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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2746 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1451
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Marjorie C. Decker and Kay Khan
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to expungement of juvenile and young adult records.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Marjorie C. Decker25th Middlesex1/19/2023Kay Khan11th Middlesex1/19/2023Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/19/2023Andres X. Vargas3rd Essex2/2/2023Sal N. DiDomenicoMiddlesex and Suffolk2/8/2023Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk2/13/2023Michelle M. DuBois10th Plymouth2/13/2023Carol A. Doherty3rd Bristol2/20/2023Margaret R. Scarsdale1st Middlesex3/8/2023James C. Arena-DeRosa8th Middlesex3/9/2023 1 of 5
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2746 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1451
By Representatives Decker of Cambridge and Khan of Newton, a petition (accompanied by bill,
House, No. 1451) of Marjorie C. Decker, Kay Khan and others relative to the expungement of
juvenile and young adult records. The Judiciary.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 1531 OF 2021-2022.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act relative to expungement of juvenile and young adult records.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Section 60A of chapter 119 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
2Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence.
3 SECTION 2. Said section 60A of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby further
4amended by striking out, in line 4, the word “other” and by inserting after the word
5“delinquency”, in line 4, the following words:-
6 and youthful offender proceedings
7 SECTION 3. Section 100E of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
8Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the definition “Expunge”, “expunged”, or
9“expungement” and inserting in place thereof the following definition:- 2 of 5
10 “Expunge”, “expunged”, or “expungement”, the permanent erasure or destruction of a
11record so that the record is no longer accessible to, or maintained by, the court, any criminal
12justice agencies or any other state agency, municipal agency or county agency. Nothing in this
13Section shall be construed to prohibit the maintenance of information relating to an offense after
14records or files concerning the offense have been expunged if the information is kept in a manner
15that does not enable identification of the petitioner. This information may only be used for
16statistical and bona fide research purposes. If the record contains information on a person other
17than the petitioner, it may be maintained with all identifying information of the petitioner
18permanently obliterated or erased.
19 SECTION 4. Said section 100E of said chapter 276, as so appearing, is hereby further
20amended by striking out, in line 73, the words “or disposition of an offense” and inserting in
21place there of the following words:- or disposition of any offense
22 SECTION 5. Section 100F of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in section
2395 of Chapter 253 of the Acts of 2020, is hereby amended in subsection (a) by striking out the
24words “not more than 2”
25 SECTION 6. The first sentence of subsection (a) of section 100H of chapter 276 of the
26General Laws, as appearing in Section 97 of Chapter 253 of the Acts of 2020, is hereby amended
27by striking out the words “who has not more than 2 records that do not include an adjudication as
28a delinquent, an adjudication as a youthful offender or a conviction” and inserting in place
29thereof the following words:- who has any criminal or juvenile record where the disposition did
30not include an adjudication or conviction 3 of 5
31 SECTION 7. Section 100I of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in Section
3298 of Chapter 253 of the Acts of 2020, is hereby amended by striking out paragraph (3) and
33inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
34 (3) all offenses that are the subject of the petition to expunge the record or records,
35including any period of incarceration, custody or probation, occurred not less than 7 years before
36the date on which the petition was filed if the record or records that are the subject of the petition
37include a felony unless the offense was an offense tried in juvenile court, and not less than 3
38years before the date on which the petition was filed if the record or records that are the subject
39of the petition only include a misdemeanor or misdemeanors or offenses tried in juvenile court;
40 SECTION 8: Section 100J of chapter 276 of the General Laws is hereby amended by
41striking out section 100J and inserting in place thereof the following section:
42 Section 100J. None of the following offenses are eligible for expungement under section
43100F, 100G, or 100H:
44 (1) conviction for any offense resulting death or serious bodily injury as defined pursuant
45to section 13K of chapter 265;
46 (2) conviction for any sex offense that can never be sealed under section 178G of chapter
476 of the General Laws; or
48 (3) conviction of a violation of an order issued pursuant to section 18 or 34B of chapter
49208, section 32 of chapter 209, chapter 209A, section 15 of chapter 209C, or chapter 258E.
50 SECTION 9. Chapter 276 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
51section 100U the following two sections:- 4 of 5
52 Section 100V. Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, after an arrest of a
53person under the age of criminal majority, law enforcement and criminal justice agencies shall
54no longer transmit fingerprints and any records related to the arrest or filing of a court case
55against the person to the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Department of Justice for any
56offense that occurred before the age of criminal majority, except for purposes of requesting that
57the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Department of Justice seal or expunge its records as
58required by section 100T of this chapter and section 36 of chapter 22C of the General laws.
59 Section 100W. The office of the commissioner of probation shall collect and annually
60report on:
61 a) the number of petitions and number of allowances and denials on petitions for sealing,
62pursuant to sections 100B and 100C, separately, of Chapter 276 of the General Laws;
63 b) the number of petitions and number of allowances and denials of petitions for
64expungement, pursuant to sections 100F, 100G and 100H, separately, of Chapter 276 of the
65General Laws
66 c) the number of petitions and number of allowances and denials of petitions for
67expungement, pursuant to section 100K of Chapter 276 of the General Laws; and
68 d) the number of petitions and number of allowances and denials on petitions for sealing,
69pursuant to section 100A of Chapter 276 of the General Laws.
70 e) the number of denials pursuant to sections 100I and 100J, separately, of Chapter 276 of
71the General Laws. 5 of 5
72 Said report shall submitted to the joint committee chairs of the joint committee on the
73judiciary and the clerks of the house of representatives and senate to the house and senate no
74later than 75 days after the end of the fiscal year and made available to the public.