Criminal procedure: search and seizure; protections against unlawful search and seizure; provide for. Amends sec. 15d, ch. IV of 1927 PA 175 (MCL 764.15d) & adds sec. 1h to ch. IV.
HB 5495 would amend Michigan’s Code of Criminal Procedure to add explicit protections against stops, detentions, arrests, and home entries based solely on certain personal characteristics. The bill prohibits law enforcement from taking action based only on race or ethnicity, language or accent, presence at places associated with immigrants, employment in industries that hire immigrants, residence in a known immigrant home, religious symbols or affiliation, perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, or perceived political views. It also bars law enforcement officers from entering a dwelling based on a federal agency administrative warrant.
The bill further revises the conditions under which federal law enforcement officers may enforce state law in Michigan. Under the proposal, federal officers could exercise the same authority as state or local officers only if they are authorized under federal law to arrest and carry a firearm, are not violating the new anti-profiling section, and meet one of several additional conditions such as holding or confirming a state felony warrant, participating in a joint investigation, acting at the request of state or local authorities, or responding to an emergency. Officers who meet these requirements would receive the privileges and immunities of a Michigan peace officer, but the bill states that it does not create state or local liability or indemnification obligations for federal officers’ actions.
HB 5495 would amend MCL 764.15d and add a new section to Chapter IV of the Code of Criminal Procedure, creating statutory limits on profiling-based policing and on the use of federal administrative warrants for dwelling entry. It would also narrow and clarify when federal law enforcement officers may enforce Michigan law and receive state peace officer protections, while expressly preserving the state’s and local governments’ immunity from liability and indemnification for those federal actions.
Based on the bill text and caption, the measure appears aimed at strengthening civil liberties and search-and-seizure protections, particularly for immigrants and other groups vulnerable to profiling. The available record contains no committee testimony or recorded votes, so there is no documented opposition or support in the provided materials; however, the structure of the bill suggests a generally reform-oriented, rights-protective intent.
The main points of contention likely center on the bill’s restrictions on law enforcement discretion and its explicit inclusion of characteristics such as immigration-related presence, accent, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, and political views as impermissible bases for stops or arrests. Another likely issue is the prohibition on entering a dwelling based on a federal administrative warrant, which could be viewed as limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Law enforcement agencies and supporters of broader federal-state cooperation may object to these constraints, while civil rights and immigrant advocacy interests would likely support them.