DISORDERLY CONDUCT AT FUNERALS H.B. 5887 & 5888: COMMITTEE SUMMARY






House Bills 5887 and 5888 (as passed by the House)
Sponsor: Representative Judy Emmons (H.B. 5887) Representative John Gleason (H.B. 5888)
House Committee: Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security
Senate Committee: Senior Citizens and Veterans Affairs


Date Completed: 4-26-06

CONTENT House Bills 5887 and 5888 would amend the Michigan Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, respectively, to do all of the following:

-- Prohibit certain conduct within 500 feet of a funeral, memorial service, viewing of a deceased person, funeral procession, or burial.
-- Prescribe felony penalties for violations.
-- Include the proposed felonies in the sentencing guidelines.

House Bill 5888 is tie-barred to House Bill 5887.

House Bill 5887
The bill would prohibit a person from doing any of the following within 500 feet of a building or other location where a funeral, memorial service, or viewing of a deceased person was being conducted, or within 500 feet of a funeral procession or burial:

-- Making loud and raucous noise and continuing to do so after being asked to stop.
-- Making any statement or gesture that would make a reasonable person under the circumstances feel intimidated, threatened, or harassed.
-- Engaging in any other conduct that the person knew or reasonably should know would disturb, disrupt, or adversely affect the funeral, memorial service, viewing, funeral procession, or burial.

A person who violated the bill would be a disorderly person and would be guilty of a felony punishable by up to two years' imprisonment, a maximum fine of $5,000, or both. If an offender previously had been convicted of a violation of the bill, the felony would be punishable by up to four years' imprisonment, a maximum fine of $10,000, or both.

House Bill 5888
The bill would include felony violations proposed by House Bill 5887 in the sentencing guidelines, as shown in Table 1.




Table 1

Violation Felony Class & Category Stat. Max. Sentence
Disorderly conduct at funeral G - Public Order 2 years
Disorderly conduct at funeral - subsequent offense F - Public Order 4 years

MCL 750.168 et al. (H.B. 5887) Legislative Analyst: Patrick Affholter 777.16i (H.B. 5888)

FISCAL IMPACT
The bills would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on State and local government. There are no data to indicate how many offenders would be convicted of being a disorderly person within 500 feet of a funeral, funeral procession, or burial. An offender convicted of the Class G offense under the bills would receive a sentencing guidelines minimum sentence range of 0-3 months to 7-23 months. An offender convicted of the Class F offense under the bills would receive a sentencing guidelines minimum sentence range of 0-3 months to 17-30 months. Local governments would incur the costs of incarceration in local facilities, which vary by county. The State would incur the cost of felony probation at an annual average cost of $2,000, as well as the cost of incarceration in a State facility at an average annual cost of $30,000. Additional penal fine revenue would benefit public libraries.

Fiscal Analyst: Lindsay Hollander

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. 5887/0506