SENATE BILL NO. 861
A bill to amend 1893 PA 118, entitled
"An act to revise and consolidate the laws relative to state prisons, to state houses of correction, and branches of state prisons and reformatories, and the government and discipline thereof and to repeal all acts inconsistent therewith,"
(MCL 800.33 to 800.61) by adding section 33a.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 33a. (1) Except as provided under subsection (11), a prisoner subject to disciplinary time who is sentenced on or after the effective date of the amendatory act that added this section is eligible to earn productivity credits. Productivity credits must be earned and forfeited as provided in this section. Accumulated productivity credits must be deducted from a prisoner's minimum and maximum sentence to determine the prisoner's parole eligibility date and discharge date.
(2) Except as provided under subsections (4) and (5) and subject to subsections (6) and (7), the department of corrections shall award a prisoner who is eligible to earn productivity credits under subsection (1) productivity credits as follows:
(a) For each month the prisoner maintains enrollment in a program recommended by the department of corrections or an educational or vocational program, 20 days.
(b) For each month the prisoner maintains voluntary enrollment in a program approved by the department of corrections under subsection (8), 10, 15, or 20 days, as determined by the department for the applicable program.
(3) Except as provided under subsection (5) and subject to subsection (7), the department of corrections shall award a prisoner who is eligible to earn productivity credits under subsection (1) productivity credits as follows:
(a) If the prisoner successfully completes a program recommended by the department under subsection (2)(a) or an educational or vocational program under subsection (2)(a), that does not result in a high school diploma, high school equivalency certificate, or higher education degree, 90 days upon the successful completion of the program.
(b) If the prisoner earns a high school diploma, high school equivalency certificate, or higher education degree, 120 days upon earning the diploma, certificate, or degree.
(c) If the prisoner successfully completes a program approved by the department under subsection (2)(b), no more than 90 days upon the successful completion of that program.
(4) The department of corrections shall not award a prisoner productivity credits under subsection (2) during any month in which the prisoner is found guilty of having committed a major misconduct. The amount of productivity credits not awarded as a result of being found guilty of a major misconduct must be limited to the productivity credits that would have been earned for the month in which the major misconduct occurred.
(5) The department of corrections shall not award a prisoner productivity credits for any period during which the prisoner meets either of the following:
(a) The prisoner has received a score of very high risk on the prisoner's most recent validated risk and needs assessment.
(b) The prisoner is assigned to a housing unit having a security classification as that term is defined under section 42 of V or VI.
(6) A prisoner may not earn more than an aggregate of 100 days of productivity credits for enrollment in a program under subsection (2).
(7) The department of corrections shall not award productivity credits in an amount greater than 20% of the prisoner's minimum sentence.
(8) The department of corrections may, at its sole discretion, approve additional programs for a prisoner to earn productivity credits under subsections (2)(b) and (3)(c) if research and evidence indicate the program improves rehabilitation, behavioral, or post-release prisoner outcomes. If the department approves a program under this subsection, it may award a productivity credit of 10, 15, or 20 days for each month of voluntary enrollment in the program as described under subsection (2)(b) and a productivity credit of not more than 90 days for successful completion as described under subsection (3)(c).
(9) If a prisoner has been sentenced concurrently for separate convictions, the prisoner's productivity credits are computed on the basis of the longest of the concurrent sentences. If a prisoner is serving consecutive sentences for separate convictions, the prisoner's productivity credits are computed and accumulated on each sentence individually.
(10) This section does not allow productivity credits for a commuted sentence unless the executive order commuting the sentence stipulates to the credit.
(11) This section does not apply to any of the following prisoners:
(a) A prisoner sentenced to imprisonment for life without parole.
(b) A prisoner sentenced for a conviction under section 81(5), 81a(3), 316, 317, 411h(2)(b), 411i, 462b, 462c, 462d, or 462e(b) of the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.81, 750.81a, 750.316, 750.317, 750.411h, 750.411i, 750.462b, 750.462c, 750.462d, and 750.462e.
(12) The department of corrections shall promulgate rules pursuant to the administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328, prescribing the minimum standards to earn and the procedure for awarding productivity credits under this section.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect January 1, 2026.
Enacting section 2. This amendatory act does not take effect unless Senate Bill No. 864 of the 102nd Legislature is enacted into law.