September 29, 2004, Introduced by Reps. Brandenburg, Wojno, Bieda, Acciavatti and Pumford and referred to the Committee on Criminal Justice.
A bill to amend 1982 PA 325, entitled
"An act to authorize county sheriffs to declare a county jail
overcrowding state of emergency; to prescribe the powers and
duties of certain judges, county sheriffs, and other county
officials; and to provide remedies for a county jail overcrowding
state of emergency,"
by amending section 5 (MCL 801.55).
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
1 Sec. 5. The sheriff, the persons notified pursuant to
2 section 4, and other
circuit, district, and municipal , and
3 recorder's court judges may attempt to reduce the prisoner
4 population of the county
jail through any available means which
5 that are already within the scope of their individual and
6 collective legal authority, including, but not limited to, the
7 following:
8 (a) Judicial review of bail for possible bail reduction,
9 release on recognizance, or conditional release of prisoners in
1 the county jail.
2 (b) Prosecutorial pre-trial diversion.
3 (c) Judicial use of probation, fines, community service
4 orders, restitution, and delayed sentencing as alternatives to
5 commitment to jail.
6 (d) Use of work-release, community programs, the housing of
7 prisoners in previously unutilized open space within the jail,
8 and other alternative housing arrangements by the sheriff, if the
9 programs and alternative housing arrangements are authorized by
10 law.
11 (e) Review of agreements which allow other units of
12 government to house their prisoners in the overcrowded county
13 jail to determine whether the agreements may be terminated.
14 (f) Entering into agreements which allow the sheriff for the
15 county in which the overcrowded county jail is located to house
16 prisoners in facilities operated by other units of government.
17 (g) Refusal by the sheriff to house persons who are not
18 required by law to be housed in the county jail.
19 (h) Acceleration of the transfer of prisoners sentenced to
20 the state prison system, and prisoners otherwise under the
21 jurisdiction of the department of corrections, to the department
22 of corrections.
23 (i) Judicial acceleration of pending court proceedings for
24 prisoners under the jurisdiction of the department of corrections
25 who will be returned to the department of corrections regardless
26 of the outcome of the pending proceedings.
27 (j) Reduction of waiting time for prisoners awaiting
1 examination by the center for forensic psychiatry.
2 (k) Alternative booking, processing, and housing
3 arrangements, including the use of appearance tickets instead of
4 booking at the county jail and the use of weekend arraignment,
5 for categories of cases considered appropriate by the persons
6 notified pursuant to section 4.
7 (l) Acceptance by the courts of credit cards for payments of
8 bonds, fines, and court costs.
9 (m) Use of community mental health and private mental health
10 resources in the county as alternatives to housing prisoners in
11 the county jail for those prisoners who qualify for placement in
12 the programs and for whom placement in the programs is
13 appropriate.
14 (n) Use of community and private substance abuse programs and
15 other therapeutic programs as alternatives to housing prisoners
16 in the county jail for those prisoners who qualify for placement
17 in the programs and for whom placement in the programs is
18 appropriate.
19 (o) Preparation of a long-range plan for addressing the
20 county jail overcrowding problem, including recommendations to
21 the county board of commissioners on construction of new jail
22 facilities and funding for construction or other options designed
23 to alleviate the overcrowding problem.
24 (p) Review of sentencing procedures, including the
25 elimination of delays in preparing presentence reports for
26 prisoners awaiting sentence, and staggering the dates on which
27 prisoners will start serving a jail sentence to minimize
1 fluctuating demands on jail capacity.