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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 567 FILED ON: 1/13/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1534 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Kenneth I. Gordon |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act to protect residents and law enforcement officers in the Commonwealth. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Kenneth I. Gordon21st Middlesex1/10/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 567 FILED ON: 1/13/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1534 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Gordon of Bedford, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1534) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Kenneth I. Gordon relative to the classification of arrest warrants. The Judiciary. |
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| 20 | 20 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 21 | 21 | | SEE HOUSE, NO. 1621 OF 2021-2022.] |
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| 22 | 22 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 23 | 23 | | _______________ |
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| 24 | 24 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 25 | 25 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 26 | 26 | | _______________ |
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| 27 | 27 | | An Act to protect residents and law enforcement officers in the Commonwealth. |
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| 28 | 28 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 29 | 29 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 30 | 30 | | 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in 2020 Official Edition, is |
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| 31 | 31 | | 2hereby amended by adding the following sections:- |
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| 32 | 32 | | 3 Section 22A. Arrest warrants issued by a justice, pursuant to section 21 of chapter 276, or |
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| 33 | 33 | | 4a clerk, pursuant to section 33 of chapter 218, shall be classified as discretionary or non- |
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| 34 | 34 | | 5discretionary. |
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| 35 | 35 | | 6 The classification of discretionary shall be limited to subjects who do not pose a credible |
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| 36 | 36 | | 7risk of danger to an individual or the public. |
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| 37 | 37 | | 8 Section 22B. Law enforcement officers may arrest or may delay or dispense with the |
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| 38 | 38 | | 9arrest of a person who is subject to arrest under a discretionary warrant, provided, in the event of |
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| 39 | 39 | | 10a non-arrest decision, the officer: 2 of 2 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 11 (i)gives the subject of the warrant written notice with the date, time, and location of |
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| 41 | 41 | | 12the court where he or she must appear to remove the warrant; |
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| 42 | 42 | | 13 (ii)documents the circumstances in an incident report in accordance with the |
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| 43 | 43 | | 14standards of the officer’s law enforcement agency; and |
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| 44 | 44 | | 15 (iii)ensures that a copy of the incident report is furnished to the court of jurisdiction |
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| 45 | 45 | | 16for the underlying arrest warrant. |
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| 46 | 46 | | 17 Law enforcement officers must arrest the subject of any warrant classified as non- |
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| 47 | 47 | | 18discretionary. |
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