A local sheriff is challenging the Michigan Department of Corrections in how it handles discharging prisoners.
Recently, a man was charged with sexually assaulting a minor in Huron County's community of Owendale.
That man had been paroled five times.
Forty-one year old Keith Bullard has been convicted of armed robbery, breaking and entering, and possessing cocaine from Genesee County to Gladwin.
He's been in the justice system for 23-years.
He's a five-time felon, five times convicted, and five times released before his maximum sentence.
Huron County Sheriff Kelly Hanson says, "Five times since 1987; to me is an indication that there's a problem."
Hanson says Bullard is not an ideal candidate to receive minimum sentences. "To me, this is about money and getting prisoners out of the system," Hanson says.
It costs the state $32,000 a year to house a prisoner. If Bullard would served his maximum sentence, it would have cost the state another $640,000.
To be fair, the state says it can't determine if a released prisoner will commit another crime. It doesn't deny accelerating prisoners' sentences, but it totally denies early release.
John Cordell, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Corrections, says "Michigan doesn't have an early out. I know the media has talked a lot about that. I think you see certain prosecutors discuss that there's an early out, and we're getting prisoners out early, there's isn't in Michigan."
Michigan's "truth in sentencing" law requires prisoners to serve at least their minimum sentence.
Many get out prior to their maximum.
Sheriff Hanson says, "That's just to me another form of the state trying to push their responsibilities back on to the county."
The state says, it's trying to work within its budget limitations, while trying to keep communities safe.
If Bullard is convicted of his latest charge, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
