FORGED STATE I.D. CARD - S.B. 199 (S-3): FLOOR ANALYSIS

Senate Bill 199 (Substitute S-3 as reported)

Sponsor: Senator William Van Regenmorter

Committee: Government Operations

CONTENT

The bill would amend Public Act 222 of 1972, which provides for the issuance and use of a State personal identification card, to prohibit a person from possessing an official State personal identification card that had been reproduced, altered, counterfeited, forged, or duplicated. A person who violated this prohibition would be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for up to one year. The prohibition would not apply to a person who came into the possession of an official State personal identification card by recovering it from someone suspected of violating the proposed prohibition or the current prohibition against stealing a card.

Currently, the Act prescribes penalties for a person who intentionally reproduces, alters, counterfeits, forges, or duplicates an official State personal identification card or who uses such a card; the penalties depend upon the offense that the violator intended to commit with the card. The Act also prescribes penalties for a person who steals or, without the cardholder's permission, knowingly takes or knowingly removes an official State personal identification card from another, or uses a stolen or removed card. The bill instead would prescribe penalties for stealing or knowingly taking an official State personal identification card from the person identified on the card.

The Act currently specifies that someone who uses a stolen card in the commission of a felony is subject to "the penalties provided for the felony committed with the use of the card". Under the bill, the offender would be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to four years and/or a maximum fine of $5,000.

MCL 28.295 - Legislative Analyst: S. Margules

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill would have no fiscal impact on State government, and likely only minimal fiscal impact on local government.

To the extent that persons would be convicted for possessing a reproduced, altered, counterfeited, forged, or duplicated State personal identification card, which under the bill would be a misdemeanor, costs for arresting, prosecuting and sanctioning these offenders at the local level could increase. While there are no data readily available that would indicate the number of potential annual violators, the number is not estimated to be significant.

Date Completed: 4-24-97 - Fiscal Analyst: M. Hansen

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This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.