Court Opinion

ID: 9690026
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 18:51:53.218845+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:53.308718
License: Public Domain

Marilyn Kelly, J.
(dissenting). I respectfully dissent. I would vacate the order of the trial court and order the Department of Corrections to pay Wayne County.
*716I
At the outset, I note that I am in general agreement with the standard of review adopted by the majority. The primary objective of statutory interpretation is to determine and give effect to the intent of the Legislature. Great Lakes Sales, Inc v State Tax Comm, 194 Mich App 271, 275; 486 NW2d 367 (1992). Where the language of a statute is clear, there is no need for interpretation; the statute must be applied as written. Farrington v Total Petroleum, Inc, 442 Mich 201, 208; 501 NW2d 76 (1993). This Court may depart from a literal construction of a statute if such a construction would produce absurd and unjust results clearly inconsistent with the purposes and policies of the statute. Oberlin v Wolverine Gas & Oil Co, 181 Mich App 506, 511; 450 NW2d 68 (1989).
The majority correctly defines the issue on appeal as "essentially whether the felony of escape, MCL 750.193; MSA 28.390, is a 'new felony’ within the meaning of [MCL 800.454; MSA 28.1714(4)]” Ante, pp713-714. To make such a determination and to determine whether MCL 800.454; MSA 28.1714(4) is susceptible to judicial construction, one must read it in conjunction with MCL 750.193; MSA 28.390, the prison escape statute.
ii
Statutes which relate to the same subject or share a common purpose are in pari materia and must be read together as one law. It is not essential that they contain a reference to one another and be enacted on the same date. Feld v Robert & Charles Beauty Salon, 174 Mich App 309, 317; 435 NW2d 474 (1989), rev’d on other grounds 435 Mich 352; 459 NW2d 279 (1990).
*717MCL 800.454(1); MSA 28.1714(4)(1) provides:
When a state committed prisoner who was incarcerated in a state correctional facility has escaped, not returned pursuant to agreement, or violated the terms of his or her parole and has been apprehended pursuant to an order of the department of corrections and is held in a county jail awaiting disposition of his or her case, the department of corrections shall reimburse the county holding the prisoner for the actual and reasonable daily costs, not to exceed $35.00 per day, incurred by the county in holding the prisoner. This section shall not apply to the holding of prisoners awaiting prosecution on new felony charges. [Emphasis added.]
MCL 750.193(1); MSA 28.390(1) provides:
A person imprisoned in a prison of this state who breaks prison and escapes, breaks prison though an escape is not actually made, escapes, leaves the prison without being discharged by due process of law, attempts to break prison, or attempts to escape from prison, is guilty of a felony, punishable by further imprisonment for not more than 5 years. ... A prisoner who breaks prison, escapes, attempts to break prison, or attempts to escape, shall be charged with that offense and tried in the courts of the county in which the prison or penal facility to which the prisoner was committed or transferred is located at the time of the breaking, escape, or attempt to break or escape. [Emphasis added.]
Reading the two statutes together, it becomes manifest that the Legislature intended the state to reimburse a county for housing an escapee "awaiting disposition of his or her case.”
First, the word "shall” is generally used to designate a mandatory provision. People v Kelly, *718186 Mich App 524, 529; 465 NW2d 569 (1990); Macomb Co Road Comm v Fisher, 170 Mich App 697, 700; 428 NW2d 744 (1988). MCL 750.193; MSA 28.390 specifies that an individual who escapes "shall be charged with that offense.” Thus, the statute requires the prosecutor to charge the offense of prison escape. The majority’s conclusion that such charging is within the prosecutor’s discretion is inaccurate.
Second, since the escapee must be charged with the offense under the prison escape statute, the meaning of "awaiting disposition of his or her case” in the reimbursement statute becomes clear: it refers to the final resolution of the charging process, be that trial, return to Corrections and dismissal of the charge, guilty plea or other appropriate resolution of the charge. Therefore, the county which houses an escaped inmate is entitled to reimbursement until the escape case is fully and finally resolved. When the two statutes are read together, the charge of prison escape does not constitute a "new felony” as the Department of Corrections argues. Rather, a "new felony” means a "new felony” unrelated to the charge of prison escape.
hi
I would emphasize that the majority’s position and the failure to construe these statutes together has numerous unfortunate effects. First, it renders the language "awaiting disposition of his or her case” superfluous and nugatory, a result which should be avoided. Altman v Meridian Twp, 439 Mich 623, 635; 487 NW2d 155 (1992). Second, the majority appears to have judicially overruled that portion of the prison escape statute which makes the charge of prison escape mandatory. The major*719ity has rewritten the statute to mean that when a prisoner escapes, the decision to charge the offense is within the prosecutor’s discretion. The interpretation is inconsistent with the plain language of the statute.
The majority’s refusal to require payment to counties for housing escaped prisoners has another undesirable result. Insofar as financial considerations prevail, it will never be in the best interests of the county or its citizens for the prosecutor to exercise his or her charging discretion. Such a result cannot bode well for the safety of the citizens of our state. It will arguably encourage prisoners that they can attempt prison escape with impunity, since they may never be charged with the offense.
I would vacate the trial court’s order and require the Department of Corrections to pay Wayne County the monies it owes.