Critics: ‘Prison gerrymandering’ gives some Michiganders extra ‘political clout’

New data shows one-third of all incarcerated people in Michigan jails and prisons were counted as residents of three House districts
Advocates pushing for lawmakers, next redistricting commission to take inmates’ pre-incarceration addresses into account
Some fear such a change would inaccurately reflect prisons’ impact on local communities

No matter where they’re from, Michigan inmates are counted as residents of the area where they’re imprisoned when officials draw new political districts each decade, a system critics say gives communities with prisons extra political clout.

Experts call it “prison gerrymandering” because it inflates the population — and power — of smaller communities, especially in state House districts that are made up of about 91,000 residents apiece.

A new analysis by the nonprofit advocacy group Prison Policy Initiative found that one-third of the roughly 55,000 incarcerated people in Michigan jails and prisons were counted as residents of facilities in just three state House districts during the last redistricting cycle.

In state legislative districts with large jail or prison populations, that tally can add up to a big difference.

Most of the state’s prison facilities are in rural, majority-white areas that tend to vote Republican, while a majority of those serving time inside are people of color from urban areas that tend to vote for Democrats.

But the impact is bipartisan, said Mike Wessler, communications director of the Prison Policy Initiative.

“Most districts, whether they have a Republican representative or Democratic representative, are losing out,” he said. “There (are) a handful of districts that are getting a lot more political clout.”

A map of Michigan Department of Correctional facilities. — Most of the state facilities are in rural, majority-white areas, while a majority of those serving time inside are people of color from urban areas. (Courtesy of State of Michigan)

Like the US Census Bureau, Michigan currently counts inmates — who cannot vote while serving out sentences — as residents of the correctional facilities where they’re held instead of their home communities.

State data indicates 26% of the state’s incarcerated population come from Wayne County alone. Black inmates make up roughly 51% of the state’s prison population and 36% of the jail population.

But state prisons in Ionia, Jackson and central Michigan provided the largest population boosts to their respective districts, with inmates making up 7.4%, 7% and 5.6% of the population in House districts 78, 46 and 93, respectively.

Those three districts are currently represented by Reps. Gina Johnsen, R-Portland; Kathy Schmaltz, R-Jackson; and Tim Kelly, R-Saginaw Twp.

Inmates made up at least 3% of the population in seven state House districts, including a Muskegon area district held by Democratic state Rep. Will Snyder, the analysis found.

Proponents of the current Michigan population count system say that for inmates serving decades-long prison sentences, the prisons are undoubtedly their place of residence — and their presence has a direct impact on the communities they live in.

“Whether it’s road funding, schools, public safety, water systems — all of these things are very much tied with what happens with our prison population,” said state Sen. Ed McBroom, a Republican whose Upper Peninsula district houses several prisons. “They are a part of our communities here.”

But advocates argue it’s time for lawmakers and the state’s independent redistricting commission to extend that prohibition to state and congressional districts.

How prisoners are counted

Just under 33,000 people were incarcerated in one of Michigan’s 27 prisons last year, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections. Still more are housed in local jails or in the federal prison in Milan.

In a state House district like Ionia-area 78th, where inmates comprise 7% of the population, Wessler likened the situation to 93 voters having the same political clout as 100 people in a district without a large jail or prison.

“That means that their issues are more likely to be heard, their concerns are more likely to be heard, they’re much more likely to get their political representatives’ attention onto their issues,” he said.

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During a legislative hearing on the subject last year, one former inmate, Wayne County resident Walter Miller, said he still identified with his home district even when he was imprisoned in the Upper Peninsula, declining to fill out census forms during his sentence.

“The places where a majority of prisoners come from suffer because those people aren’t being counted in places where they’re residents,” he said at the time. “They’re treated as a commodity.”

For Michigan and many other states, deciding where to count inmates has not been “a conscious decision,” but instead repetition of the status quo, said Rory Kramer, an associate professor at Villanova University who has studied the impact of prison populations on Michigan’s political districts.

“If (inmates) are involved in politics in any way, asking about their kids’ school, trying to make sure that their mom is getting Social Security, that’s back home — that’s not where they’re incarcerated,” Kramer said.

The political calculus

Michigan law already prohibits local governments from counting inmates when drawing new political boundaries for city or commission seats.

Midway through Michigan’s current redistricting cycle, advocates are hoping lawmakers will revive a push to change how prison populations are counted when drawing political maps.

At least 15 other states of varying political leanings, including California, Maine, Montana, Pennsylvania and Nevada, have gone a step further, adopting policies to count inmates based on their pre-prison residences, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

During Michigan’s most recent redistricting process, advocates petitioned the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission to count incarcerated people at their home addresses. The commission declined to do so, claiming that the decision was up to the Legislature.

A bill sponsored by Sen. Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit, that would have required the state to track pre-incarceration addresses of inmates and send that data to the redistricting commission for consideration. The Democrat-controlled Senate approved the legislation last term, but it died when the House abruptly adjourned without voting on it.

Conversations are ongoing about whether to reintroduce the legislation this session, a spokesperson for Santana told Bridge, citing the current political climate and ongoing budget negotiations as potential barriers to passage.

If Michigan were to consider changes ahead of the next cycle, the time is now, Kramer said, noting that shifts in other states towards counting inmates at their home address have come with more paperwork and an administrative lift for correctional facilities.

“Doing it in 2030 is a little too late,” he said.

‘No serious push’

Michigan is about halfway through its first redistricting cycle set by an independent commission, which will remain dormant until 2030 unless there are any additional legal challenges to the existing district maps.

The independent redistricting commission was spurred by a 2018 ballot initiative aimed at cracking down on political gerrymandering by lawmakers.

But national tensions around how to draw political maps remain: in Texas, an effort backed by the Trump administration to redraw the state’s congressional districts with more Republican-leaning seats is prompting Democratic lawmakers to boycott the legislative session and has sparked talks of mid-decade redistricting in other states.

The 2026 elections will be the first test of new metro Detroit state Senate districts the commission was forced to redraw after a federal court ruled their initial maps violated Black voters’ rights by improperly relying on racial data.

Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, a former state representative who supported that legal challenge, believes counting inmates at their last residential address could have helped Black Detroiters get better district maps in the first place.

But she doubts a politically divided Legislature will make that change this term.

“Unless there’s kind of a commitment for some meaningful bipartisan effort, I don’t know that (legislative support is) really there,” she said.

McBroom, the Republican lawmaker, said he’s heard of “no serious push” to change the policy this session, in part because serious concerns remain about counting inmates with decades-long sentences in a different district.

He said he’s open to conversations about reclassifying inmates on a more limited scope, but said communities hosting people serving life or long sentences “should be able to count those folks.”