REPEAL SINGLE OCCUPANCY CELL REQ. H.B. 4156 (H-1): FLOOR ANALYSIS
House Bill 4156 (Substitute H-1 as reported without amendment)
Sponsor: Representative Sandra Hill
House Committee: Judiciary and Civil Rights
Senate Committee: Judiciary
The bill would repeal a section of the Department of Corrections (DOC) law that requires all new housing or facilities purchased, leased, constructed, or converted by the DOC for use as prisons to have only single occupancy rooms or cells and comply with all applicable Federal and State laws and rules and regulations promulgated under those laws. The provision that would be repealed allows the DOC to use multiple occupancy rooms or cells until January 1, 1997, however, in new housing or facilities that were purchased, leased, constructed, or converted for use as a prison from January 1, 1985, to December 31, 1992.
MCL 791.269 Legislative Analyst: P. Affholter
The bill would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on State government.
Current law requires single cell occupancy at all institutions, except that those built between January 1, 1985, and December 31, 1992, may have multiple occupancy cells until January 1, 1997. In practice, the Department is currently double-bunking at at least three institutions that were built prior to 1985. The remainder of the double-bunked facilities were built since 1985. If the Department could not continue double-bunking after January 1, 1997, it would cost approximately
$48.8 million in additional annual operating costs and $500.0 million in new capital construction costs beginning in 1997.
The Department currently has approximately 6,100 double-occupancy cells, meaning that approximately 12,200 prisoners are affected by double-bunking. It currently costs an additional
$10,500 to double-bunk a prison cell, compared with an average $18,500 cost for single-bunking. (In other words, with double-bunking, average costs per prisoner are $18,500 + $10,500 / 2 or
$14,500 per inmate compared with average costs of $18,500 for single-bunking.) In total, the Department spends about $64.1 million on double-bunking, yet would spend nearly $112.9 million if these additional cells were all single-bunked. Operational savings as a result of double-bunking, therefore, approximate $48.8 million annually. In addition, eliminating double-bunking would require the construction of an additional 6,100 prison cells (10 new prisons), at a cost of $50.0 million per facility, or a total of $500.0 million.
Date Completed: 3-22-95 Fiscal Analyst: M. Hansen
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This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.