New York City officials announced a plan on Wednesday to change bail requirements for some low-level offenders in an effort to keep thousands of people accused of nonviolent crimes and misdemeanors out of the troubled Rikers Island jail complex.

The program, which is expected to cost nearly $18 million, will allow judges to release up to 3,000 low-risk defendants while placing them under court supervision as they await trial. Supporters of the program hope the initiative will help defendants who otherwise would remain jailed because they cannot afford bail.

“Money bail is a problem because, as the system currently operates in New York, some people are being detained based on the size of their bank account, not the risk they pose,” Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, said in a statement. “This is unacceptable. If people can be safely supervised in the community, they should be allowed to remain there regardless of their ability to pay.”

The bail reform plan is part of a $130 million package of changes to the city’s criminal justice system the city began rolling out in December in part to address dysfunction at Rikers.