Bills aim to deliver justice in Flint water crisis before clock runs out

Time is running out to charge public officials for their roles in the Flint water crisis.

Two lawmakers from Flint are hoping to give prosecutors more time by extending the statute of limitations for criminal misconduct cases involving public officials.

Sen. Jim Ananich and Rep. Sheldon Neeley each introduced a bill to increase the statute of limitations from six years to 10 years.

The water crisis began in April 2014 after the city of Flint, under state emergency management, switched its water source to the Flint River.

The legislation comes about two months after Michigan Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said they need more time to review newly discovered evidence in the case.

“This legislation is necessary to ensure that the people of Flint have the opportunity for justice to be served and not cut short because the previous investigation was conducted irregularly and ineffectively,” Cherry said in a news release. “We need to ensure that investigators have the time needed to properly review the 99% of documents that were not turned over to prosecutors until this summer.”

Ananich said justice must be delivered.

“Flint will not be able to truly recover until those who poisoned our city are held accountable by the law,” Ananich said. “While we know that this is an extremely urgent matter that needs to be brought to a conclusion, the most important thing is that, at the end of the day, the people of our community see justice.”

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