AIA Surety’s Eric Granof on the Bail Post with Ken Good
In the latest episode of the Texas podcast the Bail Post, Eric Granof, a longtime voice in the bail industry, strongly criticizes the current push for bail reform and pretrial release policies. He argues that many of the studies promoted by reform advocates are not truly “evidence-based” but rather “pseudo-studies” funded by ideologically driven organizations. Granof points out that these reports often use manipulated data, short observation periods and selective metrics to claim that cashless bail and unsecured pretrial release do not increase crime or failure-to-appear rates, even though real-world results show the opposite.
Granof’s discussion with the host, Ken Good, covers specific examples of policy failures, including skyrocketing shoplifting and crime under California’s Prop 47, massive increases in failure-to-appear rates in Harris County and the disastrous results of Seattle’s CHOP zone experiment after defunding the police. He contrasts these outcomes with data showing that financially secured release through a surety bond consistently produces failure-to-appear rates under 10%, far lower than simple release or text-reminder systems. He also criticizes the interconnected funding from major foundations that support both the research and the advocacy groups pushing these policies.
Throughout the interview, Granof emphasizes that common sense and actual public safety metrics, such as crime rates, victim impact and court appearance rates, should drive policy, not jail population reduction or ideological goals. He warns that the current direction of bail reform and pretrial release is unsustainable and ultimately makes communities less safe while undermining the criminal justice system’s core purpose.
Overall, Granof urges listeners to question the narratives being sold as “evidence-based” and to focus on what actually works: holding defendants accountable through financial incentives while protecting victims and the public.