Bill Text: MI SB0552 | 2023-2024 | 102nd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Criminal procedure: other; violation of tampering with utility shut-off procedures; decriminalize under certain circumstances. Amends title & secs. 282 & 383a of 1931 PA 328 (MCL 750.282 & 750.383a).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2023-10-03 - Referred To Committee On Housing And Human Services [SB0552 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2023-SB0552-Introduced.html
SENATE BILL NO. 552
A bill to amend 1931 PA 328, entitled
"The Michigan penal code,"
by amending the title and sections 282 and 383a (MCL 750.282 and 750.383a), the title as amended by 2010 PA 107, section 282 as amended by 1987 PA 32, and section 383a as amended by 2008 PA 413.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
An act to revise, consolidate, codify, and add to the statutes relating to crimes; to define crimes and certain state civil infractions and prescribe the penalties, sanctions, and remedies; to provide for restitution under certain circumstances; to provide for the competency of evidence at the trial of persons accused of crime; to provide immunity from prosecution for certain witnesses appearing at criminal trials; to provide for liability for damages; and to repeal certain acts and parts of acts inconsistent with or contravening any of the provisions of this act.
Sec. 282. (1) A person shall not do any of the following:
(a) Willfully or fraudulently injure, or fraudulently allow to be injured, a meter, wire, line, pipe, or appliance belonging to a water, steam, electric, or gas company, or propane gas dealer or distributor.
(b) Willfully or fraudulently prevent a water, steam, electric, gas, or propane gas meter belonging to a water, steam, electric, or gas company, or propane gas dealer or distributor from duly registering the quantity of water, steam, electric current, gas, or propane gas measured through the meter, or in any way hinder or interfere with the meter's proper action or just registration.
(c) Attach a line, wire, or pipe to a line, wire, pipe, or main belonging to a water, steam, electric, or gas company, or propane gas dealer or distributor. This subdivision does not apply to the use of a ground wire to ground an electrical system.
(d) Willfully or fraudulently interfere with a pressure regulator device on a propane gas tank or incorporated into a propane gas system.
(e) Use or burn or cause to be used or burned any water, steam, electric current, gas, or propane gas supplied by a water, steam, electric, or gas company, or propane gas dealer or distributor, without the written consent of the company or the propane gas dealer or distributor, or the authorized agent or officer of the company or the propane gas dealer or distributor, unless the water, steam, electric current, gas, or propane gas passes through a meter or is measured by a meter set by the company or the propane gas dealer or distributor; fraudulently use the water, steam, electric current, gas, or propane gas, or fraudulently waste the water, steam, electric current, gas, or propane gas supplied by a water, steam, electric, or gas company, or propane gas dealer or distributor.
(2) A person who violates subsection (1) is guilty of a crime or responsible for a state civil infraction as follows:
(a) The person is guilty of a misdemeanor if the value of the water, steam, electric current, gas, or propane gas used, burned, or wasted, or the damage caused, as a result of the violation, is not more than $500.00.
(b) A person who violates subsection (1) The person is guilty of a felony if the value of the water, steam, electric current, gas, or propane gas used, burned, or wasted, or the damage caused, as a result of the violation, is more than $500.00.
(c) A person who violates subsection (1) by restoring water service to the person's lawfully occupied residence after a water service shutoff to the residence due to an inability to pay for water and sewer service, provided that no metering device or backflow prevention device is damaged, bypassed, or rendered inoperable by the restoration, is responsible for a state civil infraction as follows:
(i) For a first offense, the person may be ordered to perform not more than 50 hours of community service.
(ii) For a second offense, the person may be fined not more than $250.00 or ordered to perform not more than 50 hours of community service, or both.
(iii) For a third or subsequent offense, the person may be fined not more than $500.00 or ordered to perform not more than 100 hours of community service, or both.
(3) A criminal prosecution under this section shall must not in any way impair the right of the company or the propane gas dealer or distributor to full compensation in damages by civil action.
(4) The provisions of this This section shall extend and apply applies to all offenses against all water, steam, electric, or gas companies, or propane gas dealers or distributors, and boards or municipalities owning or operating plants for producing, manufacturing, furnishing, transmitting, or conducting water, steam, electricity, or gas, either natural, liquefied, or artificial.
(5) A person who attaches any line, wire, or pipe or any other device or process to any line, wire, or pipe of a water, steam, electric, or gas company, or propane gas dealer or distributor which interferes with the proper operation and just registration of a meter within the meaning of this section, or who interferes with a pressure regulator device on a propane gas tank or incorporated into a propane gas system, is presumed to do so with intent to avoid, or to enable another to avoid, payment for the service involved.
(6) In all prosecutions under this section, proof that the defendant, other than a lessor, had control of or occupied the premises where the offense was committed, or received the benefit of the water, steam, electric current, gas, or propane gas used or consumed, shall be is prima facie evidence of a violation of this section.
(7) A person who is issued a citation for a violation under subsection (2)(c) must be referred to a water assistance or affordability program, if available.
Sec. 383a. (1) A person, without lawful authority, shall not willfully cut, break, obstruct, injure, destroy, tamper with or manipulate, deface, or steal any machinery, tools, equipment, telephone line or post, telegraph line or post, telecommunication line, tower, or post, electric line, post, tower or supporting structures, electric wire, insulator, switch, or signal, natural gas pipeline, water pipeline, steam heat pipeline or the valves or other appliances or equipment appertaining to or used in connection with those lines, or any other appliance or component of the electric, telecommunication, water, or natural gas infrastructure that is the property of a utility. A Except as provided in subsection (2), a person who violates this section is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 5 years or a fine of not more than $5,000.00, or both.
(2) A person who violates subsection (1) by restoring water service to the person's lawfully occupied residence after a water service shutoff to the residence due to an inability to pay for water and sewer service, provided that no metering device or backflow prevention device is damaged, bypassed, or rendered inoperable by the restoration, is responsible for a state civil infraction as follows:
(a) For a first offense, the person may be ordered to perform not more than 50 hours of community service.
(b) For a second offense, the person may be fined not more than $250.00 or ordered to perform not more than 50 hours of community service, or both.
(c) For a third or subsequent offense, the person may be fined not more than $500.00 or ordered to perform not more than 100 hours of community service, or both.
(3) A person who is issued a citation for a violation under subsection (2) must be referred to a water assistance or affordability program, if available.
(4) As used in this section, "utility" includes any pipeline, gas, electric, heat, water, oil, sewer, telephone, telegraph, telecommunication, radio, railway, railroad, airplane, transportation, communication, or other system, whether or not publicly owned, that is operated for the public use.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days after the date it is enacted into law.
