Legislative Analysis
Phone: (517) 373-8080
ELDER AND VULNERABLE ADULT PROTECTIONS
http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa
Senate Bill 922 (S-1) as passed by the Senate Analysis available at
Sponsor: Sen. Veronica Klinefelt http://www.legislature.mi.gov
Senate Bill 923 as passed by the Senate
Sponsor: Sen. Sarah Anthony
Senate Bill 924 as passed by the Senate Senate Bill 925 as passed by the Senate
Sponsor: Sen. Kevin Hertel Sponsor: Sen. Jeff Irwin
House Committee: Families, Children and Seniors
Senate Committee: Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety
Complete to 12-9-24
SUMMARY:
Senate Bills 922 to 925 would establish elder and vulnerable adult personal protection orders
(PPOs) for protection against neglect and abuse; add embezzlement from a vulnerable adult to
the crimes that can be charged as racketeering; add provisions addressing such embezzlement
that took place both before and after the vulnerable adult’s death; and allow counties to create
confidential, multidisciplinary teams to address elder and vulnerable adult abuse.
Senate Bill 922 would amend the Revised Judicature Act to allow a person to petition the
circuit court to obtain to enter an elder and vulnerable adult personal protection order if they
are 60 years old or older, are a vulnerable adult, or have a developmental disability. The person
could do so by commencing an independent action, joining a claim to an action, or filing a
motion in an action in which the petitioner (the person requesting the PPO) and the respondent
(the person the PPO would apply to) are parties.
Elder and vulnerable adult protective order would mean an injunctive order
restraining or enjoining activity and individuals that is issued by the family division of
the circuit court or a probate court [although, as noted above, the petition to obtain the
order could be filed only in circuit court].
Vulnerable adult would mean one or more of the following:
• An individual 18 or older who, because of age, developmental disability,
mental illness, or physical disability, requires supervision or personal care or
lacks the personal and social skills required to live independently.
• A person 18 or older who is unable to protect themselves from abuse, neglect,
or exploitation because of a mental or physical impairment or advanced age
and who is suspected of being abused, neglected, or exploited. 1
• A child who is placed in an adult foster care family home or an adult foster care
small group home under the child care licensing act, 1973 PA 116.
1
For the definitions of “abuse,” “neglect,” and “exploitation” that pertain to this provision, see MCL 400.11:
https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/mcl/pdf/mcl-400-11.pdf
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 Developmental disability would mean, for an individual who is older than five years
of age, a severe, chronic condition that meets all of the following:
• The condition is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or a
combination of mental and physical impairments.
• The condition is manifested before the individual is 22 years old.
• The condition is likely to continue indefinitely.
• The condition results in substantial functional limitations in three or more of
the following areas of major life activity:
o Self-care.
o Receptive and expressive language.
o Learning.
o Mobility.
o Self-direction.
o Capacity for independent living.
o Economic self-sufficiency.
• The condition reflects the individual’s need for a combination and sequence of
special, interdisciplinary, or generic care, treatment, or other services that are
of lifelong or extended duration and are individually planned and coordinated.
For a child up to and including age five, developmental disability would mean a
substantial developmental delay or a specific congenital or acquired condition with a
high probability of resulting in developmental disability as defined above if services
are not provided.
Elder and vulnerable adult PPO
An elder and vulnerable adult PPO could restrain an individual from doing one or more of the
following:
• Entering into or refusing to leave premises.
• Assaulting, attacking, beating, molesting, or wounding the petitioner.
• Threatening to kill, physically injure, or sexually assault the petitioner.
• Purchasing or possessing a firearm.
• Engaging in stalking or aggravated stalking as prohibited by the Michigan Penal Code,
unless the individual decision-making authority under an order of another court that
requires contact with the petitioner.
• Any of the following with intent to cause the petitioner mental distress or exert control
over the petitioner with respect to an animal in which the petitioner has an ownership
interest: 2
o Injuring, killing, torturing, or neglecting the animal, or threatening to do so. 3
o Removing the animal from the petitioner’s possession.
2
A petitioner would have an ownership interest in an animal if the petitioner has a right of property in the animal; the
petitioner keeps or harbors the animal; the animal is in the petitioner’s care; or the petitioner allows the animal to
remain on or about premises the petitioner occupies.
3
However, the order would not prohibit the lawful killing or other use of an animal, such as fishing; hunting, trapping,
or wildlife control regulated under the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA); horse racing;
the operation of a zoological park or aquarium; pest or rodent control regulated under NREPA; farming or a generally
accepted animal husbandry or farming practice involving livestock; scientific research under 1969 PA 224; scientific
research or the lawful killing of an animal under sections 2226, 2671, 2676, and 7333 of the Public Health Code; or
the lawful killing or use of an animal under the Animal Industry Act.
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 o Retaining or obtaining possession of the animal.
• Destroying, or threatening to destroy, the petitioner’s owned or leased real or personal
property.
• Exercising decision-making authority over the petitioner, unless granted under an order
of another court.
• Any other specific act or conduct that imposes or interferes with the petitioner’s
personal liberty, safety, or health or causes a reasonable apprehension of violence.
In addition, an elder and vulnerable adult PPO could include any relief the court considers
necessary to prevent or remedy the financial exploitation of the petitioner, including any of
the following:
• Prohibiting the respondent from accessing, exercising or transferring control over the
petitioner’s funds, benefits, property, resources, belongings, or assets.
• Requiring the respondent to submit paperwork necessary to remove themselves as the
petitioner’s representative payee within a time period set by the court.
• After an evidentiary hearing, requiring the respondent to return custody or control of
personal property to the petitioner.
• After an evidentiary hearing, awarding actual damages or attorney fees.
• Requiring the respondent to furnish a bond for a reasonable period of time, set by the
court, in the amount necessary to safeguard money, benefits, property, resources,
belongings, or assets that are in dispute.
• Allowing the petitioner to file a notice lis pendens 4 for a reasonable period of time, set
by the court, regarding any property that is in dispute.
Financial exploitation would mean the use of fraud, deceit, misrepresentation,
coercion, or unjust enrichment to obtain or use, or attempt to obtain or use, money or
property to directly or indirectly benefit the respondent, or the respondent’s improper
leveraging of a caregiver relationship for financial gain.
Petition for order
A petitioner could omit their address of residence from documents filed with the court under
the bill. If they do so, they would have to provide the court with a mailing address.
The petitioner would have to notify the court of the respondent’s occupation before an elder
and vulnerable adult PPO is issued if the petitioner knows that the respondent is licensed to
carry a concealed weapon and is any of the following:
• Required to carry a weapon as a condition of employment.
• A police officer licensed or certified under the Michigan commission on law
enforcement standards act.
• A sheriff or deputy sheriff.
• A member of the state police.
• A local corrections officer.
• A Department of Corrections employee.
4
A notice lis pendens, also known as a notice of pendency of action, is a written notice that a lawsuit has been filed
concerning real estate, usually related to disputes concerning title or ownership.
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 • A federal law enforcement officer who carries a firearm during the normal course of
their employment.
Requirements for issuance
The court shall would have to issue an elder and vulnerable adult PPO if the court determines
that there is reasonable cause (see below) to believe that the individual to be restrained or
enjoined may commit one or more of the following acts:
• Entering onto or refusing to leave the premises. 5
• Assaulting, attacking, beating, molesting, or wounding the petitioner.
• Threatening to kill, physically injure, or sexually assault the petitioner.
• Purchasing or possessing a firearm.
• Engaging in stalking or aggravated stalking.
• Any of the following with the intent to cause the petitioner mental distress or to exert
control over the petitioner with respect to an animal the petitioner owns in whole or
part:
• Injuring, killing, torturing, neglecting, or threatening to injure, kill, torture, or neglect
the animal.
• Removing the animal from the petitioner’s possession.
• Retaining or obtaining possession of the animal.
• The actual or threatened withholding or prevention of the petitioner’s access to goods,
services, or basic amenities required to avoid physical harm or mental suffering,
including safe and sanitary household goods, food, medical or mental health care or
treatment, medication, transportation, law enforcement, communication technologies,
and individuals who provide formal or informal supports to the petitioner.
• Destroying or threatening to destroy the petitioner’s owned or leased property,
including either real or personal property.
• If the respondent resides with the petitioner, using a pattern of derogatory or
inappropriate names, phrases or profanity, threats of forced change of residence or
institutionalization, ridicule, harassment, coercion, threats, cursing, intimidation, or
inappropriate sexual comments or conduct of such a nature as to cause emotional
distress to the petitioner.
• Engaging in financial exploitation of the petitioner.
• Any other specific act or conduct that imposes on or interferes with the petitioner’s
personal liberty, safety, or health, or that causes a reasonable apprehension of violence.
Institutionalization would mean being removed from a community residence and
placed or kept in a residential institution, such as a licensed long-term care facility or
nursing home, adult foster care, a home for the aged, a mental health or drug treatment
facility, or a hospital or unlicensed care facility.
In determining whether reasonable cause exists, the court would have to consider all of the
following:
• Testimony, documents, or other evidence offered in support of the request for an elder
and vulnerable adult PPO.
5
A court could not restrain or enjoin this conduct if the individual to be restrained or enjoined has a property interest
in the premises and the petitioner has no property interest in the premises.
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 • Whether the individual to be restrained or enjoined has previously committed or
threatened to commit one or more of the acts listed above.
• Evidence of the respondent’s commission of other acts of domestic violence, sexual
assault, or financial exploitation; such evidence would be admissible for any relevant
purpose.
A court could not refuse to issue an elder and vulnerable adult PPO solely because of the
absence of any of the following:
• A police report.
• A medical report.
• A report or finding of an administrative agency.
• Physical signs of abuse or violence.
• Physical access to the petitioner or the petitioner’s residence.
A court that refuses to grant an elder and vulnerable adult PPO would have to state immediately
in writing the specific reasons it refused to do so. If a hearing is held, the court would also have
to immediately state on the record the specific reasons it refuses to issue an elder and vulnerable
adult PPO.
If the respondent is less than 18 years of age, issuance of an elder and vulnerable adult PPO
would be subject to the juvenile code.
A court could not issue an elder and vulnerable adult PPO if the respondent is the
unemancipated minor child of the petitioner.
A court could not issue a mutual elder and vulnerable adult PPO.
A court could not issue correlative separate elder and vulnerable adult PPOs unless both parties
have properly petitioned the court as described above.
Order contents
An elder and vulnerable adult PPO would have to include all of the following, to the extent
practicable in a single form:
• A statement that the PPO has been entered to restrain, enjoin, or compel conduct listed
in the order and that violation of the PPO will subject the respondent to one or more of
the following:
o If the respondent is 18 or older, immediate arrest and the civil and criminal
contempt powers of the court and, if they are found guilty of criminal contempt,
imprisonment for up to 93 days and a fine of up to $500.
o If the respondent is under 18, immediate apprehension or being taken into
custody and the dispositional alternatives listed in section 18 of the juvenile
code (Chapter XIIA of the Probate Code).
o If the respondent violates the PPO in a jurisdiction other than Michigan, the
enforcement procedures and penalties of the state, tribe, or United States
territory where the violation occurred.
• A statement that the PPO is effective and immediately enforceable anywhere in this
state after being signed by a judge and that, upon service, a PPO also may be enforced
by another state, an Indian tribe, or a territory of the United States.
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 • A statement listing the type or types of conduct enjoined or compelled.
• An expiration date stated clearly on the face of the order.
• A statement that the PPO is enforceable anywhere in this state by any law enforcement
agency.
• The name of the law enforcement agency designated by the court to enter the PPO into
the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN).
• For ex parte orders, 6 a statement that the individual restrained or enjoined may file a
motion to modify or rescind the PPO and request a hearing within 14 days after they
have been served or received actual notice of the order and that motion forms and filing
instructions are available from the clerk