That change was criticized at the time by Republicans, and that criticism coupled with some high-profile crimes committed by those who would have likely been held on bail before 2019 have prompted three legislative changes to the list of bail-eligible crimes over the past few years.

One difference between New York and Pennsylvania, however, is the difference in legislative leadership. While Democrats hold a slim majority in the state House of Representatives and control of the governor’s office, the state Senate is held by Republicans – meaning Daley’s legislation faces an uphill battle in the Senate.

Another concern cited often by Democrats in New York state before the bail reform push in 2019 was the cost to house pre-trial detainees in local jails. That is another concern raised by Daley in her legislative justification.

“Given the enormous personal and public costs of pretrial detention, I believe it is of utmost importance that we understand the most rudimentary facts about pretrial prisoner populations. Understanding a system is the first step to changing it for the better, which is why I plan to introduce legislation to require county correctional institutions to collect information on their pretrial prisoner populations each month,” Daley wrote.