PER CURIAM.
This case involves the interplay of provisions in the Michigan Penal Code, MCL 750.1 et seq., and the Corrections Code, MCL 791.201 et seq., pertaining to lifetime electronic monitoring. Defendant pleaded guilty of second-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC), MCL 750.520c(1)(a) (victim under 13 years of age), arising out of a January 13, 2008, incident. The trial court sentenced him to five years' probation, with 365 days to be served in jail. Defendant was also ordered to register as required by the Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA), MCL 28.721 et seq. We granted the prosecution's delayed application for leave to appeal the trial court's refusal to sentence defendant to lifetime electronic monitoring and, more specifically, the court's conclusion that such monitoring applies only to persons who have been released on parole or from prison, or both. We affirm.
Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree CSC pursuant to a plea agreement under which the prosecution
The probation officer assigned to defendant subsequently requested that the trial court amend the judgment of sentence to require lifetime electronic monitoring. At a resentencing hearing, the court denied the request. The court considered the statutes at issue, an opinion by Kent Circuit Court Judge Dennis Kolenda in an unrelated case, which held that lifetime electronic monitoring does not apply to probationers under the current statutory scheme, and the legislative analysis undertaken by the prosecution. The trial court took note of the severity of the offense by commenting that "I think we can all agree that the, we find any sexual attack on a child 13 years or younger is an abhorrent attack against not only the child, but against society and needs to be punished severely. There's no question about that." The court expressed concerns, however, about funding the monitoring and the issue of lifetime sanctions. In conclusion, the court stated:
The trial court subsequently entered a sentence disposition specifying that defendant is not subject to lifetime electronic monitoring.
Whether defendant is subject to the statutory requirement of lifetime electronic monitoring involves statutory construction, which is reviewed de novo. People v. Osantowski, 481 Mich. 103, 107, 748 N.W.2d 799 (2008).
"[T]he primary goal of statutory construction is to give effect to the Legislature's intent." Id. (quotation marks and citation omitted). "The statute's words are the most reliable indicator of the Legislature's intent and should be interpreted based on their ordinary meaning and the context within which they are used in the statute." People v. Lowe, 484 Mich. 718, 721-722, 773 N.W.2d 1 (2009). An unambiguous statute is enforced as written. People v. Holder, 483 Mich. 168, 172, 767 N.W.2d 423 (2009). It is only when statutory language is ambiguous that a court may look outside the statute to ascertain legislative intent. Id. A statutory provision is ambiguous if it irreconcilably conflicts with another provision or is equally susceptible to more than one meaning. People v. Gardner, 482 Mich. 41, 50 n. 12, 753 N.W.2d 78 (2008).
In general, "[s]tatutes that address the same subject or share a common
The Michigan Penal Code expressly provides for its provisions to be "construed according to the fair import of their terms, to promote justice and to effect the objects of the law." MCL 750.2. Before August 2006, MCL 750.520c(2) provided that a second-degree CSC conviction was punishable by "imprisonment for not more than 15 years." As amended by 2006 PA 171, effective August 28, 2006, subsection (2) provides:
Section 520n of the Michigan Penal Code, MCL 750.520n, was added by 2006 PA 171, effective August 28, 2006. MCL 750.520n(1) provides:
The Department of Corrections was created under the Corrections Code. MCL 791.201. Its exclusive jurisdiction includes, but is not limited to, probation officers, the administration of probation orders, paroles, penal institutions, and the "lifetime electronic monitoring program established under [MCL 791.285]." MCL 791.204. The lifetime electronic monitoring program was established by 2006 PA 172, effective August 28, 2006. MCL 791.285 provides:
Considering MCL 750.520c, MCL 750.520n, and MCL 791.285 together, we agree with the trial court that lifetime electronic monitoring applies only to persons who have been released on parole or from prison, or both, and, therefore, does not apply to defendant, who was sentenced to five years' probation, with 365 days to be served in jail.
Standing alone, the terms of MCL 750.520c and MCL 750.520n indicate that all defendants convicted of second-degree CSC for conduct committed by an individual 17 years of age or older against an individual less than 13 years old are subject to lifetime electronic monitoring, without exception. Both statutes unambiguously state that such defendants shall be sentenced to lifetime electronic monitoring. MCL 750.520c(2)(b); MCL 750.520n(1). The term "shall" in a statute generally indicates a mandatory, rather than permissive, duty. People v. Francisco, 474 Mich. 82, 87, 711 N.W.2d 44 (2006).
But MCL 750.520c(2)(b) and 750.520n(1) are only portions of longer statutes. When one statute explicitly refers to provisions of another statute, those provisions are applicable and binding as though they had been incorporated and reenacted in the statute under consideration. Attorney General ex rel. Dep't of Natural Resources v. Sanilac Co. Drain Comm'r, 173 Mich.App. 526, 531, 434 N.W.2d 181 (1988). The referenced provisions must be treated as though they are part of the statute at issue. Id. MCL 750.520c(2)(b) states that defendants shall be sentenced to lifetime electronic monitoring "under section 520n," and MCL 750.520n(1) states that defendants "shall be sentenced to lifetime electronic monitoring as provided under section 85 of the corrections code of 1953, 1953 PA 232, MCL 791.285." Those phrases define the scope of the requirement of lifetime electronic monitoring, meaning that the requirement is limited to the dictates of MCL 791.285. See People v. Perks (On Remand), 259 Mich.App. 100, 106, 672 N.W.2d 902 (2003); Sanilac Co. Drain Comm'r, 173 Mich.App. at 531, 434 N.W.2d 181.
MCL 791.285(1) requires the Department of Corrections, through the lifetime electronic monitoring program, to "implement a system of monitoring individuals released from parole, prison, or both parole and prison who are sentenced by the court to lifetime electronic monitoring." Likewise, MCL 791.285(1)(a) provides that the monitoring is to occur "from the time the individual is released on parole or from prison until the time of the individual's death." Under MCL 791.285, the Department of Corrections must implement a lifetime electronic monitoring program only for those persons who are released on parole or from prison, or both. Only persons who are sentenced to prison can be released from prison or released on parole.
The Legislature often uses the term "imprisonment" to mean confinement in jail or confinement in prison. People v. Spann, 469 Mich. 904, 668 N.W.2d 904 (2003). But it is clear that the terms "jail" and "prison" have distinct legal meanings. See Kent Co. Prosecutor v. Kent Co. Sheriff, 425 Mich. 718, 730 n. 10, 391 N.W.2d 341 (1986). A "jail" is defined in the Corrections Code as "a facility that is operated by a local unit of government...." MCL 791.262(1)(c). "Prison" is synonymous with a penitentiary, not a city or county jail. See People v. Harper, 83 Mich.App. 390, 398, 269 N.W.2d 470 (1978).
Similarly, the terms "probation" and "parole" have distinct legal meanings. Probation is, by definition, a matter of grace imposed by a sentencing court. Harper, 479 Mich. at 626, 739 N.W.2d 523. Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, MCL 760.1 et seq., probation is available in
It is treated as an intermediate sanction for purposes of the sentencing guidelines, with "intermediate sanction" defined in MCL 769.31(b) as "probation or any sanction, other than imprisonment in a state prison or state reformatory...." Parole matters, by contrast, fall within the Department of Corrections' exclusive jurisdiction, subject to limited judicial review. Hopkins v. Parole Bd., 237 Mich.App. 629, 646, 604 N.W.2d 686 (1999). "Parole is a conditional release; a paroled prisoner is technically still in the custody of the Department of Corrections, which is executing the sentence imposed by the court." People v. Raihala, 199 Mich.App. 577, 579, 502 N.W.2d 755 (1993).
Further, the Legislature has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to use the terms "probation" and "parole" when it intends that a statute apply to both. This is evident from the Legislature's grant of exclusive jurisdiction to the Department of Corrections in the Corrections Code with respect to both "paroles" and the "administration of all orders of probation." MCL 791.204(a) and (b). See also MCL 333.5129(11) (providing for the allocation of payments if "an individual is ordered to pay a combination of fines, costs, restitution, assessments, probation or parole supervision fees, or other payments upon conviction"); MCL 750.110a(4)(b)(i) and (ii) (providing that the elements of one form of third-degree home invasion include violation of a "probation term or condition" or "parole term or condition"); MCL 769.1a(11) (stating that "[i]f the defendant is placed on probation or paroled or the court imposes a conditional sentence under [MCL 769.3], any restitution ordered under this section shall be a condition of that probation, parole, or sentence").
In MCL 791.285, the Legislature used the terms "parole" and "prison" and did not use the terms "probation" or "jail." A court may not engraft on a statutory provision a term that the Legislature might have added to a statute but did not. People v. Jahner, 433 Mich. 490, 504, 446 N.W.2d 151 (1989). The Legislature's distinction between "parole" and "probation,"
Because there is no ambiguity in the statutes at issue, we must decline to consider the legislative analysis on which the prosecution relies on appeal. A "resort to legislative history of any form is proper only where a genuine ambiguity exists in the statute. Legislative history cannot be used to create an ambiguity where one does not otherwise exist." In re Certified Question, 468 Mich. 109, 115 n. 5, 659 N.W.2d 597 (2003). In any event, "not all legislative history is of equal value...." Id. As explained in Gardner, 482 Mich. at 58, 753 N.W.2d 78:
The prosecution relies on a staff analysis of four House bills to amend provisions of the Michigan Penal Code and the Corrections Code, Senate Legislative Analysis, HB 5421 (Substitute H-2), HB 5422 (Substitute H-2), HB 5531 (Substitute H-3), and HB 5532 (Substitute H-1), May 9, 2006. The analysis states that it "was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent." Id. at 5. Arguably, the analysis assumes that lifetime electronic monitoring would apply to probationers convicted of second-degree CSC. It states, in part:
Examined in the context of the statutory scheme, the lack of clarity noted in the analysis appears to reflect nothing more than that the lifetime electronic monitoring program established by MCL 791.285 contains no provision for probationers and, hence, no startup date for monitoring.
The prosecution persuasively argues that persons convicted of second-degree CSC for conduct committed by an individual 17 years of age or older against
Because MCL 791.285 only provides for the implementation of lifetime electronic monitoring of persons who have been released on parole or from prison, or both, defendant, who was sentenced to five years' probation, with 365 days to be served in jail, is not subject to lifetime electronic monitoring.
Affirmed.