(Source: MIRS.news, Published 02/19/2025) The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony on legislation that would allow juvenile offenders over 16 years old to be transported by police with adult offenders if certain conditions, such as if the offense is committed together, are met.  

Under HB 4018 , the juvenile can be transported with an adult offender if the adult is not older than 25 years old, they are taken into custody at the same time, they are taken into custody for the same crime or the same vehicle at the time of the offense or if the juvenile is taken directly to the appropriate location and separated from the adult offender at the earliest available time.   

The Michigan Fraternal Order of Police submitted written testimony in support of the legislation, saying it will “save time, manpower and put less of a burden on already stretched thin departments.”   

“Michigan’s Law Enforcement Community is facing many uncertainties right now, including an extremely low level of manpower across the state. Departments are using a do-more-with-less mentality,” the statement reads.   

This bill is a reintroduction of HB 4887 of the 2021-2022 legislative session, a bill that passed in both the House and Senate before being vetoed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2022.  

In Whitmer's veto letter, she said the bill contradicts a 2019 law prohibiting juveniles under the age of 18 from being transported with adults. She also said it's out of step with the federal Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act and “opens the state to legal liability.”  

Rep. Mike Mueller (R-Linden), who introduced the bill both times, said this bill would pertain to juveniles and adults who commit offenses together and that was not understood by the opposition of the bill in 2022.  

“You’re never going to put a victim and an offender together, that’s never going to happen,” Mueller said.