Michigan House OKs bills to parole 'medically frail' inmates

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Legislation advancing in Michigan's Legislature would let "medically frail" inmates be paroled.

The main bill approved 94-14 by the Republican-controlled House Wednesday could initially affect 40 to 60 prisoners. The number could grow as the prison population ages.

Inmates convicted of first-degree murder or first-degree criminal sexual conduct wouldn't be eligible.

The state could save $200,000 annually if the 40 to 60 inmates were paroled, housed in nursing homes and had their health care covered by the joint federal-state Medicaid program. The Senate will consider the bill next.

Legislation to allow the parole of medically frail prisoners cleared the House in 2016 but died in the Senate. That measure could have affected roughly 120 inmates because first-degree murderers and rapists would have been eligible.