In 2023, Michigan enacted a law that enables certain individuals to petition a court to temporarily remove guns from a person in crisis.1 The law, that will go into effect in early 2024, is called an extreme risk protection order, or ERPO, and allows law enforcement officers, family and household members—including those with a current or previous dating relationship with the respondent—and certain health care providers to demonstrate to a judge that an individual poses a significant danger to themselves or others.
Michigan courts may issue both emergency and final ERPOs. An emergency order does not require notice to the respondent, but will only last for up to fourteen days before a hearing must be held to determine whether a final order is appropriate. For a final order, if the court determines that the petitioner has met the standard of proof, it will issue an order that lasts up to one year.
An individual subject to an ERPO must relinquish their guns to law enforcement or a court-approved Federal Firearms Licensee and will be prohibited from possessing firearms for the duration of the order. They must also surrender any concealed pistol license.
Michigan uniquely allows both the petitioner and the court on its own motion to seek one or more extensions of the ERPO following the expiration of the preceding order, each effective for one year.
A respondent may petition for early termination once every six months the order is in effect.
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- 2023 Michigan SB 83, effective early 2024.[↩]