ACTS OF TERRORISM; PENALTIES S.B. 502:

SUMMARY OF INTRODUCED BILL

IN COMMITTEE

Senate Bill 502 (as introduced 8-13-25)

Sponsor: Senator Sue Shink

Committee: Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety

Date Completed: 11-3-25

CONTENT

The bill would amend Chapter LXXXIII-A (Michigan Anti-Terrorism Act) of the Michigan Penal Code to specify that a person who threatened to commit an act of terrorism and communicated the threat with reckless disregard of a substantial risk that the communication would be viewed as threatening violence would be guilty of a felony punishable by up to 20 years' imprisonment or a maximum fine of $20,000, or both.

The bill would take effect 90 days after its enactment.

Among other things, Chapter LXXXIII-A of the Code prescribes criminal penalties for committing an act of terrorism, which is generally defined as a willful and deliberate act that would be a violent felony, that a person knows is dangerous to human life, and that is meant to intimidate or influence. In this context, "person" means an individual, agent, association, charitable organization, corporation, joint apprenticeship committee, joint stock company, labor organization, legal representative, mutual company, partnership, receiver, trustee, trustee in bankruptcy, unincorporated organization, or any other legal or commercial entity.

Specifically, Section 543m of Chapter LXXXIII-A specifies that a person is guilty of making a terrorist threat or of making a false report of terrorism if the person does any of the following:

-- Threatens to commit an act of terrorism and communicates the threat to any other person.

-- Knowingly makes a false report of an act of terrorism and communicates the false report to any other person, knowing the report is false.

The bill specifies that a person threatening to commit an act of terrorism and communicating the threat to any other person would have to know that the communication would be viewed as threatening violence to be guilty as described above. Additionally, the bill would specify that a person would be guilty as described above if the person threatened to commit an act of terrorism and communicated the threat with reckless disregard of a substantial risk that the communication would be viewed as threatening violence.

Section 543m prescribes a felony punishable by up to 20 years' imprisonment or a maximum fine of $20,000, or both, for a person guilty as described above. This penalty would apply to the bill's proposed language.

MCL 750.543m Legislative Analyst: Tyler VanHuyse

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill would have an indeterminate but likely negative fiscal impact on the State and local governments. The bill could result in additional felony arrests and convictions, increasing

resource demands on law enforcement, court systems, community supervision, jails, and correctional facilities; however, it is unknown how many people would be prosecuted under the bill's provisions. The average cost to State government for felony probation supervision is approximately $5,100 per probationer per year. For any increase in prison intakes the average annual cost of housing a prisoner in a State correctional facility is an estimated $50,100. Per diem rates range from $106 to $328 per day (average per diem is $135), depending on the security level of the facility. Any associated increase in fine revenue would increase funding to public libraries.

Fiscal Analyst: Joe Carrasco, Jr.

Michael Siracuse

SAS\S2526\s502sa

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.