What needs to change in Michigan.

• Clergy expressly named at MCL 722.623(1)(a)

  MCL 722.623(1)(a) enumerates 'member of the clergy' alongside physicians, dentists, registered nurses, school teachers, school counselors, social workers, psychologists, and law enforcement officers as mandatory reporters who must immediately report suspected child abuse or neglect to MDHHS Centralized Intake. The companion definition at MCL 722.622 covers priest, minister, rabbi, Christian Science practitioner, spiritual leader, other religious practitioner, or similar religious functionary.

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• Privilege preserved at MCL 722.631, with an other-capacity backstop

  MCL 722.631 abrogates all legally recognized privileges that might otherwise excuse a mandatory report, with only two exceptions: attorney-client communications and communications made to a member of the clergy in their professional character 'in a confession or similarly confidential communication.' The same section provides that the clergy carveout does not relieve a clergy member from reporting when the information was received while acting in any other mandated capacity listed under MCL 722.623 (for example, as a licensed counselor or school employee).

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• Penalties at MCL 722.633

  A mandated reporter who knowingly fails to report is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to **93 days** in jail and a fine of up to **$500** (MCL 722.633(2)). The same section makes a mandated reporter civilly liable for damages proximately caused by the failure to report (MCL 722.633(1)). Both penalties apply to clergy when the information did not come through a privileged confession or similarly confidential communication.

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• Reporting duty is non-discretionary (Lee v. Detroit Medical Center)

  The Michigan Court of Appeals has read MCL 722.623 strictly. In Lee v. Detroit Medical Center, 285 Mich App 51 (2009), the court held that mandated reporters have little to no discretion to decide whether to report. 'Reasonable cause to suspect' is the trigger, not professional judgment about whether abuse actually occurred, and employers may be vicariously liable for an employee's failure to report. The doctrine is strict on its face. The carveout is what narrows its reach for clergy.

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• 2025-26 CPS package does not narrow the carveout

  Three bills are moving in the 2025-26 session that touch the surrounding CPS regime. HB 4531 would require continuing education for mandated reporters in detecting child abuse and neglect; tie-barred HB 4530 would shorten the mental-health-records response window from 14 days to 7. HB 5163 would amend definitions in MCL 722.622 to provide exceptions to the definition of child neglect. None of the three amends MCL 722.631 or narrows the clergy confession carveout.

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What it takes to close the gap.

Bills in motion right now.

• HB4531committee

  Continuing education for mandated reporters in child abuse and neglect detection

  Amends MCL 722.629 to require continuing education for mandatory reporters in detecting child abuse and neglect. Introduced June 3, 2025 by Rep. Angela Rigas; tie-barred to HB 4530. Heard by the House Committee on Families and Veterans on October 28, 2025. Does not narrow or remove the clergy-penitent carveout. Strengthens training, not the underlying duty.

  SponsorsRep. Angela Rigas (R-Alto)
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• HB4530passed one chamber

  Mental health records response timeline for CPS requests

  Tie-barred to HB 4531. Would shorten the timeline for mental health providers to respond to a Child Protective Services records request from 14 days to 7 days. Introduced by Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia); reported from the House Committee on Families and Veterans with a substitute (H-1) on December 9, 2025; passed the House 108 to 1 with immediate effect on February 18, 2026 (Roll Call #39); referred to the Senate Committee on Housing and Human Services on February 24, 2026. Does not modify clergy reporting or the clergy-penitent carveout.

  SponsorsRep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia)
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• HB5163committee

  Exceptions to the definition of child neglect

  Amends the Child Protection Law definitions in MCL 722.622 to provide exceptions to the definition of child neglect. As introduced, the bill retains the existing enumeration of mandated reporters (including 'member of the clergy') and does not alter MCL 722.623 or the clergy carveout under MCL 722.631.

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How Michigan got here.

• 1975
  Child Protection Law enacted

  Michigan enacts the Child Protection Law, Public Act 238 of 1975, codified at MCL 722.621 et seq. Clergy are among the originally enumerated mandatory reporters under what is now MCL 722.623(1)(a).

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• 2012
  People v. Bragg defines the cleric-congregant privilege

  The Michigan Court of Appeals interprets MCL 767.5a(2), holding that pastor-initiated conversations and the presence of a defendant's mother do not defeat confidentiality so long as the communication serves a religious function in the cleric's professional capacity. The decision becomes the foundational reading of the privilege MCL 722.631 preserves.

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• 2013
  People v. Prominski stretches the confession carveout

  The Court of Appeals affirms dismissal of a failure-to-report charge against a pastor, holding that 'similarly confidential communication' in MCL 722.631 covers private pastoral counseling where the parishioner expects privacy. The decision sets the operative scope of Michigan's clergy carveout.

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• 2025-06
  HB 4530 and HB 4531 introduced

  Reps. Laurie Pohutsky and Angela Rigas introduce tie-barred bills shortening the CPS records-response window for mental health providers and requiring continuing education for mandated reporters. Neither touches the clergy carveout.

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• 2025-10
  House Committee on Families and Veterans hearing

  The House Committee on Families and Veterans hears HB 4530 and HB 4531 on October 28, 2025, as part of a broader CPS-strengthening package. HB 5163 is also under consideration to provide exceptions to the definition of child neglect. None of the three bills proposes to amend MCL 722.631.

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• 2026-02
  HB 4530 passes the House

  The House passes HB 4530 by a vote of 108 to 1 with immediate effect on February 18, 2026 (Roll Call #39), after the Families and Veterans Committee reported it with a substitute (H-1) on December 9, 2025. The bill, which shortens the CPS mental-health-records response window, moves to the Senate Committee on Housing and Human Services on February 24, 2026. Tie-barred HB 4531 remains in committee. None of the package touches MCL 722.631 or the clergy carveout.

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Litigation shaping the law.

• People v. Prominski

  302 Mich App 327; 839 NW2d 32 (2013)·2013

  The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of a misdemeanor failure-to-report charge against a pastor whose parishioner had come to him for spiritual guidance about her concerns that her husband was abusing her daughters. The court read 'similarly confidential communication' in MCL 722.631 to cover private pastoral counseling outside any formal sacramental rite, so long as the parishioner expected the conversation to be kept private. Prominski is the load-bearing case for Michigan's preserved-privilege posture. It is a published Michigan Court of Appeals decision that explicitly excused a pastor from the mandatory-reporting duty under a confession-style carveout, and it sets the operative scope every Michigan prosecutor and defense lawyer now reads the statute against.

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• People v. Bragg

  296 Mich App 433; 824 NW2d 170 (2012)·2012

  The Michigan Court of Appeals held that a defendant's confession to a pastor about sexually assaulting his young cousin was privileged under MCL 767.5a(2), the cleric-congregant evidentiary privilege. The court ruled that neither the pastor initiating the conversation nor the presence of the defendant's mother defeated confidentiality, and defined the test for what counts as a communication 'necessary to enable' the cleric to serve as a cleric: a communication that serves a religious function such as guidance, counseling, forgiveness, or discipline, made in the cleric's professional capacity. Bragg is the foundational decision interpreting the privilege that MCL 722.631 preserves.

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Public-record sources UCO is tracking.

Always verify against the underlying statute or filing before quoting.

• Michigan Legislature
  MCL 722.623 — Child Protection Law, Section 3 (Mandatory Reporting)

  Canonical legislature page rendering the current text of MCL 722.623. Subsection (1)(a) expressly enumerates 'member of the clergy' alongside physicians, teachers, social workers, and law enforcement as required reporters who must immediately report suspected child abuse or neglect to MDHHS Centralized Intake.

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• Michigan Legislature
  MCL 722.631 — Privileged Communications

  Canonical legislature page for the privilege-abrogation provision. Abrogates all legally recognized privileges as grounds for excusing a mandated report except attorney-client and communications made to clergy in a confession or similarly confidential communication. Includes the other-capacity backstop requiring clergy to report when information was received while acting in another mandated capacity.

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• Michigan Legislature
  MCL 722.622 — Definitions (including 'member of the clergy')

  Definitions section for the Child Protection Law. Defines 'member of the clergy' to include a priest, minister, rabbi, Christian Science practitioner, spiritual leader, other religious practitioner, or similar religious functionary, supporting the expressly-named statusBucket.

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• Michigan Judicial Institute / Michigan Courts
  Child Protective Proceedings Benchbook, Ch. 11.3 — Abrogation of Privileges in Child Protective Proceedings

  Official judiciary benchbook explaining how MCL 722.631 operates: privileges are abrogated in child-protective proceedings except attorney-client and the clergy 'confession or similarly confidential communication' privilege. Documents how People v. Prominski extended 'similarly confidential' to non-confession pastoral counseling where the parishioner expects privacy.

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• Child Welfare Information Gateway (U.S. HHS / Children's Bureau)· May 2023
  Clergy as Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect — Michigan

  Federal Children's Bureau state-summary page citing Comp. Laws § 722.623 for the clergy-reporting duty and Comp. Laws § 722.631 for the preserved confession/penitent carveout. Independent confirmation that Michigan is an expressly-named jurisdiction with a preserved clergy carveout.

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• Michigan Advance· 2025-10-29
  Michigan House committee considers bills to streamline CPS investigations into abuse and neglect

  Coverage of the October 28, 2025 House Committee on Families and Veterans hearing on HB 4530 and HB 4531, plus context on HB 5163. Confirms the 2025-26 CPS-strengthening package surrounds but does not touch MCL 722.631 or the clergy carveout.

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