8.10Costs of Emergency Response and Prosecution
MCL 769.1k(1)(b)(vi) authorizes the court to impose reimbursement under MCL 769.1f.
MCL 769.1f authorizes1 or requires2 the court to order the defendant to reimburse federal, state, or local units of government “for expenses incurred in relation to [the defendant’s commission of an offense specifically enumerated in the statute] including, but not limited to, expenses for an emergency response and expenses for prosecuting the person[.]” MCL 769.1f(1); MCL 769.1f(9).
For a comprehensive list of offenses to which MCL 769.1f applies, see the Michigan Judicial Institute’s Table of Felony Costs and the Table of Misdemeanor Costs.
Allowable expenses include:
•“The salaries or wages, including overtime pay, of law enforcement personnel for time spent responding to the incident from which the conviction arose, arresting the person convicted, processing the person after the arrest, preparing reports on the incident, investigating the incident, transportation costs, and collecting and analyzing evidence, including, but not limited to, determining bodily alcohol content and determining the presence of and identifying controlled substances in the blood, breath, or urine.” MCL 769.1f(2)(a).
•“The salaries, wages, or other compensation, including overtime pay, of fire department and emergency medical service personnel, including volunteer fire fighters or volunteer emergency medical service personnel, for time spent in responding to and providing fire fighting, rescue, and emergency medical services in relation to the incident from which the conviction arose.” MCL 769.1f(2)(b).
•“The cost of medical supplies lost or expended by fire department and emergency medical service personnel, including volunteer fire fighters or volunteer emergency medical service personnel, in providing services in relation to the incident from which the conviction arose.” MCL 769.1f(2)(c).
•“The salaries, wages, or other compensation, including, but not limited to, overtime pay of prosecution personnel for time spent investigating and prosecuting the crime or crimes resulting in conviction.” MCL 769.1f(2)(d).
•“The cost of extraditing a person from another state to this state including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(i) Transportation costs.
(ii) The salaries or wages of law enforcement and prosecution personnel, including overtime pay, for processing the extradition and returning the person to this state.” MCL 769.1f(2)(e).
A defendant must immediately pay costs ordered under MCL 769.1f unless the court authorizes the individual to pay the amount ordered within a certain period of time or in specific installments. MCL 769.1f(4). If personnel from more than one unit of government incurred any of the expenses described in MCL 769.1f(2), the court may require the defendant to reimburse each unit of government for its expenses related to the incident. MCL 769.1f(3).
“Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a person shall not be imprisoned, jailed, or incarcerated for a violation of parole or probation, or otherwise, for failure to make a reimbursement as ordered under this section unless the court determines that the person has the resources to pay the ordered reimbursement and has not made a good faith effort to do so.” MCL 769.1f(7).
1 For offenses set out in MCL 769.1f(1)(a)-(l), a sentencing court has discretion to order a defendant to pay the costs authorized under MCL 769.1f.
2 Reimbursement for expenses listed in MCL 769.1f(2)-(8) must be ordered against an offender for a conviction arising from any violation or attempted violation of the statutes enumerated in MCL 769.1f(9).