House Bill 6039 amends Michigan’s county reimbursement law for prisoners held in county jails after escaping, failing to return, or violating parole. Under the bill, the Department of Corrections would reimburse counties for the actual and reasonable daily costs of holding such prisoners, but the reimbursement would be capped at $35 per day unless a different amount is set by the legislature through the appropriations process. The bill also clarifies that this reimbursement does not apply when a prisoner is being held on new felony charges.
The bill requires counties to submit monthly itemized cost reports to the Department of Corrections. After the department determines the costs are reasonable, payment must be made under state accounting laws, and the department’s reasonableness determination is final. The measure updates older statutory language and ties the reimbursement cap to the appropriations process rather than a fixed dollar amount in the statute.
HB6039 would amend Section 4 of 1978 PA 16, which governs state reimbursement to counties for certain jail costs related to state prisoners. The bill affects the Department of Corrections and county jails by changing how much the state must pay for housing escaped prisoners, parole violators, or prisoners not returned under agreement, and by preserving the exclusion for prisoners held on new felony charges. It would also reinforce the monthly reporting process and the department’s authority to review and approve claimed costs.
There is no committee transcript or recorded vote information available for HB6039, so the bill’s sentiment cannot be measured from debate or roll call history. Based on the text alone, the bill appears administrative and fiscal in nature, aimed at clarifying reimbursement rules and cost limits rather than changing substantive criminal justice policy.
No specific points of contention are documented in the available materials. Potential areas of debate, if the bill were discussed, would likely include the adequacy of the $35-per-day reimbursement cap, whether the legislature should control the cap through appropriations, and the scope of county eligibility for reimbursement when prisoners are also facing new felony charges. The bill also gives the Department of Corrections final authority to determine reasonableness, which could be a point of concern for counties seeking full cost recovery.