State House Democrats are calling for an independent investigation into a recent prison escape in Ionia.
The state’s Republican attorney general is looking into the escape, including whether recent state budget cuts played a role, but Democrats say Bill Schuette can’t conduct an impartial inquiry in the case.
“At the end of the day, it’s headed by a Republican politician, who is very unlikely to call out his Republican colleagues who voted for budget cuts that may have led to the prison break,” says Representative Tim Greimel, the Democratic leader in the state House.
A spokesperson for Attorney General Bill Schuette says he’s committed to finding out what led to the escape and making sure it doesn’t happen again.
“The attorney general’s made his goals very clear here, and that is that he intends to follow the facts and to find out why this escape happened and how it happened. And that’s the purpose of this investigation – nothing more, nothing less,” says Joy Yearout.
The state Department of Corrections is wrapping up its own investigation into the escape. But Governor Rick Snyder asked the attorney general’s office to conduct a separate review.