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SB 537

Corrections: prisoners; information on the pre-incarceration address of incarcerated individuals; provide to the independent citizens redistricting commission after the federal decennial census. Creates new act.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Stephanie Chang and 4 co-sponsors

Michigan bill requires sharing incarcerated individuals' pre-incarceration addresses with redistricting commission to adjust for prison-location census counting effects.

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Bill Summary · SB 537

Legislative bill overview

SB 537 would require Michigan's Department of Corrections to provide the independent citizens redistricting commission with information about incarcerated individuals' pre-incarceration addresses following the federal decennial census. This data would be used during the redistricting process that occurs every 10 years after the census.

Why is this important

The bill addresses a significant redistricting issue: incarcerated individuals are currently counted as residents of their prison location for apportionment purposes, which can inflate population figures in rural counties with large prisons and deflate figures in urban areas where most incarcerated people originated. Providing pre-incarceration address data allows redistricting commissions to account for this distortion when drawing district boundaries, potentially improving representational equity.

Potential points of contention

  • Implementation complexity: Determining accurate pre-incarceration addresses for all inmates could be administratively burdensome and may involve incomplete or outdated records
  • Legal/constitutional questions: Whether using pre-incarceration addresses rather than current residential addresses complies with constitutional apportionment requirements, which typically count people where they reside on census day
  • Scope and discretion: Unclear whether the commission must use this data or merely may consider it, and how conflicts between census counts and pre-incarceration addresses should be resolved

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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