By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com

A local legislator is voicing his support on reform that would keep citizens with lesser driving offenses out of jail.

Republican State Representative Mike Mueller of Linden is in favor of a bi-partisan package of jail reform legislation that was unveiled in Lansing, earlier this week. Mueller is a retired sheriff’s deputy and said he believes the public benefits when jail is meant for individuals posing a threat to public safety, rather than people with unpaid tickets.

Mueller said, “Drunk driving or any driving offense causing injury or death, your first offense would still be a misdemeanor, so what it does is, its makes it so if you have a bad driving record or are a danger to citizens out there because of your driving habits, you’d still be held accountable for the misdemeanor. But if your license was suspended for failure to pay fines or costs for like a parking ticket, and your license was suspended, it’d only be a civil infraction.


The bills reduce the numbers of offenses, like speeding for example, that lead to a suspended or revoked license. By moving some offenses from a situation where an arrest occurs to a civil infraction, Mueller says that frees up valuable time for officers. The bills reduce the numbers of offenses, like speeding for example, that lead to a suspended or revoked license. Legislation additionally encourages and allows judges to issue sentences that do not include jail time, and eases punishment for certain offenses committed by people on probation or parole to keep them from going back to jail, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Mueller stated that in the past year there were over 300,000 citations and arrests for driving on a suspended license in Michigan. He said these bills will still hold people accountable, but also allow people with lesser offenses to keep working.