Effective December 29, 2020, the Address Confidentiality Program Act, 2020 PA 301, MCL 780.851–780.873, offers address confidentiality to survivors of domestic abuse, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking. Features of this act, as well as several related statutory amendments, include
- giving survivors and their children a substitute address for the state to mail identification and other state documents,
- reissuing official state identification cards with the designated state address,
- prohibiting schools from disclosing addresses of students and parents in the program, and
- allowing participants to use their program ID instead of their location for voter registration.
The act tasks the attorney general with implementing an online system that survivors can use to keep their personal information secure. Survivors would file an application with the attorney general that would include the following:
- a notarized statement by the person applying that if the address to be made confidential were disclosed, the subject of the application would face increased risk of being threatened or physically harmed by another person or that the subject was a victim of domestic violence, stalking, human trafficking, or sexual assault
- a knowing and voluntary designation of the Department of Technology, Management and Budget (DTMB) as the agent for purposes of receiving mail and service of process
- the mailing address, phone number, and email address, if applicable, at which the attorney general, secretary of state, or the DTMB could contact the subject of the application
- the address of residence that the applicant requests not be disclosed
- the signature of the applicant, the name and signature of the application assistant or victim advocate who assisted the applicant, and the date the application was signed
Several other statutes were amended to implement this program: