INSIDE MICHIGAN/ A humane public-data project
142,592 · records  ·  520,719 · sentences
VOL. I · NO. 01 · A PUBLIC-DATA PROJECT

People,
not offenders.

Michigan public corrections records describe 142,592 lives behind a difficult legacy web form. Inside Michigan turns that public record into a humane research tool. Every figure you see comes from the public record. Every design choice is ours to make.

Updated 22 April 2026Coverage All 83 Michigan countiesSample 142,592 individuals · 520,719 sentencesPhotos Withheld by default
§ 01DashboardThe numbers at a glance§ 02LookupFind an individual record§ 03ReformThe confrontational view§ 04Deaths InsideDeaths, illness & the undercount§ 05FlowPopulation flows & reform metrics§ 06MovementsAggregate facility changes§ 07Ask the DataAI over 520,719 sentences§ 08SupportKeep the work going
§ 05 — Support the work

Help keep the record human.

People Not Numbers is built around restraint: no mugshot spectacle by default, no official-government framing, and no conclusions that outrun the public data. Support pays for the slow work that keeps those defaults honest.

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Keeps the humane interface work moving: copy review, accessibility passes, and methodology notes.

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monthly membership

Funds recurring data-quality work without turning the product into an ad surface.

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$100/mo

monthly membership

Supports deeper reform pages, safer lookup defaults, and outside review of sensitive flows.

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What support buys

human defaults are operating costs
Safer publication

Reviewing lookup, indexing, and photo defaults so the interface informs without turning people into spectacle.

Methodology

Writing the plain-language notes that explain what the data can and cannot prove.

Reform tools

Turning aggregate data into county, sentence, and policy views people can actually use.

How it works

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Payments are membership fees and tips. They are not tax-deductible charitable contributions, and no nonprofit status is claimed.