jail cell

Wrongfully convicted Michigan prisoners would be eligible for compensation and reentry assistance under a pair of bills signed by Gov. Rick Snyder on Dec. 21, 2016. (Press file photo by Dianne Carroll Burdick)

(Dianne Carroll Burdick)

LANSING, MI -- Wrongfully-convicted people who serve time in Michigan prisons and later see their convictions overturned will be eligible for compensation of $50,000 per year spent in prison and reentry services under bills signed by Gov. Rick Snyder on Wednesday.

"Michigan's criminal justice system does a tremendous job, however there is always more we can do to make it better, particularly for those who have been wrongfully imprisoned for a crime they didn't commit," Snyder said.

"While we will never be able to fully repay those who have been wrongfully imprisoned, this legislation helps support these individuals as they transition back into civilian life."

David Moran, founder of the Michigan Innocence Clinic run out of the University of Michigan, said 31 other states compensate those they've wrongfully imprisoned. Michigan, he said, was the largest state with the largest number of exonerees not to have such a law in place.

"Nobody would take 50,000 to be locked up in prison for something you didn't do for a year, but it's a start. It's a way to help get people back on their feet," Moran said.

The new pair of laws, which goes into effect 90 days after the end of the legislative session, does two main things.

One is provide for prisoner compensation by allowing exonerated prisoners to file in the Court of Claims. The compensation would be $50,000 per year, with proportional payment for partial years. The other thing the bills do is extend services typically extended to parolees to exonerated prisoners as well. Previously those who actually committed a crime and served time were eligible for reentry services like help getting identification and finding jobs, while those who were released because of their innocence weren't eligible for those services.

Sen. Steve Bieda, D-Warren, sponsored the compensation bill while Rep. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, sponsored the bill to extend reentry services to the wrongfully convicted. Bieda said he'd been hoping the signing would take place before Christmas, giving families something to look forward to. He's been working on the issue for 12 years.

"Justice is sometimes late, but it should never be denied. And I think this is a very happy occasion and I think it reflects the highest principles of the people of Michigan," Bieda said.

His bill is retroactive, and allows people whose convictions have already been overturned to seek compensation.

According to data from the National Registry of Exonerations maintained by the University of Michigan, there have been 66 exonerations in the state since 1991. The average number of years somebody wrongfully convicted spent in prison was 7.74, according to the registry.

Thirty-three of those individuals would be eligible to file for compensation, which the House Fiscal Agency projects would cost the state $12.8 million.