HOUSE . . . . . . . . No. 4989
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, August 8, 2024.
The committee on the Judiciary, to whom were referred the petition
(accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 962) of Ryan C. Fattman for legislation
relative to dangerousness hearings, the petition (accompanied by bill,
Senate, No. 1011) of Patricia D. Jehlen, Liz Miranda, Rebecca L. Rausch,
Ruth B. Balser and other members of the General Court for legislation
relative to compensation for victims of wrongful conviction, the petition
(accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1098) of Patrick M. O'Connor and
Steven George Xiarhos for legislation relative to GPS tampering, the
petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1101) of Patrick M. O'Connor
and Kathleen R. LaNatra for legislation to protect victims of crimes and
the public, the petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1129) of Bruce
E. Tarr for legislation relative to protecting the residents of the
Commonwealth from dangerous persons, the petition (accompanied by
bill, Senate, No. 1140) of John C. Velis for legislation relative to
dangerousness hearings,the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
1492) of Carole A. Fiola, Alan Silvia and Paul A. Schmid, III relative to
dangerousness offenses, the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
1752) of Jeffrey N. Roy relative to compensation for victims of wrongful
conviction, the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1820) of
Christopher J. Worrell and others relative to compensation for victims of
wrongful conviction, the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3786)
of Kip A. Diggs and Paul R. Feeney for legislation to protect victims and
the public from sexual assault and other violent crimes, and the petition
(accompanied by bill, House, No. 3957) of Russell E. Holmes relative to
compensation for erroneous felony convictions, reports recommending
that the accompanying bill (House, No. 4989) ought to pass.
For the committee,
MICHAEL S. DAY. 1 of 7
FILED ON: 7/31/2024
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4989
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act relative to safety and justice.
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 4 of chapter 211D of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022
2Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the fifth sentence the following sentence:-
3The committee shall establish a system for the assignment of social service vendors to assist
4counsel to indigent clients who are eligible to obtain relief under Chapter 258D of the General
5Laws
6 SECTION 2. Section 9 of said chapter 211D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
7striking out subsection (e) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:
8 (e) method for the provision of social services or social services referrals including, but
9not limited to, referrals for post release transitional services.
10 SECTION 3. Section 26 of chapter 218 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
11amended by inserting, in line 28, after the figure “274” the following words:- , section 13F of
12chapter 268. 2 of 7
13 SECTION 4. Section 1 of chapter 258D of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
14amended by striking out, in line 24, the words “clear and convincing” and inserting in place
15thereof the following words:- a preponderance of the.
16 SECTION 5. Section 5 of said chapter 258D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
17striking out subsection (A) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-
18 (A) Upon a finding or verdict that the claimant has met the requirements of section 1 by
19the requisite standard of proof and is not barred from compensation by section 2, the court or the
20jury shall determine the damages that shall be payable to the claimant. In making such
21determination, the court or jury shall consider, but not be limited to, the consideration of: the
22income the claimant would have earned, but for his conviction, incarceration, parole or other
23supervised release,; the particular circumstances of the claimant's trial and other proceedings; the
24length and conditions under which the claimant was incarcerated or on parole or other supervised
25release and; any other factors deemed appropriate under the circumstances in order to fairly and
26reasonably compensate the claimant. The court, in its discretion, may admit expert testimony on
27these or any factors. The court may include, as part of its judgment against the commonwealth,
28an order requiring the commonwealth to provide the claimant with services to address the
29individual’s physical, social, and emotional needs, including financial literacy training, and
30waive tuition and fees for the claimant for any educational services from a state or community
31college in the commonwealth including, but not limited to, the University of Massachusetts at
32Amherst and its satellite campuses. Once the damages have been determined, the court shall
33enter a judgment against the commonwealth for the claimant in an amount certain. A judgment
34against the commonwealth may not include punitive or exemplary damages. The total liability of
35the commonwealth for any judgment entered under this chapter shall not exceed $1,000,00 for up 3 of 7
36to 10 years of incarceration, shall not exceed $2,000,000 for up to 20 years of incarceration, shall
37not exceed $3,000,000 for up to 30 years of incarceration and shall not exceed $4,000,000 for up
38to 40 years of incarceration. The damages award shall not be reduced by any award of services,
39tuition or fees under Sections 5(A) or (E) or Section 10 or any award of reasonable attorney fees
40and costs of litigation as provided in section 6 below. Notwithstanding any general or special law
41to the contrary, the clerk of court shall not add to the judgment and the commonwealth shall not
42be liable for paying, any prejudgment or post judgment interest on damages. Subject to section 4,
43relative to award or settlements, the rights and remedies afforded to certain individuals by this
44chapter are not intended to limit in any way any rights or remedies that such individuals or other
45individuals may be entitled to exercise and pursue under common law or under any other state or
46federal statute including without limitation chapter 258 and 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. Any monetary
47award received by the claimant as the result of a federal civil rights lawsuit under 42 U.S.C.
48Section 1983 shall be deducted from the damages awarded under this subsection; provided that
49the claimant shall reimburse the state for damages awarded under this subsection if the monetary
50award under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 is received after judgment entry herein.
51 SECTION 6. Section 6 of said chapter 258D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
52inserting, in lines 1 to 2, after the word “chapter” the following words:- , or who enters into a
53settlement agreement with the commonwealth in connection with a claim asserted under this
54chapter.
55 SECTION 7. Section 7 of said chapter 258D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
56striking out subsection (A) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:- 4 of 7
57 (A) Upon the entry of a judgment in favor of a claimant under this chapter or upon
58settlement of a claim brought pursuant to this chapter and following a separate hearing on the
59matter, on motion of the claimant the court shall enter an order either directing the expungement
60or sealing of those records of the claimant maintained by the department of criminal justice
61information services, the probation department, and the sex offender registry that directly pertain
62to the claimant's erroneous felony conviction case, including documents and other materials and
63any samples obtained from the claimant. The commonwealth, as well as any other law
64enforcement agency that may be directly affected by such expungement or sealing of such
65records including, but not limited to, the district attorney that prosecuted the felony case against
66the claimant, shall be given reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard on the issue of
67whether such records, documents and materials shall be so expunged or sealed. In making its
68determination as to whether such records, documents and materials shall be so expunged or
69sealed, the court shall consider the interests of privacy and justice pertaining to the claimant's
70erroneous felony conviction as well as the probable effect of such expungement or sealing on
71relevant law enforcement entities and their ability to appropriately investigate and prosecute
72other persons for the felony which forms the basis of the claim or other crimes that may relate to
73the information contained in such records, documents and materials.
74 SECTION 8. Chapter 268 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
75section 13E the following section: -
76 Section 13F. Whoever intentionally removes, destroys, damages, or interferes with the
77proper functioning of a global positioning system device used to facilitate recognizance or
78compliance with conditions of pretrial release, probation or parole shall be punished by 5 of 7
79imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 5 years or imprisonment in a house of
80correction for not more than 2 ½ years.
81 SECTION 9. Section 58A of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
82amended by striking out subsection (1) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-
83 (1) The commonwealth may move, based on dangerousness, for an order of pretrial
84detention or release on conditions when a person has been charged with any of the following
85offenses:
86 (A) a third or subsequent violation of section 24 of chapter 90 or section 8 of chapter 90B
87within 10 years of the previous conviction for such violation;
88 (B) a violation of section 24G of chapter 90;
89 (C) a violation of section 8B of chapter 90B;
90 (D) an offense for which a mandatory minimum term of 3 years or more is prescribed in
91chapter 94C ;
92 (E) a violation of section 131N of chapter 140;
93 (F) a violation of an order pursuant to section 18, 34B or 34C of chapter 208;
94 (G) a violation of an order pursuant to section 32 of chapter 209;
95 (H) a violation involving abuse as defined in section 1 of chapter 209A while an order of
96protection issued under said chapter was in effect against the defendant;
97 (I) a violation of an order pursuant to section 3, 3B, 3C, 4 or 5 of chapter 209A; 6 of 7
98 (J) a violation of an order pursuant to section 15 or 20 of chapter 209C;
99 (K) a violation of an order involving abuse as defined pursuant to section 1 of chapter
100258E;
101 (L) a violation of section 13, 13 ½, 13B, 13B ½, 13 B ¾, 13F,18B, 22, 22A, 22B, 22C,
10223, 23A, 23B, 24, 24B, 26, 26B, 26C, 26D, 43A, 50 or 51 of chapter 265;
103 (M) a violation of section 1, 2, 14, 17, 102, 102A, 102B, 102C or 112 of chapter 266;
104 (N) a violation of section 13B of chapter 268;
105 (O) a violation of subsection (a), (c), (d), (h), (j), (m) or (n) of section 10 of chapter 269;
106 (P) a violation of section 10A, 10E, 10F, 10G or 11C of chapter 269;
107 (Q) a violation of section 4A, 4B, 29A, 29B, 29C, 35A, 77 or 94 of chapter 272;
108 (R) a felony violation of section 105 of chapter 272;
109 (S) any other violation of any general or special law that constitutes a felony offense that
110has as an element of said offense the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical force
111against the person of another; or
112 (T) any violation of any general or special law that constitutes conspiracy or solicitation
113to commit any crime identified in clauses (A) through (S), inclusive.
114 SECTION 10. Said chapter 276 is hereby amended by inserting after section 58B the
115following section:- 7 of 7
116 Section 58C. No person 18 years of age or older who has been charged with any act that
117would constitute abuse, as defined in section 1 of chapter 209A, or a violation of sections 13M or
11815D of chapter 265, or any offense enumerated in subsection 1 of section 58A that involves an
119identified victim, shall be admitted to bail before the alleged victim is notified of the person’s
120imminent release; provided, however, that the person charged shall not be held more than 6
121hours in order to permit prior notice to the alleged victim.
122 When a person so charged is to be released from the custody of a police department, such
123notice shall be provided by the police department. When a person so charged is to be released
124from a courthouse, such notice shall be provided by the commonwealth. When a person so
125charged is to be released from a jail or correctional facility, such notice shall be provided by the
126superintendent or superintendent’s designee. The person or agency responsible for providing
127notice shall undertake to provide notice promptly.