SENATE BILL No. 826

 

 

September 16, 2009, Introduced by Senator CROPSEY and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1988 PA 511, entitled

 

"Community corrections act,"

 

by amending section 8 (MCL 791.408).

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 8. (1) A county, city, city-county, or regional advisory

 

board, on behalf of the city, county, or counties it represents,

 

may apply for funding and other assistance under this act by

 

submitting to the office a comprehensive corrections plan that

 

meets the requirements of this section, and the criteria,

 

standards, rules, and policies developed by the state board

 

pursuant to section 4.

 

     (2) The plan shall be developed by the county, city, city-

 


county, or regional advisory board and shall include all of the

 

following for the county, city, or counties represented by the

 

advisory board:

 

     (a) A system for the development, implementation, and

 

operation of community corrections programs and an explanation of

 

how the state prison commitment rate for the city, county, or

 

counties will be reduced, and how the public safety will be

 

maintained, as a result of implementation of the comprehensive

 

corrections plan. The plan shall include, where appropriate,

 

provisions that detail how the city, county, or counties plan to

 

substantially reduce, within 1 year, the use of prison sentences

 

for felons for which the state felony sentencing guidelines upper

 

limit for the recommended minimum sentence is 12 months or less as

 

validated by the department of corrections. Continued funding in

 

the second and subsequent years shall be contingent upon

 

substantial compliance with this subdivision.

 

     (b) A data analysis of the local criminal justice system

 

including a basic description of jail utilization detailing such

 

areas as sentenced versus unsentenced inmates, sentenced felons

 

versus sentenced misdemeanants, and any use of a jail

 

classification system. The analysis also shall include a basic

 

description of offenders sentenced to probation and to prison and a

 

review of the rate of commitment to the state corrections systems

 

from the city, county, or counties for the preceding 3 years. The

 

analysis also shall compare actual sentences with the sentences

 

recommended by the state felony sentencing guidelines.

 

     (c) An analysis of the local community corrections programs

 


used at the time the plan is submitted and during the preceding 3

 

years, including types of offenders served and funding levels.

 

     (d) A system for evaluating the effectiveness of the community

 

corrections program, which shall utilize the criteria developed

 

pursuant to section 4(d).

 

     (e) The identity of any designated subgrant recipient.

 

     (f) In the case of a regional or city-county plan, provisions

 

for the appointment of 1 fiscal agent to coordinate the financial

 

activities pertaining to the grant award.

 

     (3) The county board or boards of commissioners of the county

 

or counties represented by a county, city-county, or regional

 

advisory board, or the city council of the city represented by a

 

city or city-county advisory board, shall approve the proposed

 

comprehensive corrections plan prepared by their advisory board

 

before the plan is submitted to the office pursuant to subsection

 

(1).

 

     (4) This section is intended to encourage the participation in

 

community corrections programs of offenders who meet all of the

 

following criteria:

 

     (a) The offenders would likely be sentenced to imprisonment in

 

a state correctional facility or jail. ,

 

     (b) The offenders would not likely increase the risk to public

 

safety , have not demonstrated a pattern of violent behavior, and

 

do not have based on an objective risk and needs assessment that

 

demonstrates that the offender can be safely treated and supervised

 

in the community. As used in this subdivision, "objective risk and

 

needs assessment" means an evaluation of a probationer's criminal

 


history and the probationer's noncriminal history; a determination

 

of the availability in the community of appropriate programming;

 

and any other factors relevant to predicting the risk the

 

probationer would present to the public safety, including, but not

 

limited to, a criminal record that indicates a pattern of violent

 

offenses.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect

 

unless Senate Bill No. 827                                        

 

          of the 95th Legislature is enacted into law.