General Information
The State Bar of Michigan has published a brochure to assist those parents have criminal records. This brochure will help you understand your rights as a parent if you are facing criminal charges, if you have a criminal record, or if you are currently incarcerated in jail or in prison.
State Bar of Michigan Justice Initiatives: Got a Record? Know Your Rights.
Rights of the Incarcerated
The law in Michigan speaks directly to the rights of those incarcerated in issues of custody, parenting time and/or support.
ORDER REQUESTING PRISONER APPEAR BY TELEPHONE
Michigan Court Rule 2.004, effective June 30, 2005: Incarcerated Parties
Responsibility of the Incarcerated
Generally speaking, if you have been sentenced to incarceration for a period of time to exceed one year, you should immediately notify the Friend of the Court in writing and request the Friend of the Court to review your child support obligation.
If you have been sentenced to incarceration for a period of less than one year of time, your notice to the Friend of the Court of the same may not automatically trigger the review of your child support obligation. In that instance, you will need to file a motion with the Court to have your child support obligation reviewed. However, if you have not had your child support obligation reviewed within the last three years, you may request the Friend of the Court to review your child support obligation without having to file a motion.
Most likely, the effective date of any change to your support obligation will be the first month following the entry of the order, in the absence of filing a motion.
Locating an Incarcerated Person:
In order to determine if a person is incarcerated in a Michigan correctional facility, you may check the following website Department of Corrections OTIS Offender Tracking Information System: http://www.michigan.gov/corrections/0,1607,7-119-1409—,00.html
If the person is located in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, you may check the following website to help you locate that individual: http://www.bop.gov.
If a person is located in a penitentiary in another state, that state may also have a web site dedicated to offender information.
If a person is detained in a County correctional facility, you would need to conduct an independent search of each facility.