Massachusetts

Massachusetts General Laws — Part IV, Title II, Criminal Procedure

407 sections, each with the official text and a plain-English explanation of what it means for you.

• § 275:1 — Justices keeping public peace; security
• § 275:10 — Proceedings on appeal
• § 275:11 — Failure to prosecute appeal; recognizance remaining in force
• § 275:12 — Discharge from commitment upon giving security
• § 275:13 — Recognizance; breach of condition
• § 275:14 — Affray, threats or disturbance of peace in presence of justice; recognizance to keep peace
• § 275:16 — Remission of portion of forfeited penalty
• § 275:17 — Right of surety to surrender principal; discharge from liability; new recognizance
• § 275:18 — Community parole supervision for life in addition to sentence of imprisonment or probation; covered offenses
• § 275:2 — Complaint of threat to commit crime
• § 275:3 — Warrant to apprehend accused
• § 275:4 — Punishment; recognizance to keep the peace
• § 275:5 — Commitment on refusal or neglect to recognize
• § 275:6 — Discharge of accused; complainant paying expenses
• § 275:7 — Accused paying expenses; commitment
• § 275:8 — Appeal from order to recognize
• § 275:9 — Witnesses to recognize for appearance
• § 276:1 — Complaint for issuance of search warrant; warrant for designated property or articles; search incident to arrest; documentary evidence subject to privilege
• § 276:10 — Rewards offered by aldermen, selectmen or mayor; determination of claims
• § 276:100 — Detailed reports of probation work; records; accessibility of information
• § 276:100A — Requests to seal files; conditions; application of section; effect of sealing of records
• § 276:100B — Requests to seal delinquency files or records; conditions; sealing by commissioner; notice for compliance; effect of sealing; limited disclosure
• § 276:100C — Sealing of records or files in certain criminal cases; effect upon employment reports; enforcement
• § 276:100D — Availability of sealed criminal record information
• § 276:100E — Definitions applicable to Secs. 100E through 100U
• § 276:100F — Petition for expungement of record as adjudicated delinquent or youthful offender
• § 276:100G — Petition for expungement of record of conviction
• § 276:100H — Petition for expungement of record without adjudication as delinquent or youthful offender or conviction
• § 276:100I — Certification of eligibility for expungement
• § 276:100J — Offenses excluded from eligibility of record for expungement
• § 276:100K — Expungement of record resulting from false identification, an offense no longer a crime at time of expungement, error or fraud
• § 276:100L — Duty of clerk of court and commissioner of criminal justice information to expunge court records and police logs upon order issued pursuant to Secs. 100F, 100G, 100H or 100K
• § 276:100M — Failure to acknowledge expunged record as basis for perjury or false statement
• § 276:100N — Employment applications and trade or professional licensures; effect of expunged records
• § 276:100O — Petitions for expungement and related records excluded as public records
• § 276:100P — Exclusion of general public from proceedings relating to petition for expungement
• § 276:100Q — Sealed or expunged records not to be available for inspection
• § 276:100R — Waiver of right to expunge as condition of plea deal
• § 276:100S — Negligence claims; employers and landlords presumed to have no notice of seal, expunged or otherwise protected records
• § 276:100T — Notice of sealed and expunged records to Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Department of Justice
• § 276:100U — Administration and enforcement of Secs. 100E to 100T
• § 276:101 — Annual report of commissioner to general court
• § 276:101A — Establishment of uniform forms of blanks and records for use in district court probation offices
• § 276:102 — Effect of Secs. 98 to 101A on authority of courts
• § 276:103 — Notice to commissioner of appointment, removal, etc., of probation officer
• § 276:10A — Authority of officer of another state to arrest felon
• § 276:10B — Proceedings after arrest made in commonwealth by an officer of another state
• § 276:10C — Partial invalidity
• § 276:10D — Uniform extraterritorial arrest on fresh pursuit; short title; uniform construction
• § 276:11 — Definitions applicable to Secs. 11 to 20R
• § 276:12 — Arrest and delivery of accused to executives of another state; governor's authority
• § 276:13 — Surrendering accused not in demanding state at time of crime or leaving demanding state involuntarily
• § 276:14 — Written demand; allegations; accompanying papers; charge of crime; authentication of copies of papers
• § 276:15 — Investigation of demand and report to governor
• § 276:16 — Governor's warrant of arrest; recital of facts
• § 276:17 — Arrest and delivery of accused; commanding aid
• § 276:18 — Authority to command assistance; penalties for refusal
• § 276:19 — Rights of arrested person; habeas corpus; notice; penalty
• § 276:1A — Search warrants for articles belonging to subversive organizations
• § 276:1B — Search warrants for records possessed by foreign corporations providing electronic communication or remote computing services
• § 276:2 — Requisites of warrant
• § 276:20 — Confinement of accused; expense; evidence of transportation to demanding state; new requisition
• § 276:20A — Warrant to apprehend on oath or affidavit; copies of papers attached
• § 276:20B — Arrest without warrant; taking accused before court or justice; complaint
• § 276:20C — Commitment to permit arrest under warrant of governor on requisition
• § 276:20D — Bail
• § 276:20E — Discharge; recommitment; bail
• § 276:20F — Forfeiture of bail
• § 276:20G — Prosecution pending in commonwealth
• § 276:20H — Inquiry into guilt or innocence
• § 276:20I — Recall of warrant or issuance of another
• § 276:20J — Waiver of warrant and procedure, etc.
• § 276:20K — Warrant to receive accused and convey him to proper county; proceedings pending in another state
• § 276:20L — Application for requisition
• § 276:20M — Payment of agent's expenses
• § 276:20N — Service of process in civil action on accused; immunity
• § 276:20O — Trying for other crimes; immunity
• § 276:20P — Waiver by commonwealth
• § 276:20Q — Severability
• § 276:20R — Uniform criminal interstate rendition law; short title; uniform construction
• § 276:21 — Warrants to arrest; issuance of process for apprehension of persons charged with crime by certain justices
• § 276:22 — Warrants, procedure for issuance
• § 276:23 — Service of warrants and other processes
• § 276:23A — Warrant management system
• § 276:23B — Annual list of persons registered with licensing authorities; department of criminal justice information services; outstanding warrants; notification of license suspension; hearing
• § 276:24 — Summons instead of warrant
• § 276:25 — Summons fixing time for trial; service
• § 276:26 — Failure to appear and abide orders as contempt
• § 276:27 — Recognizance
• § 276:28 — Arrest without warrant
• § 276:29 — Outstanding warrant check prior to release on bail or recognizance
• § 276:2A — Form of warrant
• § 276:2B — Affidavit in support of application for search warrant; contents and form
• § 276:2C — Manner of issuing search warrants; application of Secs. 2, 2A and 2B
• § 276:2D — No-knock warrants; criteria; execution of search warrants at a residence; remedy for violations
• § 276:3 — Seizure, custody and disposition of articles; exceptions
• § 276:30 — Recall of default warrant; arrest
• § 276:31 — Default warrants issued due to failure to pay fines, assessments, court costs, restitution, support payments, etc. to be noted in warrant management system
• § 276:32 — Payment of fine, assessment, costs, restitution, support payment, etc.; release from custody
• § 276:33 — Examination of arrested persons for injuries; reports; penalty
• § 276:33A — Use of telephone in places of detention
• § 276:35 — Adjournments of examinations and trials
• § 276:36 — Failure to appear; default on recognizance; subsequent proceedings
• § 276:37 — Failure to recognize; subsequent proceedings
• § 276:37A — Assignment of counsel
• § 276:38 — Examination; assistance of counsel; waiver of indictment
• § 276:3A — Time for return of search warrant
• § 276:4 — Notice before forfeiture of property seized under search warrant
• § 276:40 — Testimony reduced to writing; signing by witnesses
• § 276:41 — Discharge of prisoner
• § 276:42 — Bail or commitment
• § 276:42A — Bail or personal recognizance; terms and conditions to protect persons suffering physical abuse
• § 276:43 — Conveying prisoner through another county
• § 276:44 — Fees and expenses in district court in record sent to superior court
• § 276:45 — Witnesses bound by recognizance
• § 276:46 — Witnesses bound by recognizance on adjournment
• § 276:47 — Sureties with recognizance
• § 276:48 — Recognizances for minor witnesses
• § 276:49 — Commitment of witnesses; discharge upon recognizance
• § 276:5 — Service of notice
• § 276:51 — Release of committed witnesses; proceedings
• § 276:52 — Rules regulating treatment of committed witnesses; removal to another county
• § 276:52A — Removal of accused person to another county or to a correctional institution; return; proceedings; costs
• § 276:53 — Transporting male and female prisoners
• § 276:54 — Handcuffing committed witnesses to accused persons; transporting together
• § 276:55 — Discharge upon acknowledgment of satisfaction for injury
• § 276:56 — Filing of order; delivery to jail keeper; discharge as bar to civil action
• § 276:56A — Abuse occurring prior to or in conjunction with charged crime against person or property; investigation prior to release, discharge or admittance to bail; preliminary written statement to be filed and maintained in statewide domestic violence record keeping system
• § 276:57 — Bail; officials authorized to admit to bail; amount of bail; security
• § 276:58 — Release on personal recognizance or unsecured appearance bond; determination; fees; refusal; petition for review
• § 276:58A — Conditions for release of persons accused of certain offenses involving physical force or abuse; hearing; order; review
• § 276:58B — Revocation of release and detention order following violation of release conditions
• § 276:6 — Postponement of trial; further notice
• § 276:60 — Bail in Suffolk county; proceedings
• § 276:61 — Bail taken out of court; certificate or recognizance and deposit by surety; presence of persons; monthly statements by person taking bail
• § 276:61B — Compensation for acting as surety prohibited
• § 276:62 — Notice to district attorney of application to accept bail in Suffolk county
• § 276:63 — Compensation for taking bail
• § 276:64 — Admission to bail on Sunday
• § 276:65 — Condition of recognizance
• § 276:66 — Return of recognizance and examination taken by magistrate; order compelling; contempt
• § 276:68 — Surrender of principal; notice; exoneration of bail; return of deposits; subsequent bail
• § 276:69 — Surrender of principal after default; remission of penalty
• § 276:7 — Sale or destruction of property seized; disposition of proceeds
• § 276:70 — Inability to surrender principal; exoneration of bail
• § 276:71 — Default on recognizance
• § 276:72 — Surety paying amount for which bound; costs
• § 276:73 — Award of portion of penalty to person entitled to forfeiture
• § 276:74 — Judgment for whole or part of penalty
• § 276:75 — Neglect, omissions or defects as defeating action
• § 276:76 — Review and rehearing of case after judgment on recognizance
• § 276:77 — Service of notice and copy of petition; return day
• § 276:78 — Proceedings if former judgment diminished, etc.; costs
• § 276:79 — Personal recognizance and deposit instead of sureties for release from custody
• § 276:8 — Appeal from decree of forfeiture; recognizance; jury trial; conformity to criminal cases; disposition of articles
• § 276:80 — Forfeiture of deposit on default; sale of bonds; collection on bank books; payments to state treasurer
• § 276:81 — Defendant surrendering self; return of deposit
• § 276:82 — Magistrates authorized to admit prisoners to bail
• § 276:82A — Failure to appear in court after release on bail or recognizance; penalty
• § 276:83 — Probation officers; applicants for appointment as a probation officer; examination; investigation and interview; promotion; publication of standards
• § 276:85 — Powers and duties of probation officers
• § 276:85A — Probation officers of the probate court; support and maintenance enforcement
• § 276:85B — Probation officers of the probate court; collection of delinquent payments due under order of the court; recommendations to the court
• § 276:87 — Placing certain persons in care of probation officer
• § 276:87A — Conditions of probation
• § 276:87B — Compliance credits earned by eligible offender; accrual; revocation; calculation of supervision termination date
• § 276:88 — Clerical assistance
• § 276:89 — Temporary probation officers
• § 276:89A — Counsellors to juvenile offenders
• § 276:89B — Probation officers appointed to exclusively supervise young adults; selection; training
• § 276:9 — Rewards offered by governor; determination of claims
• § 276:90 — Powers of probation officers; reports; records; inspection
• § 276:91 — Power of probation officers appointed by Boston juvenile court to serve process
• § 276:92 — Restitution or reparation to injured person through probation officer
• § 276:92A — Restitution in cases involving motor vehicle theft or fraudulent claims
• § 276:93 — Payment to treasurer of unclaimed money collected by probation officer
• § 276:94 — Expenses of probation officers
• § 276:95 — Temporary support or transportation of probationers
• § 276:96 — Penalty for refusal or neglect of duties by probation officer
• § 276:97 — Interference with duties of department of youth services
• § 276:98 — Office of probation; commissioner of probation
• § 276:98A — Advisory board to commissioner of probation and court administrator
• § 276:99 — Powers and duties of commissioner of probation
• § 276:99B — Probation officers; compensation
• § 276:99E — Indigency; interagency service agreements; income data verification
• § 276:99F — Performance measurement system for the office of probation and private organizations under contract with the commonwealth
• § 276:99G — Pretrial services initiative; supervisor of pretrial services; duties; staff; reports
• § 276A:1 — Definitions
• § 276A:10 — Diversion of veterans, persons on active service in the armed forces or persons with history of military service
• § 276A:11 — Continuance for veterans, persons on active service in the armed forces or persons with history of military service for assessment and advisement by state or federal agency having knowledge and experience in veterans affairs
• § 276A:12 — Discretionary authority to divert offender not limited by this chapter or Chapter 276B
• § 276A:2 — Jurisdiction of court
• § 276A:3 — Screening of defendants; continuance
• § 276A:4 — Inapplicability of chapter to certain persons; exceptions
• § 276A:5 — Assessment report; recommendations; final determination; stay of criminal proceedings
• § 276A:6 — Violations by defendant; hearing; termination of stay
• § 276A:7 — Expiration of stay or continuance; report of successful completion or recommendation of extension
• § 276B:1 — Definitions
• § 276B:2 — Voluntary participation in community-based restorative justice program by juvenile and adult defendants; disposition of case upon completion
• § 276B:3 — Offenses disqualifying person from eligibility in community-based restorative justice program