Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H1451 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2746 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1451
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Marjorie C. Decker and Kay Khan
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to expungement of juvenile and young adult records.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	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
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2746 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1451
18	18	By Representatives Decker of Cambridge and Khan of Newton, a petition (accompanied by bill,
19	19	House, No. 1451) of Marjorie C. Decker, Kay Khan and others relative to the expungement of
20	20	juvenile and young adult records. The Judiciary.
21	21	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
22	22	SEE HOUSE, NO. 1531 OF 2021-2022.]
23	23	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
24	24	_______________
25	25	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
26	26	(2023-2024)
27	27	_______________
28	28	An Act relative to expungement of juvenile and young adult records.
29	29	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
30	30	of the same, as follows:
31	31	1 SECTION 1. Section 60A of chapter 119 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
32	32	2Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence.
33	33	3 SECTION 2. Said section 60A of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby further
34	34	4amended by striking out, in line 4, the word “other” and by inserting after the word
35	35	5“delinquency”, in line 4, the following words:-
36	36	6 and youthful offender proceedings
37	37	7 SECTION 3. Section 100E of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
38	38	8Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the definition “Expunge”, “expunged”, or
39	39	9“expungement” and inserting in place thereof the following definition:- 2 of 5
40	40	10 “Expunge”, “expunged”, or “expungement”, the permanent erasure or destruction of a
41	41	11record so that the record is no longer accessible to, or maintained by, the court, any criminal
42	42	12justice agencies or any other state agency, municipal agency or county agency. Nothing in this
43	43	13Section shall be construed to prohibit the maintenance of information relating to an offense after
44	44	14records or files concerning the offense have been expunged if the information is kept in a manner
45	45	15that does not enable identification of the petitioner. This information may only be used for
46	46	16statistical and bona fide research purposes. If the record contains information on a person other
47	47	17than the petitioner, it may be maintained with all identifying information of the petitioner
48	48	18permanently obliterated or erased.
49	49	19 SECTION 4. Said section 100E of said chapter 276, as so appearing, is hereby further
50	50	20amended by striking out, in line 73, the words “or disposition of an offense” and inserting in
51	51	21place there of the following words:- or disposition of any offense
52	52	22 SECTION 5. Section 100F of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in section
53	53	2395 of Chapter 253 of the Acts of 2020, is hereby amended in subsection (a) by striking out the
54	54	24words “not more than 2”
55	55	25 SECTION 6. The first sentence of subsection (a) of section 100H of chapter 276 of the
56	56	26General Laws, as appearing in Section 97 of Chapter 253 of the Acts of 2020, is hereby amended
57	57	27by striking out the words “who has not more than 2 records that do not include an adjudication as
58	58	28a delinquent, an adjudication as a youthful offender or a conviction” and inserting in place
59	59	29thereof the following words:- who has any criminal or juvenile record where the disposition did
60	60	30not include an adjudication or conviction 3 of 5
61	61	31 SECTION 7. Section 100I of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in Section
62	62	3298 of Chapter 253 of the Acts of 2020, is hereby amended by striking out paragraph (3) and
63	63	33inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
64	64	34 (3) all offenses that are the subject of the petition to expunge the record or records,
65	65	35including any period of incarceration, custody or probation, occurred not less than 7 years before
66	66	36the date on which the petition was filed if the record or records that are the subject of the petition
67	67	37include a felony unless the offense was an offense tried in juvenile court, and not less than 3
68	68	38years before the date on which the petition was filed if the record or records that are the subject
69	69	39of the petition only include a misdemeanor or misdemeanors or offenses tried in juvenile court;
70	70	40 SECTION 8: Section 100J of chapter 276 of the General Laws is hereby amended by
71	71	41striking out section 100J and inserting in place thereof the following section:
72	72	42 Section 100J. None of the following offenses are eligible for expungement under section
73	73	43100F, 100G, or 100H:
74	74	44 (1) conviction for any offense resulting death or serious bodily injury as defined pursuant
75	75	45to section 13K of chapter 265;
76	76	46 (2) conviction for any sex offense that can never be sealed under section 178G of chapter
77	77	476 of the General Laws; or
78	78	48 (3) conviction of a violation of an order issued pursuant to section 18 or 34B of chapter
79	79	49208, section 32 of chapter 209, chapter 209A, section 15 of chapter 209C, or chapter 258E.
80	80	50 SECTION 9. Chapter 276 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
81	81	51section 100U the following two sections:- 4 of 5
82	82	52 Section 100V. Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, after an arrest of a
83	83	53person under the age of criminal majority, law enforcement and criminal justice agencies shall
84	84	54no longer transmit fingerprints and any records related to the arrest or filing of a court case
85	85	55against the person to the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Department of Justice for any
86	86	56offense that occurred before the age of criminal majority, except for purposes of requesting that
87	87	57the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Department of Justice seal or expunge its records as
88	88	58required by section 100T of this chapter and section 36 of chapter 22C of the General laws.
89	89	59 Section 100W. The office of the commissioner of probation shall collect and annually
90	90	60report on:
91	91	61 a) the number of petitions and number of allowances and denials on petitions for sealing,
92	92	62pursuant to sections 100B and 100C, separately, of Chapter 276 of the General Laws;
93	93	63 b) the number of petitions and number of allowances and denials of petitions for
94	94	64expungement, pursuant to sections 100F, 100G and 100H, separately, of Chapter 276 of the
95	95	65General Laws
96	96	66 c) the number of petitions and number of allowances and denials of petitions for
97	97	67expungement, pursuant to section 100K of Chapter 276 of the General Laws; and
98	98	68 d) the number of petitions and number of allowances and denials on petitions for sealing,
99	99	69pursuant to section 100A of Chapter 276 of the General Laws.
100	100	70 e) the number of denials pursuant to sections 100I and 100J, separately, of Chapter 276 of
101	101	71the General Laws. 5 of 5
102	102	72 Said report shall submitted to the joint committee chairs of the joint committee on the
103	103	73judiciary and the clerks of the house of representatives and senate to the house and senate no
104	104	74later than 75 days after the end of the fiscal year and made available to the public.