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Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21647, 4 December 1935, Page 15

Honest taxpayers of Michigan (United States) no longer are required to pay all the upkeep of convicted criminals. At its last session the State Legislature enacted a law providing that if they are financially able convicts must pay to the state the cost of keeping them under lock and key. The law is modelled on the statutes in effect in several states, under which inmates of hospitals for the insane are required, when able, to pay for their maintenance. Under Michigan's new .law the state may seek to reimburse itself for the cost of either old or new inmates. Whenever a person is admitted to a prison, the Attorney-General may file in the sentencing court a claim against the new inmate's estate. Upon court order, the estate or property becomes liable to levy. Collections may be enforced in the usual way through foreclosure proceedings, but properties must not be sold at foreclosure until after 60* days have lapsed after a final court decree.