Michigan Senate approves juvenile diversion bill after amendments on data access fail

The Michigan Senate passed Senate Bill 24, a bill to amend the Juvenile Diversion Act, on March 5, 2025, after rejecting two amendments that sought to allow broader public access to de-identified juvenile justice data.

Senator Runstead offered two amendments to the bill that would have allowed researchers to obtain de-identified juvenile data for public review. Runstead said the proposed changes would let “any researcher that wants to look at this data [to] produce a report, [produce] a study, and tell us what the information's all about,” and argued that limiting data access to universities under court-imposed agreements would prevent independent peer review. “Why wouldn't it be permitted to FOIA this information once it's out of the courts?” she asked during debate.

Senator Tice, identifying herself as a scientist, urged colleagues to support the amendment, saying, “As a scientist, being able to determine the strength of the evidence is absolutely essential to know how valid the research was.” Tice argued that prohibiting outside review would “negate the value of the research that the university is going to do.”

The Senate rejected Runstead’s amendment number 1 on a roll call that registered 2 aye votes; the amendment was not adopted. Runstead’s amendment number 2 also failed, receiving 5 aye votes. After those votes, the chamber moved to final passage of Senate Bill 24; the secretary announced a final tally of 29 aye votes, 6 no votes and 2 excused, and the presiding officer declared the bill passed.

Both amendments were identified on the session web as amendment numbers 1 and 2. Debate focused on whether de-identified juvenile justice datasets released under court data-use agreements should remain restricted to specified institutional recipients or be subject to broader public access and peer review. Proponents of the amendments said broader access would allow independent verification and stronger evidence; opponents argued for limited distribution under court controls to protect privacy and comply with the bill’s terms.

The record shows the Senate considered the amendments, voted on them, and then voted on final passage. The transcript indicates the amendments were offered by Senator Runstead and that the roll calls produced the counts noted above. The transcript also notes that amendment texts were available on the session website.

The Senate journal will contain the full entry of remarks and the formal vote record.