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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2644 FILED ON: 1/19/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1661 |
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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 | | Christopher M. Markey |
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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 |
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| 12 | 12 | | resolve: |
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| 13 | 13 | | Resolve establishing a bail reform and pretrial treatment task force. |
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| 14 | 14 | | _______________ |
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| 15 | 15 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 16 | 16 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Christopher M. Markey9th Bristol1/19/2023 1 of 3 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2644 FILED ON: 1/19/2023 |
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| 18 | 18 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1661 |
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| 19 | 19 | | By Representative Markey of Dartmouth, a petition (accompanied by resolve, House, No. 1661) |
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| 20 | 20 | | of Christopher M. Markey for an investigation by special commission (including members of the |
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| 21 | 21 | | General Court) to study the legal and regulatory framework governing the bail system. The |
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| 22 | 22 | | Judiciary. |
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| 23 | 23 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 24 | 24 | | SEE HOUSE, NO. 1778 OF 2021-2022.] |
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| 25 | 25 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 26 | 26 | | _______________ |
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| 27 | 27 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 28 | 28 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 29 | 29 | | _______________ |
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| 30 | 30 | | Resolve establishing a bail reform and pretrial treatment task force. |
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| 31 | 31 | | 1 Resolved, There shall be established, pursuant to section 2A of Chapter 4 of the General |
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| 32 | 32 | | 2Laws as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, a special legislative commission known as the |
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| 33 | 33 | | 3Task Force on Bail Reform and Pretrial Treatment. The task force shall consist of the following |
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| 34 | 34 | | 412 members: the governor or his designee; the speaker of the house of representatives or his |
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| 35 | 35 | | 5designee; the senate president or her designee; a member of the house of representatives |
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| 36 | 36 | | 6appointed by the minority leader of the house of representatives; a member of the senate |
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| 37 | 37 | | 7appointed by the minority leader of the senate; the attorney general or her designee; |
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| 38 | 38 | | 8commissioner of probation or designee; president of the Massachusetts District Attorney |
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| 39 | 39 | | 9Association or designee; president of the Massachusetts Sheriffs Association or a designee; |
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| 40 | 40 | | 10executive director of Prisoners’ Legal Services or her designee; Chief Justice of the |
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| 41 | 41 | | 11Massachusetts Trial Court; a designee appointed by the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services 2 of 3 |
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| 42 | 42 | | 12of the Department of Public Health; chief counsel from Committee for Public Counsel Services; |
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| 43 | 43 | | 13and president of the Massachusetts Bar Association or a designee. |
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| 44 | 44 | | 14 The task force shall conduct an investigation and study the existing legal and regulatory |
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| 45 | 45 | | 15framework of governing current bail system and use of pretrial hearings and treatments including |
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| 46 | 46 | | 16the pretrial release and detention system in the Commonwealth. Further, the task force shall |
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| 47 | 47 | | 17review the feasibility of a cashless bail system while considering, but not limited to, the |
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| 48 | 48 | | 18following guiding principles: pretrial custody should not occur solely because the defendant |
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| 49 | 49 | | 19cannot afford bail; public safety is a fundamental consideration in the pretrial detention |
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| 50 | 50 | | 20decisions; defendants should be released from pretrial custody as early as possible based on an |
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| 51 | 51 | | 21assessment of the risk to public safety and the risk of failing to appear in court; non-financial |
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| 52 | 52 | | 22release alternatives should be available; consistent practices for making pretrial release, |
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| 53 | 53 | | 23detention, and supervision decisions should be established. Further, the task force shall consider |
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| 54 | 54 | | 24the use and breadth of “dangerousness hearings” as defined in Section 58A of Chapter 276 as |
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| 55 | 55 | | 25appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, including but not limited to the ability to hold individuals |
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| 56 | 56 | | 26considered to be a serious danger past the current 120 day holding period limit, limiting hearsay |
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| 57 | 57 | | 27in said hearings, and consider testing such as mental health screenings, alcohol or drug abuse |
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| 58 | 58 | | 28evaluation or any other methods deemed necessary to order medical, psychological, or |
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| 59 | 59 | | 29psychiatric treatment, including treatment for substance or alcohol use disorder. The task force |
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| 60 | 60 | | 30shall also consider any other aspects of bail reform or pretrial services as it sees fit. |
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| 61 | 61 | | 31 The task force shall file a report with the governor, the president of the senate and |
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| 62 | 62 | | 32speaker of the house of representatives regarding the results of its investigation and study within |
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| 63 | 63 | | 33twelve months of the formulation of the task force. The report shall include: (i) an assessment of |
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| 64 | 64 | | 34the current legal and regulatory structures of the bail system in the Commonwealth as well as the 3 of 3 |
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| 65 | 65 | | 35treatment of individuals in the pretrial setting; (ii) recommendations for amendments to any |
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| 66 | 66 | | 36current law, rule, or regulation; and (iii) recommendations for legislation, if any, which shall be |
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| 67 | 67 | | 37filed with the clerks of the house of representatives and senate. |
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