Press Release

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FAMM Celebrates Michigan’s Successful Passage of Medically Frail Parole Reform 

SB 599, which has now passed the Michigan House and Senate, helps Michigan’s 2019 Medically Frail Parole statute work as intended

Lansing, MI – Last week, the Michigan State Legislature officially passed SB 599, which means it now heads to Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s desk for signature. SB 599 will improve the state’s medically frail parole program, which is meant to help people who pose little to no threat to public safety due to a permanent, serious, or terminal medical or neurological conditions receive early release from prison. Experts from FAMM, who advocate for people impacted by incarceration in prisons, say this is a significant step forward in making the state work more efficiently while also reuniting people who have potentially served long prison sentences with their families.

“FAMM is thrilled to see SB 599 pass through Michigan’s legislature,” said Maria Goellner, director of state policy for FAMM. “FAMM identified Michigan back in 2022 as having an urgent need for a program like this when we graded each state’s compassionate release programs and gave Michigan an ‘F.’ We know that Michigan has had the desire to improve, and we’re so thankful for bill sponsor Sen. Geiss for committing the energy to make the current programs work as intended. Releasing people who are dying, aging, or too debilitated to offend will not only allow people the chance to reunite with their families but also help them receive a standard of medical care that the Michigan Department of Corrections can’t otherwise provide, potentially saving lives.”

Michigan originally passed medically frail parole with bipartisan support in 2019. However, because of implementation issues with the original bill, only one person has been paroled under this program since then. Compounding this problem, the Michigan District of Corrections (MDOC) currently spends over $327.2 million annually on health care for incarcerated people — a number that’s at risk of growing as the prison population continues to age. SB 599 was introduced to address some of the flaws within the state’s original program so that more people can be released and the MDOC can focus instead on their core functions rather than accommodating complex health care needs.

“Safe & Just Michigan thanks the Michigan Legislature for making SB 599 a priority this session,” said John Cooper, executive director of Safe and Just Michigan. “SB 599 makes important changes to Michigan’s Medically Frail parole law that will empower MDOC to transfer medically frail people and the cost of their care to outside facilities, which will benefit MDOC, medically frail prisoners and their families, and taxpayers while carefully guarding public safety. We look forward to SB 599 being signed into law.”

“When Michigan passed Medically Frail Parole statute in 2019, the state signaled a pragmatic intention in the Department of Corrections in the state that acknowledges and understands that people who are medically frail don’t pose a threat to public safety,” said Sen. Erika Geiss, who sponsored the bill. “Unforeseen issues prevented that vision from initially being realized, but there’s a reason this bill received the bipartisan support it needed to pass: It’s common sense. SB 599 provides important fixes to make sure this program operates as intended. Its passage is a rare criminal justice win for the legislature, a win for the Department of Corrections, and, most importantly, a win for the people of Michigan, and particularly for the loved ones of medically frail incarcerated people.” 

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FAMM is a national nonpartisan advocacy organization that promotes fair and effective criminal justice policies that safely reduce incarceration, save taxpayer dollars, and keep families together. Founded in 1991, FAMM has secured bold sentencing and prison reform across the country while elevating the voices of directly impacted individuals and families.

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