HOUSE BILL No. 5245

 

 

November 9, 2017, Introduced by Reps. Kesto, Rendon and Whiteford and referred to the Committee on Law and Justice.

 

     A bill to amend 1953 PA 232, entitled

 

"Corrections code of 1953,"

 

by amending section 65 (MCL 791.265), as amended by 2012 PA 599,

 

and by adding section 65j.

 

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 of a prisoner from a

 

correctional facility to which he or she was 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 65j, a prisoner who is

 

subject to disciplinary time and is committed to the jurisdiction

 

of the department shall must 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 contractor that operates a facility or

 

institution that houses prisoners under the jurisdiction of the

 

department 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 under 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 must indicate any name

 

changes of the offender subsequent to sentencing. Within 20 days

 

after receiving such notification under this subsection, 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 must

 

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. 65j. (1) The assistant director in charge of the bureau

 

of correctional facilities may petition the court that sentenced a

 

prisoner for an order transferring the prisoner for medical or

 

mental health treatment under this section if the assistant

 

director has determined that the transfer would pose a minimal risk

 

to society and has consulted with a physician and that physician


determined 1 or both of the following apply to the prisoner:

 

     (a) The prisoner's physical or mental health has deteriorated

 

to a point that renders the prisoner a minimal threat to society.

 

     (b) The prisoner requires acute long-term medical or mental

 

health treatment or services.

 

     (2) The assistant director in charge of the bureau of

 

correctional facilities shall accompany a petition submitted under

 

this section with all of the following:

 

     (a) The evidence the assistant director in charge of the

 

bureau of correctional facilities used to make his or her

 

determination under subsection (1), including, but not limited to,

 

the results of the validated risk assessment.

 

     (b) The evidence the physician considered in making a

 

determination under subsection (1).

 

     (3) Subject to subsection (4), the court that sentenced a

 

prisoner may enter an order transferring a prisoner under this

 

section if the court finds that the prisoner requires acute long-

 

term medical or mental health treatment or services or that the

 

prisoner's physical or mental health has deteriorated to a point

 

that renders the prisoner a minimal threat to society. The court's

 

order must require that the prisoner transferred under this section

 

be returned to a correctional facility if the prisoner no longer

 

meets the requirements under this subsection, or if the conditions

 

described in subsection (4) are no longer satisfied.

 

     (4) A court shall not enter an order transferring a prisoner

 

under this section unless all of the following conditions are

 

satisfied:


     (a) A placement option has been secured for the prisoner in

 

the community. A placement option may include, but is not limited

 

to, home confinement or a medical or mental health facility. A

 

placement option need not involve any type of supervision of the

 

prisoner by an employee of the department or an employee of a

 

private contractor of the department or otherwise be considered a

 

secure facility. A placement option may involve electronic

 

monitoring.

 

     (b) For a prisoner who meets the requirements of subsection

 

(1)(b), the placement option secured under subdivision (a) poses a

 

minimal risk to society.

 

     (c) The assistant director in charge of the bureau of

 

correctional facilities has made a reasonable effort to determine

 

whether expenses related to the placement option secured under

 

subdivision (a) are covered by Medicaid, a health care policy, a

 

certificate of insurance, or another source for the payment of

 

medical expenses or whether the prisoner has sufficient income or

 

assets to pay for the expenses related to the placement.

 

     (d) The department has provided notice to the prosecutor's

 

office in the county in which the prisoner was sentenced and to

 

each victim entitled to notice under the William Van Regenmorter

 

crime victim's rights act, 1985 PA 87, MCL 780.751 to 780.834.

 

     (5) An order entered under subsection (3) may include a

 

provision requiring the prisoner to submit to periodic

 

reexamination by a physician to assess whether the prisoner

 

continues to meet the requirements for transfer under subsection

 

(3). If a reexamination reveals that the prisoner no longer meets


the requirements for transfer under subsection (3), the court shall

 

order the prisoner be returned to a correctional facility for a

 

term of imprisonment not to exceed the prisoner's sentence, less

 

time served, for the offense of conviction. For purposes of

 

calculating time served under this subsection, the time the

 

prisoner has spent transferred under subsection (3) is treated as

 

if the prisoner had been imprisoned in a correctional facility.

 

     (6) As used in this section, "electronic monitoring" means

 

that term as defined in section 85 of the corrections code of 1953,

 

1953 PA 232, MCL 791.285.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days

 

after the date it is enacted into law.