A new report from the Citizen’s Research Council reveals that with an incarceration rate of 489 persons per 100,000 residents, Michigan far exceeds the average incarceration rates for the surrounding Great Lakes* states (338 per 100,000) and the U.S. average state incarceration rate (435 per 100,000).

According to Michigan's Fiscal Future, the single most important contributing factor to the growth of Michigan 's incarceration rate has been average prisoner length of stay, which lengthened from 28.4 months in prison in 1981 to 43.5 months by 2005.

Average length of stay, in turn, grew as a result of various public policy changes aimed at "getting tough on crime" including mandatory sentences, lower rates of parole and probation, and harsher sentences. These policy changes were made at many different times, by many different people and generally with little or no reference to their likely fiscal consequences.

Because of the state's high incarceration rate, Michigan 's spending on Corrections has grown to the point that Corrections is now:

• The largest program operated directly by Michigan state government.
• The employer of 1/3 of the state government's classified work force.
• Responsible for $2 billion in annual expenditures or roughly 20% of the General Fund budget.
• Account for 5.2% of total Michigan state expenditures compared to a national average spending on Corrections of 3.4% of total state expenditures.
• Likely to grow to $2.6 billion/year or more by 2012.

This seemingly uncontrollable growth in Michigan 's Corrections spending has been a major contributor to Michigan 's structural deficit.

The CRC study is intended to put the long-term growth in Michigan 's prison population and Corrections spending into an informed historical and comparative perspective in order to help initiate a reasoned, fact-based public debate of policy options.

Access the full Growth in Michigan's Corrections System: Historical and Comparative Perspectives report (CRC Report No. 349, June 2008).

Access the 2-page summary of Growth in Michigan's Corrections System: Historical and Comparative Perspectives

 *The seven other states that border a Great Lake are: Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin .

The Citizens Research Council of Michigan is a private, nonprofit public affairs research organization, founded in 1916 to analyze issues pertaining to state and local government organization and finance in Michigan.