One year after implementing clean slate reforms, Michigan saw a 51 percent decrease in active driver’s license suspensions or revocations.
Recommendations by the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration to decrease Michigan’s jail population led to the establishment of the Michigan Jail Reform Advisory Council (JRAC). JRAC was tasked with facilitating, assisting, monitoring, and evaluating the successful implementation of jail reform legislation throughout Michigan. The reform packages focused on the following: appearance tickets, summons and warrants, sentences, youthful offenders, probation and parole, civil infractions, mandatory minimums, and driver’s license suspensions. Additionally, in 2021, Michigan implemented clean slate laws limiting the circumstances under which a driver’s license could be suspended. Previously, driver’s licenses could be suspended for reasons unrelated to safe driving, such as failure to appear in court, pay, or comply with a judgment. Driver’s license reforms led to the reinstatement of thousands of licenses that were previously suspended.
You can read the full text here.
Key Findings:
- The Michigan Department of State (MDOS) made changes to 348,326 driving records as a result of the new laws.
- 744,814 Failure to Appear in Court suspensions ceased.
- Within one year of implementing clean slate reforms, 38,762 of the clean slate population secured driving privileges.