Imperial Valley press., 1935-08-10
MICHIGAN To
TAX CONV|CTS
FOR EXPENSES
Attorney General Preparing To
Enforce Unique Legislation
Recently Passed
BY NEIL WEBER
United Press Staff Correspondent

Outeu IItSS SIdlI Correspondent
LANSING, Mich, Aug .10-Mich
igans convicted criminals will have
TO pay for their room and board
while they are in prison. under a
new law which Auditor General
John ]. OHara is preparing to en-
force.
The Delano Act, passed by the
recent legislature, provides that
inmates. if financially able, must
pay to the state the cost of keep
ing them in prison.
Under the act, the state may
seek to reimburse itself for the cost
of either old or new inmates 1t
provides specifically that proceed
ings may be begun at any time
after admittance" to penal institu
tions, and collections may be made
over the entire period of confine-
ment.
Whenever a person is admitted
to a prison, the encouragement
may file in the sentencing court
a claim aNlinst the new inmates
estate, the law provides Upon court
OluCI bllC tSbc1OG vi p1OpCIly DG-
comes liable to levy. Collections
may be enforced in the usual way
through foreclosure proceedings,
but properties must not be sold at
foreclosure until after go days have
lapsed after a final court decree.
"Why shouldn't a prisoner who
has money pay for his keep" o.
igan has levied against the estates
of insane persons committed to
state hospitals, but not against sane
criminals. We collect money from
about five per cent of the mental
\patients, he continued. Just how
much we will collect from prison
inmates is problematical."
BY 1923 statute applying to the
insane. the state in the last year
has collected $207,392 in cash and
about 100000 in securities and real
estate, O'Hara said. In state hos
pitals for mental patients there are
about 5000 inmates and state PEN
al institutions have about 5000.
Financial Data Required
Provisions of the Delano Act re-
quire all prison wardens and local
law enforcement officials to furnish
on request "all information avail
able on the financial responsibility
of said prisoner" Information
blanks are being drawn in OHara's
office, and will be distributed Soon
O'Hara or county prosecutors are
empowered to ask for guardian
for the inmate. The law states:
"If it shall appear that such per-
son or prisoner has an estate which
ought to be subjected to the claim
of the state the court shall
make an order requiring the guard
ian or any other such person or
corporation so possessed of the eS-
tate belonging to said prisoner to
appropriate and apply such estate
toward reimbursing the state
for expenses incurred by it on be-
half of such prisoner"
1.-THE law recognizes that inmates
with smaller estates may have fam
lilies or other dependents" O'Hara
said "It states that regard is to
be had to claims of persons having
a moral or legal right of mainten-
ance out of such estate
Discretion To Be Used
1--WE will be careful not to levy
upon an estate if it would force an
inmates family to seek welfare as
sistance. Such a situation would
not benefit the state he added.
O'Hara pointed out that the
Balfe Mcdonald type of inmate
obviously will come under the new
lay. Young Mcdonald, serving a
life sentence for the Staying of his
wealthy mother in Flint, will re-
ceive about $25O,000 from her es-
tate when he is 81, according to
OHara.
Before becoming auditor-general,
OHara was prominent as a prose-
clltor. The collections possible
against insane persons but not
against sane criminals attracted his
attention. He advocated passage
of the law to remedy this condi-
ton. which was introduced in the
house by Rep. F. Delano tRepO OF
Kalamazoo.