Bill Text: MI SB0195 | 2019-2020 | 100th Legislature | Chaptered

Michigan Senate Bill 195 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Corrections: other; family advisory board; establish. Amends 1953 PA 232 (MCL 791.201 - 791.285) by adding sec. 14a.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Passed) 2020-12-30 - Assigned Pa 0309'20 [SB0195 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2019-SB0195-Chaptered.html

Act No. 309

Public Acts of 2020

Approved by the Governor

December 29, 2020

Filed with the Secretary of State

December 29, 2020

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 24, 2021

state of michigan

100th Legislature

Regular session of 2020

Introduced by Senators Chang , Lucido and Irwin

ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 195

AN ACT to amend 1953 PA 232, entitled �An act to revise, consolidate, and codify the laws relating to probationers and probation officers, to pardons, reprieves, commutations, and paroles, to the administration of correctional institutions, correctional farms, and probation recovery camps, to prisoner labor and correctional industries, and to the supervision and inspection of local jails and houses of correction; to provide for the siting of correctional facilities; to create a state department of corrections, and to prescribe its powers and duties; to provide for the transfer to and vesting in said department of powers and duties vested by law in certain other state boards, commissions, and officers, and to abolish certain boards, commissions, and offices the powers and duties of which are transferred by this act; to allow for the operation of certain facilities by private entities; to prescribe the powers and duties of certain other state departments and agencies; to provide for the creation of a local lockup advisory board; to provide for a lifetime electronic monitoring program; to prescribe penalties for the violation of the provisions of this act; to make certain appropriations; to repeal certain parts of this act on specific dates; and to repeal all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act,� (MCL 791.201 to 791.285) by adding section 14a.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 14a. (1) The department shall create a family reunification policy. The family reunification policy must include the creation of a permanent family advisory board that consists of not fewer than 11 and not more than 16 members, including the following:

(a) One individual designated by the director who is an employee of the department.

(b) The legislative corrections ombudsman.

(c) Not fewer than 4 or more than 6 individuals who are family members of individuals currently incarcerated in Michigan.

(d) Not fewer than 1 or more than 3 individuals who are family members of individuals who were formerly incarcerated in Michigan.

(e) Not fewer than 1 individual who has a parent formerly or currently incarcerated in Michigan.

(f) Not fewer than 1 or more than 2 individuals who were formerly incarcerated in Michigan.

(g) One individual who is a social worker who has training and expertise dealing with mental health issues and experience working with formerly or currently incarcerated individuals.

(h) One individual who is an advocate for or mentor to individuals incarcerated in Michigan.

(2) In addition to regular meetings of the family advisory board, the board shall hold at least 2 public informational meetings each year for family members and the public to provide comments. The public informational meetings for family members and the public to provide comments must not be held in the same region of this state.

(3) Members of the family advisory board shall serve without compensation. However, members of the board may be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties as members of the board.

(4) The family advisory board shall do all of the following:

(a) Assist the department by providing feedback regarding policies and procedures that impact family reunification during and after incarceration.

(b) Assist and advise the department regarding the development of programs that support family reunification during and after incarceration.

(c) Enhance communication between the department and families regarding issues that impact a broad range of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals and their families, including, but not limited to, gathering information from individuals in the region and across the state with family members who are or have been incarcerated, including a review of comment cards submitted at individual correctional facilities.

(d) Identify barriers concerning family reunification during and after incarceration.

(e) File an annual report with the chairs of the committees of the senate and house of representatives concerned with the department and criminal justice issues regarding its activities under this section. The report must be filed not later than October 1 of each year.

(5) The department shall provide any staffing necessary for the family advisory board to fulfill its duties under this section.

(6) The family advisory board may, in its discretion, create regional committees or facility-focused family councils to carry out its duties.

(7) The department shall provide information about the family advisory board on its website and in the waiting rooms of correctional facilities, including the board�s contact information for obtaining information and assistance with family-related issues.

Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect October 1, 2020.

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