Tether fees; MCL 769.1k(2); Requirement that the trial court state on the record the sentence being imposed; MCR 6.425(D)(1)(d); Whether an error warranted reversal

The court concluded that tether “fees are statutorily permissible under MCL 769.1k(2), and that the trial court did not violate defendant’s substantial rights by imposing them.” While the trial court plainly erred by failing to “state on the record that it was imposing $615 related to” her tether fees, reversal was not warranted. She was convicted of possession of meth and sentenced to serve 12 months. She was also ordered to pay court costs. Defendant argued the tether “fees are not authorized by statute.” Alternatively, she claimed that reversal was “warranted because the trial court failed to state on the record the entire sentence imposed.” The court held that there “were sufficient facts demonstrating the GPS tether was to secure defendant’s appearance at later court hearings, and the trial court did not err when it imposed this fee at” her resentencing. Thus, there was “nothing patently erroneous with the trial court’s imposition of tether-related fees in defendant’s sentence.” But the court noted that “the trial court failed to state on the record its intention to impose fees related to defendant’s tether. ‘At sentencing, the court must, on the record . . . state the sentence being imposed . . . .’” The court concluded that the “trial court plainly erred when it did not state on the record that it was imposing $615 related to defendant’s tether fees.” The question was whether this error warranted reversal. The “error did not result in the conviction of an actually innocent defendant. Similarly, it did not affect ‘the fairness, integrity or public reputation’ of the proceedings.” The court noted the “$615 tether fee was discussed at length at the resentencing hearing and defendant admitted to owing the fee. Further, [she] promised to pay the fee, and promptly paid it the following day. Because [she] acknowledged—and satisfied—her obligation to pay these fees, the trial court’s failure to state on the record its imposition of tether fees is not a reversible error.” Affirmed.