LANSING - Authorities who discover children left alone in vehicles may soon have more leeway when it comes to punishing adults responsible.

A bill passed by the House says that a parent or guardian cannot “leave a child in a vehicle for a period of time that poses an unreasonable risk of harm of injury to the child or under circumstances that pose an unreasonable risk of harm or injury.”

That would be an improvement over current law, Eaton County Prosecutor Jeff Sauter says.

“It fills a current gap in the law,” Sauter said.

To prosecute now, Sauter said he must prove that the parents “knowingly and intentionally” left the child in the car or that “serious physical harm” actually resulted from parental negligence.

In a high-profile case, Tarajee Maynor left her children, aged 10 months and 3 years, in a Southfield parking lot for several hours while she was at a beauty salon in the summer of 2002. Both children died, and Maynor pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

In Eaton County, Sauter said, a 4-month-old was left in a car one July day when the temperature was in the 80s. The women responsible – the child’s mother and aunt – said they forgot about the child, who Sauter said came close to serious physical harm.

“Under the circumstances, I didn’t feel that I could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that that was an intentional act, and I chose not to authorize charges,” he said.

He cited another instance when two parents left a child under 2 in the car while they watched the latest “Harry Potter” film one evening. Since the cooler night temperature didn’t threaten the child’s health, Sauter did not press charges.

“I can’t prove it was likely to cause serious injury when no injury resulted under the circumstances,” Sauter said, “but obviously the action of leaving a child in a car certainly puts the child at considerable risk of harm.”

The proposed change in the law would allow prosecutors to better react to situations, he said.

“The bill speaks in terms of either a period of time or under circumstances that pose an unreasonable risk of harm or injury to the child,” Sauter said. “I think there’s appropriate guidance of legislative intent here.”

The bill’s premise initially worried Rep. Tim Moore, R–Farwell, now one of the bill’s nearly 70 co-sponsors.

“What happens if your kids are sick in the car, and you have to run in to grab a gallon of milk?” Moore said. “Would that constitute breaking the law?”

Not likely, says Rep. Fran Amos, R–Waterford, the primary sponsor.

“I wanted to make sure there was discretion in there, I don’t want to hurt anybody who didn’t do it intentionally,” said Amos, who has been developing the bill for the last five years as a response to multiple incidents in her district, including the Maynor case. “We have enough flexibility so that shouldn’t happen.”

Amos said that parents who leave their children for just moments to pay for gas or let one child sleep in the car during a sibling’s soccer practice would not be charged, assuming the parents keep a close watch on the vehicle.

Violations would be misdemeanors with 93 days in jail and a maximum fine of $500. If there is “serious physical harm,” the violater could face 10 years in prison and a $5,000 fine. A child’s death could result in 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The bill is awaiting Senate action.