Michigan policymakers have struggled for the last decade to get a handle on corrections spending in the midst of a deteriorating economic climate. As unemployment rates increased and state revenues declined, state spending on corrections grew considerably. Between FY1998 and FY2008, state general fund spending on corrections increased 57 percent from $1.26 billion to $1.99 billion, and by FY2007 accounted for 22.6 percent of state general fund expenditures.[i] Spending on corrections is such a large share of the state budget that in 2008, one in three state employees worked for the Michigan Department of Corrections.[ii]

Despite this significant expenditure of taxpayer resources in the correction system, violent crime rates in Michigan remained too high. The state’s violent crime rate, the highest in the Great Lakes regions, remained unchanged between 2000 and 2007, while the national rate experienced an 8 percent decline.[iii] 

In 2009, bipartisan leadership led to the closure of eight unneeded prisons over the protests of the corrections guards union.[iv] This saved $120 million. Moreover, as Michigan consolidates and downsizes its prison system, it is using approximately one-third of the savings in community-based supervision, sanctions, and treatment strategies that hold offenders accountable.

In 2009, the index crime rate in Michigan per 100,000 residents fell to its lowest point since 1965.[v]

[i] Council of State Governments Justice Center, Justice Reinvestment Michigan Profile, http://justicereinvestment.org/states/michigan.
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] David Eggert, “Michigan announces closure of 8 prison facilities, “ 5 June 2009, The Mining Journal, http://www.miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/528353.html.
[v] Michigan Crime Rates, http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/micrime.htm.

• Michigan Provides More Avenues for Rehabilitated Juveniles

  Posted in Juvenile Justice, Michigan, Priority Issues, ROC Blog, State Initiatives: January 7, 2013 by Jeanette Moll

  Some juveniles who commit delinquent acts truly learn from their actions and are able to turn their lives around. For juveniles who have reached this level of rehabilitation, it is important that their past mistakes don’t stand in their way of living productive, law abiding lives.

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  Posted in Michigan, Other, Priority Issues, ROC Blog, State Initiatives: October 18, 2012 by Jeanette Moll

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  Posted in Adult Probation, Michigan, Priority Issues, ROC Blog, State Initiatives: October 10, 2012 by Jeanette Moll

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  Posted in Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, Parole and Re-Entry, Priority Issues, ROC Blog, State Initiatives, Texas, Vermont: September 25, 2012 by Vikrant P. Reddy

  This morning, the Council of State Governments Justice Center released an encouraging new report on declining recidivism rates. The report examined the 2005 and 2007 recidivism rates in seven states: Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, and Vermont.

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  Posted in Michigan, Ohio, Parole and Re-Entry, Priority Issues, ROC Blog, State Initiatives: July 10, 2012 by Jeanette Moll

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• Sentencing Serious Juvenile Offenders

  Posted in California, Florida, Juvenile Justice, Louisiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Priority Issues, ROC Blog, State Initiatives: June 14, 2012 by Jeanette Moll

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• Criag DeRoche’s Radio Interview with Tony Conley

  Posted in Michigan, Priority Issues, Prisons, ROC Blog, State Initiatives: June 13, 2012 by Vikrant P. Reddy

  This morning, Craig DeRoche, the former Speaker of the Michigan House and a signatory to the Right On Crime Statement of Principles, discussed Right On Crime on the Tony Conley Morning Show on 1320 WILS in Lansing. Listen to the full interview here:

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• Bridge Magazine Highlights Conservative Leadership on Corrections

  Posted in Michigan, Priority Issues, Prisons, ROC Blog, State Initiatives: March 14, 2012 by Jeanette Moll

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• Using Incarceration to Solve a Contract Dispute in Michigan?

  Posted in Michigan, Overcriminalization, Priority Issues, ROC Blog, State Initiatives: February 20, 2012 by Jeanette Moll

  Eight years ago, the transportation department for the state of Michigan contracted with a bridge and construction company called Ambassador Bridge to work on a throughway between Michigan and Canada. The two parties interpreted parts of the agreement differently, and the state sued Ambassador Bridge for breach of contract. Two years after the trial—which, naturally, was [...]

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• Truth-Telling from Some Michigan Inmates

  Posted in Juvenile Justice, Michigan, Priority Issues, ROC Blog, State Initiatives: January 18, 2012 by Jeanette Moll

  In a correctional facility in Detroit, once a month, hardened adult inmates do something rather rare: sit quietly in a circle and discuss their lives with complete strangers. Those strangers, male youth from across Michigan who were referred from a variety of state agencies, are here to listen…

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