October 21, 2015, Introduced by Senators KNOLLENBERG, PROOS and JONES and referred to the Committee on Government Operations.
A bill to amend 1975 PA 46, entitled
"An act to create the office of the legislative corrections
ombudsman; to prescribe the powers and duties of the office, the
ombudsman, the legislative council, and the department of
corrections; and to provide remedies from administrative acts,"
by amending sections 5 and 9 (MCL 4.355 and 4.359), section 5 as
amended by 2010 PA 287 and section 9 as amended by 1995 PA 197.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 5. (1) Upon request and without the requirement of any
release, the ombudsman shall be given access to all information,
records,
and documents in the possession of the department which
that
the ombudsman deems considers necessary in an investigation,
including, but not limited to, prisoner medical health records,
prisoner mental health records, and prisoner mortality and
morbidity records. Upon request, the ombudsman may interview any of
the following individuals whom the ombudsman considers necessary in
an investigation:
(a) An individual employed by or retained under contract by
the department.
(b) An individual employed by or retained under contract by a
private contractor that operates a facility or institution that
houses prisoners under the jurisdiction of the department.
(2) Upon request and without notice, the ombudsman shall be
granted entrance to inspect at any time any premises under the
control of the department.
(3) The ombudsman may hold informal hearings and may request
that any person appear before the ombudsman, or at a hearing, and
give
testimony or produce documentary or other evidence which that
the
ombudsman deems considers relevant to a matter under
investigation.
Sec. 9. (1) Correspondence between the ombudsman and a
prisoner is confidential and shall be processed as privileged
correspondence in the same manner as letters between prisoners and
courts, attorneys, or public officials.
(2)
The ombudsman shall maintain secrecy with respect to all
matters
and the identities of the complainants or persons from whom
information
is acquired, except so far as disclosures may be
necessary
to enable the ombudsman to perform the duties of the
office
and to support any recommendations resulting from an
investigation.A record of the ombudsman is confidential,
shall only
be used for purposes set forth in this act, is not subject to court
subpoena, and is not discoverable in a legal proceeding.
(3)
A report prepared and recommendations made by the
ombudsman
and submitted to the council under section 10 are exempt
from
disclosure under the freedom of information act, Act No. 442
of
the Public Acts of 1976, being sections 15.231 to 15.246 of the
Michigan
Compiled Laws.All of the
following are exempt from
disclosure under the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL
15.231 to 15.246:
(a) A record of the ombudsman.
(b) A report or recommendations made by the ombudsman and
submitted to the council under section 10.