Lawmakers no longer able to make unannounced prison visits, per new department policy
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan lawmakers will have less access to state prisons starting at the end of December, due to a change to an internal policy at the Michigan Department of Corrections that allowed legislators to enter its facilities without any warning.
Lawmakers are directed to give an 72-hour advance notice, and to acquire permission from the warden, before they can enter and tour a Michigan Department of Corrections, also known as MDOC, facility, according to the policy. The internal policy change was first reported by The Detroit News.
“We have no issues with accountability or transparency or anything like that. Again, it’s really just a safety issue and a scheduling issue,” MDOC spokesperson Chris Gautz said.
The change is in line with what's already been the standard at state prisons, Gautz said, adding that lawmakers already give a heads up when they visit and the previous policy of unannounced visits was not taken advantage of.
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Legislative ombudsmen will still be able to make unannounced visits at any time, the policy reads.
The policy change will be detrimental for lawmakers and that oversight is critical, according to Sen. Ed McBroom, the current chair of the Senate Oversight Committee.
“Prisons have a long history in any state you go into of being an institution that’s very prone to abuse, prone to disregarding people’s civil rights, and the state as an employer can be not a good partner either,” McBroom, R-Vulcan, said.
The third term senator has five prisons in his Upper Peninsula district alone, and he said immediate access is key for being able to keep the facilities accountable.
“It’s really no different from parents who go out and leave the children with some work to do," McBroom said. "If you never have the option of coming home early, you can never be sure that the kids are actually going to get done in a timely fashion what they were assigned to do.”
Gautz noted that some state prisons are notably understaffed right now, particularly in Jackson and the Upper Peninsula, making visits more challenging.
“These visits can be sometimes very lengthy," he said. “When we’re already very short-staffed that can be very time-intensive or the warden or other staff have a series of meetings or were scheduled to be out of town.”
Michigan has 26 prisons run by MDOC, plus the Detroit Detention Center. The new policy for lawmaker visits will go into effect Dec. 27.
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