HB 5817 Summary

• Expands the definition of "victim" under Michigan's crime victims' rights act to include relatives of deceased victims in a priority hierarchy: spouse, adult children, parents, guardians of minor children, siblings, grandparents, and aunts/uncles.

• Introduces "course of conduct" definition that includes convicted crimes, dismissed charges in plea agreements, and crimes the prosecutor could have charged but did not charge.

• Extends victim notification and rights provisions to cases resolved through trainee status assignment, delayed sentences, deferred judgments, and other non-acquittal dispositions.

• Allows victims physically or emotionally unable to exercise rights to designate a representative (spouse, adult child, parent, sibling, grandparent, or other adult) to act on their behalf.

• Creates definitions for "serious misdemeanor" offenses in adult criminal cases and juvenile "offenses" that trigger victim rights, including assault, breaking and entering, firearm violations, DUI with property damage or injury, and stalking.

• Takes effect 90 days after enactment, contingent on passage of five related bills (SB 873-877).