During the final week of session, the legislature sent a bipartisan package of bills to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that will fundamentally reshape how the state utilizes county jails.
The 20 bills, carried by a diverse group of Republican and Democratic state senators and representatives and passed with overwhelming support, are based on policy recommendations from the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration.
That panel, composed of criminal justice experts and key stakeholders, conducted a year-long study of Michigan’s jails and engaged input from the public in a series of meetings statewide.
The task force found that low-level infractions, like driving on a suspended license, violations of probation, and other misdemeanors, were exhausting public safety resources and impacting hundreds of thousands of Michiganders each year without producing safer communities.
The 20 bills passed by the legislature form a complementary approach that aims to shift individuals away from jail unless they pose a threat to public safety.
Throughout the last year, the bills were vetted by lawmakers and refined with extensive input from prosecutors, judges, sheriffs, crime victims, reform advocates, and members of the public.
Together the bills seek to expand the use of jail alternatives and reserve jail for public safety risks.
The bills eliminate driver’s license suspensions and criminal penalties for some traffic offenses; expand officer discretion to use appearance tickets instead of custodial arrests; use probation, fines, and community service as sentences for low-level crimes; and limit jail time for those who violate the rules of supervision.
Additional recommendations stemming from the task force report will be taken up for consideration in the next legislative session, potentially including bills related to pretrial release and behavioral health diversion from jails.
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