SENATE BILL No. 1449

 

 

August 11, 2010, Introduced by Senator BRATER and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1953 PA 232, entitled

 

"Corrections code of 1953,"

 

by amending sections 65 and 65a (MCL 791.265 and 791.265a), section

 

65 as amended by 1998 PA 512 and section 65a as amended by 1998 PA

 

315.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 65. (1) Under rules promulgated by the director of the

 

department, the assistant director in charge of the bureau of

 

correctional facilities, except as otherwise provided in this

 

section, may cause the transfer or re-transfer retransfer of a

 

prisoner from a correctional facility to which committed to any

 

other correctional facility, or temporarily to a state institution

 


for medical or surgical treatment. In effecting a transfer, the

 

assistant director of the bureau of correctional facilities may

 

utilize the services of an executive or employee within the

 

department and of a law enforcement officer of the state.

 

     (2) A Except as provided in section 65a, a prisoner who is

 

subject to disciplinary time and is committed to the jurisdiction

 

of the department shall be confined in a secure correctional

 

facility for the duration of his or her minimum sentence, except

 

for periods when the prisoner is away from the secure correctional

 

facility while being supervised by an employee of the department or

 

by an employee of a private vendor that operates a youth

 

correctional facility under section 20g for 1 of the following

 

purposes:

 

     (a) Visiting a critically ill relative.

 

     (b) Attending the funeral of a relative.

 

     (c) Obtaining medical services not otherwise available at the

 

secure correctional facility.

 

     (d) Participating in a work detail.

 

     (3) As used in this section, "offender" means a citizen of the

 

United States or a foreign country who has been convicted of a

 

crime and been given a sentence in a country other than the country

 

of which he or she is a citizen. If a treaty is in effect between

 

the United States and a foreign country, which provides for the

 

transfer of offenders from the jurisdiction of 1 of the countries

 

to the jurisdiction of the country of which the offender is a

 

citizen, and if the offender requests the transfer, the governor of

 

this state or a person designated by the governor may give the

 


approval of this state to a transfer of an offender, if the

 

conditions of the treaty are satisfied.

 

     (4) Not less than 45 days before approval of a transfer

 

pursuant to subsection (3) from this state to another country, the

 

governor, or the governor's designee, shall notify the sentencing

 

judge and the prosecuting attorney of the county having original

 

jurisdiction, or their successors in office, of the request for

 

transfer. The notification shall indicate any name changes of the

 

offender subsequent to sentencing. Within 20 days after receiving

 

such notification, the judge or prosecutor may send to the

 

governor, or the governor's designee, information about the

 

criminal action against the offender or objections to the transfer.

 

Objections to the transfer shall not preclude approval of the

 

transfer.

 

     (5) As used in this section, "secure correctional facility"

 

means a facility that houses prisoners under the jurisdiction of

 

the department according to the following requirements:

 

     (a) The facility is enclosed by a locked fence or wall that is

 

designed to prevent prisoners from leaving the enclosed premises

 

and that is patrolled by correctional officers.

 

     (b) Prisoners in the facility are restricted to the area

 

inside the fence or wall.

 

     (c) Prisoners are under guard by correctional officers 7 days

 

per week, 24 hours per day.

 

     Sec. 65a. (1) Under prescribed conditions, the director may

 

extend the limits of confinement of a prisoner when there is

 

reasonable assurance, after consideration of all facts and

 


circumstances, that the prisoner will not become a menace to

 

society or to the public safety, by authorizing the prisoner to do

 

any of the following:

 

     (a) Visit a specifically designated place or places. An

 

extension of limits may be granted only to a prisoner housed in a

 

state correctional facility to permit a visit to a critically ill

 

relative, attendance at the funeral of a relative, or contacting

 

prospective employers. The maximum amount of time a prisoner is

 

eligible for an extension of the limits of confinement under this

 

subdivision shall not exceed a cumulative total period of 30 days.

 

     (b) Obtain medical services not otherwise available to a

 

prisoner housed in a state correctional facility.

 

     (c) Work at paid or transitional employment , or participate

 

in a training, or educational, cognitive, or treatment program, or

 

participate in a community residential drug treatment other program

 

consistent with the prisoner's case management plan, while

 

continuing as a prisoner housed on a voluntary basis at a community

 

corrections center or in a community residential home.

 

     (2) The director shall promulgate rules to implement this

 

section.

 

     (3) The willful failure of a prisoner to remain within the

 

extended limits of his or her confinement or to return within the

 

time prescribed to an institution or facility designated by the

 

director shall be considered an escape from custody as provided in

 

section 193 of the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.193.

 

     (4) Subject to subsection (8), (7), a prisoner , other than a

 

prisoner subject to disciplinary time, who is convicted of a crime

 


of violence or any assaultive crime is not eligible for the

 

extensions of the limits of confinement provided in subsection (1)

 

until the minimum sentence imposed for the crime has less fewer

 

than 180 days remaining.

 

     (5) Subject to subsection (8), a prisoner subject to

 

disciplinary time is not eligible for the extensions of the limits

 

of confinement provided in subsection (1) until he or she has

 

served the minimum sentence imposed for the crime.

 

     (5) (6) However, notwithstanding subsections (4) or (5),

 

subsection (4), if the reason for the extension is to visit a

 

critically ill relative, attend the funeral of a relative, or

 

obtain medical services not otherwise available, the director may

 

allow the extension under escort as provided in subsection (1).

 

     (6) (7) A prisoner serving a sentence for murder in the first

 

degree is not eligible for the extensions of confinement under this

 

section until a parole release date is established by the parole

 

board and in no case before serving 15 calendar years with a good

 

institutional adjustment.

 

     (7) (8) A prisoner who is convicted of a crime of violence or

 

any assaultive crime, and whose minimum sentence imposed for the

 

crime is 10 years or more, shall not be placed in a community

 

residential home during any portion of his or her sentence.

 

     (8) (9) As used in this section:

 

     (a) "Community corrections center" means a facility either

 

contracted for or operated by the department in which a security

 

staff is on duty 7 days per week, 24 hours per day.

 

     (b) "Community residential home" means a location where

 


electronic monitoring of prisoner presence is provided by the

 

department 7 days per week, 24 hours per day, except that the

 

department may waive the requirement that electronic monitoring be

 

provided as to any prisoner who is within 3 months of his or her

 

parole date.

 

     (c) "State correctional facility" means a facility owned or

 

leased by the department. State correctional facility does not

 

include a community corrections center or community residential

 

home.