Gov. Kelly Ayotte notched a policy victory early in her political tenure.

The House of Representatives voted 204-175 on Thursday to roll back bail reforms that former Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law in 2018 and 2024 — reforms that Ayotte has denounced, campaigned against and repeatedly asked the Legislature to erase.

Ayotte championed her version of bail reform in recent weeks, which involves tightening restrictions on a system she says is broken by letting too many criminals out of jail and putting the safety of law enforcement and victims of crime at risk.

“I’ve heard so much about the issues we’ve had with bail creating a revolving door that is putting our law enforcement in danger, that is putting average citizens just trying to live their lives in this amazing state in danger,” Ayotte said.

Opponents of the roll-back say the bail system is working correctly as it is. They warned the bill could cost counties more money as they are forced to hold more people in jails and that high cash bail disproportionately affects the poor.

The legislation, House Bill 592, would lower the standard of proof required to detain people arrested by police and repeal the magistrate system that began in January. It would also allow for the automatic detainment of individuals who have previously committed certain crimes while out on bail, failed to show up for court or violated any bail conditions until their hearing.

As Democrats hearkened back to bipartisan reforms that the House passed in recent years, Rep. Terry Roy, a Deerfield Republican, said with their expanded power, conservatives no longer need to work with the other party.

“We don’t have to compromise,” Roy said. “It is now a Republican majority, and we’re going to pass a Republican bail bill. We don’t need to be ashamed of that.”

Before the vote, Rep. Buzz Scherr, a Democrat and police commissioner in Portsmouth, argued that New Hampshire’s bail system is working.

“People are being held preventatively on a regular basis,” Scherr said, citing decreased crime rates in Manchester and elsewhere since the 2018 bail law went into effect. “Let’s not open the floodgates and have a lot more people held.”

The bill now goes to the House Finance Committee. It will still require approval by the Senate and the governor, and it would go into effect six months after receiving Ayotte’s signature.

Amanda Azad, the policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire, called the bill “anti-liberty” and “anti-due process” in a press release following the vote, saying that current law allows police and prosecutors to make their case if they think a person is dangerous enough to be held without bail.

“Our current bail laws are a major bipartisan achievement that center civil liberties at the core of how our state treats people who are accused of a crime,” Azad said. “Why are politicians trying to take away our freedom if someone is not dangerous and still presumed innocent?”

Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, subscribe to her Capital Beat newsletter and send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.