Bill Text: MI HB5692 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Criminal procedure; sentencing guidelines; sentencing guidelines commission; restore. Amends 1927 PA 175 (MCL 760.1 - 777.69) by adding secs. 32 & 33 to ch. IX.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-07-16 - Printed Bill Filed 06/13/2014 [HB5692 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2013-HB5692-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL No. 5692
June 12, 2014, Introduced by Rep. Knezek and referred to the Committee on Criminal Justice.
A bill to amend 1927 PA 175, entitled
"The code of criminal procedure,"
(MCL 760.1 to 777.69) by adding sections 32 and 33 to chapter IX.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
CHAPTER IX
Sec. 32. (1) A sentencing commission is created in the
legislative council. The legislative council shall provide the
commission with suitable office space, staff, and necessary
equipment. The commission shall consist of the following members:
(a) The chairperson and minority vice-chairperson of the house
of representatives standing committee on the judiciary.
(b) The chairperson and minority chairperson of the senate
standing committee on the judiciary.
(c) The chief justice of the supreme court.
(d) The director of the department of corrections.
(e) One probation officer or parole officer.
(f) Two individuals who are circuit court judges.
(g) One individual who represents the prosecuting attorneys of
this state.
(h) One individual who represents criminal defense attorneys.
(i) One individual who represents law enforcement.
(j) One individual who represents advocates of alternatives to
incarceration.
(k) One individual who represents crime victims.
(l) The legislative corrections ombudsman.
(m) The legislative council administrator, who shall serve as
the chairperson of the commission and who shall be a nonvoting
member except as required to break a tie vote.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the
commission members shall be appointed for terms of 4 years. Of the
members first appointed under subsection (1)(e) to (k), 3 members
shall serve for 2 years, 3 members shall serve for 3 years, and 2
members shall serve for 4 years, as designated by the chairperson
and alternate chairperson of the legislative council. The members
of the commission described in subsection (1)(a) to (d) and (l) to
(m) shall continue to be commission members so long as they retain
the positions described in subsection (1)(a) to (d) and (l) to (m).
The members described in subsection (1)(e) to (k) shall be
appointed by the governor.
(3) A vacancy on the commission caused by the expiration of a
term or a resignation or death shall be filled in the same manner
as the original appointment. A member appointed to fill a vacancy
caused by a resignation or death shall be appointed for the balance
of the unexpired term.
(4) A commission member shall not receive a salary for being a
commission member, but shall be reimbursed for his or her
reasonable, actual, and necessary expenses incurred in the
performance of his or her duties as a commission member.
(5) The commission's business shall be conducted at public
meetings held in compliance with the open meetings act, 1976 PA
267, MCL 15.261 to 15.275.
(6) A quorum consists of 3/4 of the members of the sentencing
commission. All commission business shall be conducted by not less
than a quorum.
(7) A writing prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or
retained by the commission in the performance of an official
function shall be made available to the public in compliance with
the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.
Sec. 33. (1) The sentencing commission created under section
32 shall do all of the following:
(a) Collect, prepare, analyze, and disseminate information
regarding state and local sentencing practices for felonies and the
use of prisons and jails. The state court administrator shall
continue to collect data regarding sentencing practices and shall
provide the data necessary to the commission.
(b) Conduct ongoing research regarding the impact of the
sentencing guidelines set forth in chapter XVII.
(c) Collect, analyze, and compile data and make projections
regarding the populations and capacities of state and local
correctional facilities and the impact of the sentencing guidelines
on those populations and capacities.
(d) In cooperation with the state court administrator,
collect, analyze, and compile data regarding the effect of
sentencing guidelines on the caseload, docket flow, and case
backlog of the trial and appellate courts of this state.
(e) Develop modifications to the sentencing guidelines as
provided in subsection (4). Any modifications to the sentencing
guidelines shall accomplish all of the following:
(i) Provide for protection of the public.
(ii) Consider an offense involving violence against a person as
more severe than other offenses.
(iii) Be proportionate to the seriousness of the offense and the
offender's prior criminal record.
(iv) Reduce sentencing disparities based on factors other than
offense characteristics and offender characteristics and ensure
that offenders with similar offense and offender characteristics
receive substantially similar sentences.
(v) Specify the circumstances under which a term of
imprisonment is proper and the circumstances under which
intermediate sanctions are proper.
(vi) Establish sentence ranges for imprisonment that are within
the minimum and maximum sentences allowed by law for the offenses
to which the ranges apply.
(vii) Maintain separate sentence ranges for convictions under
the habitual offender provisions in sections 10, 11, 12, and 13 of
this chapter, which may include as an aggravating factor, among
other relevant considerations, that the accused has engaged in a
pattern of proven or admitted criminal behavior.
(viii) Establish sentence ranges that the commission considers
appropriate.
(2) In developing modifications to the sentencing guidelines,
the commission shall consider the likelihood that the capacity of
state and local correctional facilities will be exceeded. The
commission shall submit to the legislature a prison impact report
relating to any modifications to sentencing guidelines. The report
shall include the projected impact on total capacity of state
correctional facilities.
(3) Modifications to sentencing guidelines shall include
recommended intermediate sanctions for each case in which the upper
limit of the recommended minimum sentence range is 18 months or
less.
(4) The commission may recommend modifications to the
sentencing guidelines set forth in chapter XVII.
(5) The commission shall submit any recommended modifications
to the sentencing guidelines to the secretary of the senate and the
clerk of the house of representatives. If the legislature does not
enact modifications to the sentencing guidelines within 60 days
after introduction of a bill to enact sentencing guidelines
modifications based on the recommendations, the commission shall
revise the recommended modifications and submit them to the
secretary of the senate and the clerk of the house of
representatives within 90 days. The revised modifications are
subject to the requirements of subsections (1), (2), and (3). Until
the legislature enacts modifications to the sentencing guidelines
into law, the commission shall continue to revise and resubmit the
modifications to the legislature under the schedule provided in
this subsection.
(6) The sentencing commission shall convene no later than
December 31, 2014, and reconvene not more than 3 years after that
date. When the commission reconvenes under this subsection, it
shall determine and recommend to the secretary of the senate and
the clerk of the house of representatives the dates and frequency
of the commission's future meetings. The commission shall convene
no less frequently than once every 3 years, but may convene more
than once every 3 years as determined by the commission.
