Richard Glossip Gets $500,000 Bail in Oklahoma
Oklahoma Judge Natalie Mai set Richard Glossip’s bail at $500,000 on Thursday, creating a path for his first release from prison since 1997. The order follows a new trial grant after nearly three decades on death row and puts strict limits on where he can go and who he can contact.
Natalie Mai’s Bond Order
Mai attached several conditions to the release. Glossip must wear a monitoring device, stay inside Oklahoma, avoid communication with potential witnesses in his case, and not consume alcohol or drugs.
Those restrictions turn the bond into a controlled release rather than an unrestricted one. Glossip’s defense team will need to meet the court’s terms before he can leave custody.
Barry Van Treese Case
Glossip was arrested in 1997 in the killing of his former boss, Barry Van Treese, and the case has moved through repeated execution dates since then. He had nearly avoided execution three separate times, and nine execution dates were scheduled in total.
One execution was called off after correctional officers had already strapped him to a gurney and begun preparing to give him a lethal injection. Justin Sneed, who confessed to physically carrying out the killing, said Glossip paid him to do it and received a lifetime prison sentence.
Supreme Court Due Process Ruling
The Oklahoma Supreme Court issued an order in February 2025 granting Glossip a new trial after finding that the prosecution’s failure to correct Sneed’s testimony violated his constitutional right to due process. A 2023 letter to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board said the record “does not support that he is guilty of first-degree murder beyond a reasonable doubt.”
In June, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said the state intended to retry Glossip for Van Treese’s death and would seek life imprisonment rather than the death penalty. Donald Knight said, “Mr. Glossip now has the chance to taste freedom while his defense team continues to pursue justice on his behalf against a system that the United States Supreme Court has found to be guilty of serious misconduct by state prosecutors,” and Glossip’s wife texted that she was “grateful for the court's decision” and that, “We have been praying for this day.”
The bond order now sets the terms for any release, and the next practical step is whether Glossip can meet them while his new-trial case continues in Oklahoma.
