S.B. 997: COMMITTEE SUMMARY - PAROLE: EXPLOSIVES OFFENSES
Senate Bill 997 (as introduced 3-5-98)
Sponsor: Senator Dianne Byrum
Committee: Judiciary
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Department of Corrections (DOC) law to prohibit parole for prisoners sentenced to imprisonment for life for certain explosives offenses of the Michigan Penal Code. The bill is tie-barred to Senate Bill 97 and House Bill 4289, which would amend the Michigan Penal Code to revise the Code's explosives offenses and their penalties.
The DOC law provides that a prisoner sentenced to imprisonment for life or for a term of years, other than a prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment for first-degree murder or for life or a term of years for a major controlled substance offense, is subject to the jurisdiction of the parole board and may be released on parole after either 10 or 15 years. (A prisoner sentenced for a crime committed before October 1, 1992, is eligible for parole after serving 10 years; a prisoner sentenced for a crime committed on or after that date is eligible for parole after serving 15 years.)
The bill would delete and reenact the exception from parole eligibility for first-degree murder and a major controlled substance offense, and add to the exception a prisoner sentenced to imprisonment for life under various sections of the Penal Code pertaining to explosives offenses. Those sections of the Penal Code would be amended by Senate Bill 97 and House Bill 4289.
MCL 791.234 & 791.236 - Legislative Analyst: P. Affholter
FISCAL IMPACT
Senate Bill 997 would require life sentences without parole for new crimes that would be created under House Bill 4289. To the extent that there are no data to indicate how many people would be convicted of those new crimes, and of those convicted how many would be sentenced to life, the fiscal impact of Senate Bill 997 is indeterminate. On average, assuming an offender sentenced to life without parole serves 50 years, the cost of incarceration would be $900,000.
- Fiscal Analyst: K. Firestone
S9798\S997SA
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.