House Bill 4557 Summary

• Amends parole guidelines to apply to both parole board discretion and sentencing hearings under MCL 769.27c, requiring objective, evidence-based release decisions that enhance public safety.

• Clarifies that parole board departures from guidelines for prisoners with high probability of parole are limited to nine specific circumstances including ongoing misconduct, refused programming, victim harm evidence, pending charges, and inadequate parole plans.

• Requires parole board to conduct annual reviews for prisoners scoring high or average probability of parole, and reviews every 2 years for those scoring low probability until reaching high or average status.

• Adds mandatory annual reporting to legislature detailing parole decisions for high-probability prisoners, including grants, deferrals, denials with stated reasons, offense categories, and time served past minimum eligibility.

• Requires Department of Corrections to notify prisoners with minimum sentences of 10 or more years about parole eligibility under sentencing procedures in the criminal procedure code.