Transformative Juvenile Justice Bill to go back Before Michigan Lawmakers

A crucial piece of legislation that would reform juvenile justice and ensure access to justice to children is back in front of Michigan lawmakers.

Identical versions of bills that would authorize the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission to oversee and fund the legal defense of Michigan’s children have passed out of House and Senate committees and are now pending before the Legislature. HB 4070, sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chair Sarah Lightner, received unanimous, bipartisan approval last week. The Senate version, sponsored by Sen. Sue Shink, D-Northfield Township, passed out of the Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety Committee earlier this month.  

The bills are reintroductions of a bill from last session that ultimately would guarantee young people are provided with their constitutionally guaranteed right to an attorney even if they cannot afford one.  

If signed into law, the measure would be the final — and most critical — piece of legislation from a 20-bill package aimed at systemic juvenile justice reform including the expansion of diversion opportunities; more tools for courts to guide disposition decisions; a requirement to use data-driven mental health, risk, and detention screening assessments; and more resources for effective, community-based alternatives to incarceration. Of those 20 bills, 19 were signed into law in 2023.  

Last session, the bill passed both the House and Senate in 2024 after more than a year of debate and advocacy by a coalition of partners including the State Bar of Michigan. However, it never made it to the governor’s desk because it needed a House concurrent vote at the end of the legislative session. 

Posted March 19, 2025