Starting October 1, Michigan will no longer suspend driver’s licenses for issues unrelated to driving safety, such as certain missed court appointments and unpaid fees, and several traffic misdemeanors will be reclassified as civil infractions, making them ineligible for arrest and jail time. A suite of new laws passed by the Michigan legislature in 2020 take effect today. They enact recommendations of the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration, a bipartisan group of legislators and stakeholders, which found that using license suspension as a punishment for a wide variety of infractions and offenses was ineffective and counterproductive.
More than 73,000 Michiganders will have infractions removed, with approximately half able to use their existing license or get a new one immediately. The Department of State will send letters directly to impacted residents, explaining which category they’re in and what they need to do for license reinstatement. These reforms will also prevent hundreds of thousands of people from losing their licenses in the future. For additional information, visit the Michigan Secretary of State website at www.Michigan.gov/SOSCleanSlate.
“When the Task Force looked at data across the state, we expected to see people in jail for assault or robbery,” said Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget McCormack who co-chaired the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration, “But what we found was tens of thousands of people getting locked up for driving on a suspended license. That’s not what jail is for, nor is it what taxpayers expect from an efficient justice system. These reforms are helping the justice system be more effective and helping people to stay in the workforce.”
“The revocation of a driver’s license has an immediate ripple effect on a person’s life, and to lose it for reasons completely unrelated to driving safely was unnecessarily punitive,” said Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. “I am grateful for the work of the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration, and the many community partners who worked diligently to right this wrong. Our Department has been working for months on the implementation of these changes, and now we’re ready to help residents get their licenses and get back on their feet.”
“Michigan is the auto capital of the world—the home of Motor City,” said Representative Bronna Kahle (R), the lead sponsor of the legislation. “But we’ve created all these unnecessary barriers that prevent people from driving: high insurance rates, driver responsibility fees, and license suspensions for unpaid tickets. In Michigan, people need to drive to work, and the legislature is taking huge steps now to make that possible.”
In 2018, Michigan suspended nearly 358,000 driver’s licenses for failure to appear in court or failure to pay court fines and fees, and thousands more for traffic violations or other minor offenses unrelated to driving safety. In a state where driving is nearly essential, people with suspended licenses struggle to maintain employment, which makes it even more difficult to pay outstanding court costs or attend court hearings. If someone continues to drive with a suspended license, they face arrest or jail time. Task Force members found that driving without a valid license was the third most common reason for jail admission in Michigan.
The newly enacted laws include:
• Public Acts 376 and 382 of 2020 by Rep. Bronna Kahle (R-District 57)
• Public Act 377 of 2020 by Rep. Luke Meerman (R-District 88)
• Public Act 378 of 2020 by Rep. Mike Mueller (R-District 51)
• Public Act 379 of 2020 by former Rep. Rebekah Warren (D-District 55)
• Public Act 380 of 2020 by Rep. Tenisha Yancey (D-District 1)
• Public Act 381 of 2020 by Rep. Lori Stone (D-District 28)
• Public Act 387 of 2020 by Rep. Cynthia Neeley (D-District 34)
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