A host of challenges associated with Michigan’s prison system make corrections one of the state’s biggest and most persistent issues. No discussion of Michigan corrections lasts long without the topic of its dollar cost coming up.Supervision and care of those inmates cost the state about $2-billion a year. As a percentage of its general fund budget, no state spends more than Michigan.
It’s an expenditure that many feel is unsustainable, despite a recent drop in the number of prisoners.
Reporter Ted Roelofs writes at length about these challenges in the latest edition of Bridge Magazine. He tells Current State that the cost of Michigan's prison system over the course of decades is bringing the differing sides together on the need for reform.