| 1 | 1 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . No. 4353 |
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| 2 | 2 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 3 | 3 | | ________________________________________ |
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| 4 | 4 | | HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 12, 2024. |
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| 5 | 5 | | The committee on The Judiciary, to whom were referred the petition |
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| 6 | 6 | | (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 915) of William N. Brownsberger for |
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| 7 | 7 | | legislation relative to indigency, and the petition (accompanied by bill, |
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| 8 | 8 | | House, No. 1561) of Daniel J. Hunt for legislation relative to indigency, |
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| 9 | 9 | | reports recommending that the accompanying bill (House, No. 4353) |
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| 10 | 10 | | ought to pass. |
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| 11 | 11 | | For the committee, |
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| 12 | 12 | | MICHAEL S. DAY. 1 of 3 |
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| 13 | 13 | | FILED ON: 2/5/2024 |
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| 14 | 14 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4353 |
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| 15 | 15 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 16 | 16 | | _______________ |
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| 17 | 17 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 18 | 18 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 19 | 19 | | _______________ |
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| 20 | 20 | | An Act related to indigency. |
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| 21 | 21 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 22 | 22 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 23 | 23 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 27A of chapter 261 of the General Laws as appearing in the 2022 |
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| 24 | 24 | | 2Official Edition is hereby amended by striking out the definition of “indigent” and inserting in |
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| 25 | 25 | | 3place thereof the following definition:- |
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| 26 | 26 | | 4 ''Indigent'', (a) a person who receives one of the following types of public assistance: |
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| 27 | 27 | | 5transitional aid to families with dependent children, emergency aid to elderly, disabled and |
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| 28 | 28 | | 6children, supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits, refugee cash assistance, need- |
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| 29 | 29 | | 7based veterans' benefits or SSI state supplemental program benefits; (b) a person whose income, |
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| 30 | 30 | | 8after taxes, is 125 per cent or less of the current poverty guidelines established annually by the |
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| 31 | 31 | | 9Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to Section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget |
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| 32 | 32 | | 10Reconciliation Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)), as amended; or (c) a person who is unable to |
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| 33 | 33 | | 11pay the fees and costs of the proceeding in which they are involved or is unable to do so without |
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| 34 | 34 | | 12depriving themselves or their dependents of the necessities of life, including food, shelter and |
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| 35 | 35 | | 13clothing, but an inmate shall not be adjudged indigent pursuant to section 27C unless the inmate 2 of 3 |
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| 36 | 36 | | 14has complied with the procedures set forth in section 29 and the court finds that the prisoner is |
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| 37 | 37 | | 15incapable of making payments under the plans set forth in said section 29. |
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| 38 | 38 | | 16 SECTION 2. Section 2A of Chapter 211D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by |
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| 39 | 39 | | 17striking out the second paragraph of subsection (c) and inserting in place thereof the following |
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| 40 | 40 | | 18paragraph: |
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| 41 | 41 | | 19 Any time the court receives information causing its determination of a person’s indigency |
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| 42 | 42 | | 20status to be in doubt, the court shall order the chief probation officer or the officer's designee to |
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| 43 | 43 | | 21reassess the financial circumstances of the person to ensure that the person meets the definition |
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| 44 | 44 | | 22of indigency. The chief probation officer or the officer's designee shall prepare, sign and file a |
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| 45 | 45 | | 23written report certifying that the person meets, or does not meet, the definition of indigency. |
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| 46 | 46 | | 24 SECTION 3. Said section 2A of said chapter 211D, as so appearing, is hereby further |
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| 47 | 47 | | 25amended by striking, in lines 87-89, the words “, other than the bi-annual reassessments required |
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| 48 | 48 | | 26by the defendant’s representation for the first offense,” |
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| 49 | 49 | | 27 SECTION 4. Said section 2A of said chapter 211D, as so appearing, is further amended |
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| 50 | 50 | | 28by striking out subsections (f), (g) and (h). |
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| 51 | 51 | | 29 SECTION 5. Said section 2A of said chapter 211D, as so appearing, is hereby further |
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| 52 | 52 | | 30amended by striking out subsection (i) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:- |
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| 53 | 53 | | 31 (i)The office of the commissioner of probations hall submit quarterly reports to the |
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| 54 | 54 | | 32house and senate committees on ways and means that shall include, but not be limited to: (a) the |
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| 55 | 55 | | 33number of individuals claiming indigency who are determined to be indigent; (b) the number of |
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| 56 | 56 | | 34individuals claiming indigency who are determined not to be indigent; (c ) the number of 3 of 3 |
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| 57 | 57 | | 35individuals found to have misrepresented wage, tax or asset information; (d) the number of |
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| 58 | 58 | | 36individuals found to no longer qualify for appointment of counsel upon any re-assessment of |
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| 59 | 59 | | 37indigency required by this section; and (e) other pertinent information to ascertain the |
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| 60 | 60 | | 38effectiveness of indigency verification procedures. The information within such reports shall be |
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| 61 | 61 | | 39delineated by court division and delineated further by month. |
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