The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us) STATE OF MICHIGAN FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL Opinion No. 5282 March 24, 1978 PRISONS & PRISONERS: Commission of crime while on work-pass program WORDS & PHRASES: 'incarcerated' The statute which provides for a mandatory consecutive sentence where a person who is incarcerated in a penal institution commits a crime during that incarceration is applicable to an inmate who commits a crime while employed in a work-pass program outside the confines of the penal institution. Honorable Jeffrey D. Padden State Representative 27th District House of Representatives Lansing, Michigan 48909 You have requested my opinion upon a question involving the interpretation of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1927 PA 175, Chap 768, Sec. 7a as amended by 1976 PA 184, MCLA 768.7a; MSA 28.1030(1). You asked whether an inmate who commits a crime while participating in a work-pass program, must be sentenced under the mandatory consecutive sentence of this provision. 1927 PA 175, Chap 768, Sec. 7a, supra, provides: 'A person who is incarcerated in a penal or reformatory institution in this State, or who escapes from that institution, and who commits a crime during that incarceration or escape which is punishable by imprisonment in a penal or reformatory institution in this State shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to sentence therefore in the manner provided by law for such crimes. The term of sentence for the crime shall commence at the expiration of the term or terms of sentence which the person is serving. . . .' (emphasis added) 1976 PA 184, supra. 1953 PA 232, Sec. 65a, MCLA 791.265a; MSA 28.2325, provides: 'The director may extend the limits of the place of confinement of a prisoner . . . to: b) work at paid employment or to participate in a training program in the community on a voluntary basis while continuing as a prisoner of the institution or facility to which he is committed.' (Emphasis added) A review of this statute reveals no legislatively ascribed definition of the phrase 'incarcerated in a penal or reformatory institution'. In absence of any legislative definition, the words of a statute must be construed in their ordinary sense. The word 'incarcerate' has been defined to mean imprisonment or confinement. Webster's New Third International Dictionary. Another source has defined incarceration as follows: 'When so used, it appears always to mean confinement by competent public authority or under due legal process, . . .' Black's Law Dictionary, Revised Fourth Edition, page 903. It has been held that the term 'incarcerate' is synonymous with the term 'imprisonment.' Thus, a person who is working upon the streets under the custody and direction of the sheriff pursuant to a statute authorizing such work by prisoners was held to be imprisoned during the performance of such work and entitled to credit for such imprisonment. State ex rel Kahn v Woodward, 123 Ind 30, 23 NW 968 (Ind, 1890). It has also been held that a prisoner employed in a county work-release program was 'incarcerated' so as to entitle him to the time served under the Revised Code of Montana, 1947, 95-2215(a). Maldonado v Crist, 162 Mont 240, 510 P2d 887 (1973). A federal court has also held that a prisoner assigned to a federal medical center is 'incarcerated' where the medical facility had prison-type environment. United States v Mills, 434 F2d 266, 272 (CA 8, 1970) cert den 401 US 925 (1971); see also Guy v Ciccone, 439 F2d 400, 402 (CA 8, 1971). Therefore, the mandatory consecutive sentence provision of 1976 PA 184, supra, is applicable to an inmate, who, while employed in a work-pass program outside the confines of the institution, committed a crime punishable by imprisonment in a penal or reformatory institution in this State. Frank J. Kelley Attorney General