2023 House Bill 4164

Criminal procedure: sentencing; sentencing individuals less than 19 to imprisonment for life without parole eligibility; amend probate code of 1939 to prohibit.

A bill to amend 1939 PA 288, entitled “Probate code of 1939,” by amending section 18 of chapter XIIA (MCL 712A.18), as amended by 2022 PA 209.

House Fiscal Agency Analysis

House Bills 4160 to 4164 would amend different laws to prohibit sentencing an individual who committed certain crimes when less than 19 years old to life without parole and require an individual who was sentenced for a crime committed when the individual was less than 19 to be eligible for parole consideration after serving 10 years of a sentence for life without parole or, for certain crimes, life for any term of years. Provisions in the juvenile code allowing juveniles who commit certain crimes to be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, or to serve long minimum and maximum sentences for those crimes, would be repealed. Currently, a juvenile who committed certain serious crimes when less than 18 years old that mandate life without parole for an adult offender may still be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, but such a sentence cannot be automatic and may only be imposed after a hearing in which certain factors are considered. If life without parole is not imposed, the individual must be sentenced to a term of imprisonment for which the minimum term is at least 25 but not more than 40 years and the maximum term is at least 60 years.

Introduced in the House

March 2, 2023

Introduced by Rep. Curtis VanderWall (R-102) and 9 co-sponsors

Co-sponsored by Reps. Noah Arbit (D-20), Amos O’Neal (D-94), Erin Byrnes (D-15), Carrie Rheingans (D-47), Carol Glanville (D-84), Denise Mentzer (D-61), Kara Hope (D-74), Rachel Hood (D-81) and Abraham Aiyash (D-9)

Referred to the Committee on Criminal Justice