Legislative Analysis
Phone: (517) 373-8080
REQUIRE PANIC ALARMS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa
House Bill 4241 as introduced
Analysis available at
Sponsor: Rep. Brenda Carter http://www.legislature.mi.gov
Committee: Education
Revised 9-19-23
SUMMARY:
House Bill 4241 would amend the Revised School Code to require that a panic alarm be
installed in every school building for use in the event of a school security emergency such as
a nonfire evacuation, a lockdown, or an active shooter situation. The panic alarm would have
to be directly linked to the local law enforcement agency designated as a first responder for the
school building and be capable of transmitting a signal or message to the agency immediately
upon its activation. This requirement would apply to public schools (i.e., school buildings
operated by school districts, intermediate school districts, or public school academies).
The bill would define panic alarm as a silent security system signal generated by the
manual activation, either virtually from a phone or computer system or nonvirtually,
of a device or an alternative mechanism intended to communicate to law enforcement
life-threatening or emergency situations that require a response from law enforcement.
School building would mean a building where instruction takes place or where students
are present during the school day.
The bill is tie-barred to House Bill 4242, which provides an appropriation to help fund this
requirement. The tie bar means that HB 4241 cannot take effect unless HB 4242 is also enacted.
Proposed MCL 380.1308c
FISCAL IMPACT:
House Bill 4241 would have no fiscal impact on the state and could increase costs for local
school districts, intermediate school districts (ISDs), and public school academies (PSAs). The
tie-barred HB 4242 provides $6.7 million GF/GP for districts (including PSAs) and ISDs to
offset the cost of purchasing and installing a panic alarm for each school building. 1 Districts,
ISDs, and PSAs may incur increased costs if the state funding is insufficient to cover the cost
of the panic alarms.
Legislative Analyst: Josh Roesner
Fiscal Analysts: Noel Benson
Jacqueline Mullen
■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency staff for use by House members in their
deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.
1
See supplemental summary for HB 4242 here: https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2023-
2024/billanalysis/House/pdf/2023-HLA-4242-38CDFDFD.pdf
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Statutes affected:
House Introduced Bill: 380.1, 380.1852