Prosecutors, sheriffs, judges, criminal justice reform advocates and others testified to a General Assembly committee on the money bail system Monday, Sept. 13 — but don’t expect any big changes.

The theme of Monday’s hearing, at which lawmakers heard testimony from 13 speakers, was that tweaks to the bail system are more likely than major reforms.

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“If there are changes that need to be made in the system, it’s not one big thing,” said state Rep. Michael Curcio (R-Dickson), who chairs the House Criminal Justice Committee. “If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s probably a million little things.”

They offered a number of ideas, but the abolition of pretrial detention or cash bail were not among them.

“Instead of reform, maybe a better word would be refine,” Judge Lynda Jones of Nashville General Sessions Court said. “Gentle, small, incremental changes and refinements are the way to get things done.”

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Jenna Bottler, of the Justice Action Network, said data from Kentucky showed the longer someone is detained before trial, the more likely they are to commit a crime — which would land them back in the criminal justice system at taxpayers’ expense.

Many of the speakers recommended using risk-assessment tools to judge whether the person accused of a crime deserves to be released pretrial. Some argued for increased scrutiny and regulation of the bail bond industry without abolishing it.

Speakers from the University of Tennessee’s County Technical Assistance Service said Knox County drastically reduced its jail population and is saving roughly $82,000 per day after implementing a risk assessment tool.

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But some advocates question those tools, whether it’s a person or an algorithm making the call, arguing such tools biased against people of color.

“Bias is inherent in risk assessment instruments, even if they are transparent and nonproprietary, and there is no way to correct for it,” Jasmine Heiss of the Vera Institute of Justice said.

Heiss was one of many speakers who argued that pretrial detention should be used far less and that taxpayers foot the bill to incarcerate people presumed innocent.

Willie Santana, a law professor at Lincoln Memorial University in Knoxville, also questioned the rate of pretrial detention. As overall crime rates have declined in the past decade and a half, pretrial detention rates have declined as well but remain stubbornly high.

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He suggested a “more explicit presumption of release without conditions” and a requirement that all bail hearings occur within 48 hours. He said bail must be affordable and courts should have to prove it’s necessary.

“It’s important for the health of our criminal legal system that we preserve the presumption of innocence,” he wrote on Twitter during the hearing.

The Senate committee is made of up nine members, seven of whom are Republicans. On the House side are 17 members, including 13 Republicans.

The bail system, and the criminal justice system as a whole, have disproportionate negative impacts on African Americans, but only one Black person was present at Monday’s hearing.

Four members of the joint committee are Black, but state Rep. Vincent Dixie (D-Nashville), who owns two bail bond companies, was the only one present Monday.

“The entire (criminal justice) system is broken,” Dixie said. “The reason we’re here is that the bail industry is an easy target.”

The committee met for five and a half hours Monday and was scheduled for another five starting Tuesday at 8 a.m. They may hold another hearing in about a month and a half.