Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S936 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1231 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 936
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Cynthia Stone Creem
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 :Cynthia Stone CreemNorfolk and MiddlesexSal N. DiDomenicoMiddlesex and Suffolk2/9/2023 1 of 5
16	16	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1231 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
17	17	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 936
18	18	By Ms. Creem, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 936) of Cynthia Stone Creem and
19	19	Sal N. DiDomenico for legislation to expunge juvenile and young adult records. The Judiciary.
20	20	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
21	21	SEE SENATE, NO. 980 OF 2021-2022.]
22	22	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
23	23	_______________
24	24	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
25	25	(2023-2024)
26	26	_______________
27	27	An Act relative to expungement of juvenile and young adult records.
28	28	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
29	29	of the same, as follows:
30	30	1 SECTION 1. The first paragraph of Section 60A of chapter 119 of the General Laws, as
31	31	2appearing in the 2018 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence.
32	32	3 SECTION 2. Said first paragraph of Section 60A of chapter 119 of the General Laws, is
33	33	4hereby further amended by striking out in line 4 of the second sentence the word “other” and by
34	34	5inserting between the words “delinquency” and “arising” in lines 4 and 5, the following words:-
35	35	6 and youthful offender proceedings
36	36	7 SECTION 3. Section 100E of chapter 276 of the General Laws is hereby amended by
37	37	8striking the definition “Expunge”, “expunged”, or “expungement” and inserting in place
38	38	9thereof:- 2 of 5
39	39	10 “Expunge”, “expunged”, or “expungement”, the permanent erasure or destruction of a
40	40	11record so that the record is no longer accessible to, or maintained by, the court, any criminal
41	41	12justice agencies or any other state agency, municipal agency or county agency. Nothing in this
42	42	13Section shall be construed to prohibit the maintenance of information relating to an offense after
43	43	14records or files concerning the offense have been expunged if the information is kept in a manner
44	44	15that does not enable identification of the petitioner. This information may only be used for
45	45	16statistical and bona fide research purposes. If the record contains information on a person other
46	46	17than the petitioner, it may be maintained with all identifying information of the petitioner
47	47	18permanently obliterated or erased.
48	48	19 SECTION 4. Section 100E of chapter 276 of the General Laws is hereby further amended
49	49	20by striking the words “or disposition of an offense” in the definition of “record” and inserting in
50	50	21place there of the following words:- “or disposition of any offense”
51	51	22 SECTION 5. The first sentence of subsection (a) of section 100F of chapter 276 of the
52	52	23General Laws, as appearing in section 95 of Chapter 253 of the Acts of 2020, is hereby amended
53	53	24by striking the following words:- “not more than 2”
54	54	25 SECTION 6. The first sentence of subsection (a) of section 100H of chapter 276 of the
55	55	26General Laws, as appearing in Section 97 of Chapter 253 of the Acts of 2020 is hereby amended
56	56	27by striking the following words, “who has not more than 2 records that do not include an
57	57	28adjudication as a delinquent, an adjudication as a youthful offender or a conviction” and
58	58	29inserting in place thereof the following words:- “who has any criminal or juvenile record where
59	59	30the disposition did not include an adjudication or conviction” 3 of 5
60	60	31 SECTION 7. Clause (a)(3) of section 100I of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as
61	61	32appearing in Section 98 of Chapter 253 of the Acts of 2020 is hereby amended by striking the
62	62	33clause and inserting in place thereof the following words:-
63	63	34 (3) all offenses that are the subject of the petition to expunge the record or records,
64	64	35including any period of incarceration, custody or probation, occurred not less than 7 years before
65	65	36the date on which the petition was filed if the record or records that are the subject of the petition
66	66	37include a felony unless the offense was an offense tried in juvenile court, and not less than 3
67	67	38years before the date on which the petition was filed if the record or records that are the subject
68	68	39of the petition only include a misdemeanor or misdemeanors or offenses tried in juvenile court;
69	69	40 SECTION 8: Section 100J of chapter 276 of the General Laws, is hereby amended by
70	70	41striking out, section 100J, and inserting in place thereof the following section:
71	71	42 Section 100J. None of the following offenses are eligible for expungement under section
72	72	43100F, 100G, or 100H:
73	73	44 (1) conviction for any offense resulting death or serious bodily injury as defined pursuant
74	74	45to section 13K of chapter 265;
75	75	46 (2) conviction for any sex offense that can never be sealed under section 178G of chapter
76	76	476 of the General Laws; or
77	77	48 (3) conviction of a violation of an order issued pursuant to section 18 or 34B of chapter
78	78	49208, section 32 of chapter 209, chapter 209A, section 15 of chapter 209C, or chapter 258E.
79	79	50 SECTION 9. Chapter 276 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
80	80	51section 100U, the following two sections:- 4 of 5
81	81	52 Section 100V. Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, after an arrest of a
82	82	53person under the age of criminal majority, law enforcement and criminal justice agencies shall
83	83	54no longer transmit fingerprints and any records related to the arrest or filing of a court case
84	84	55against the person to the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Department of Justice for any
85	85	56offense that occurred before the age of criminal majority, except for purposes of requesting that
86	86	57the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Department of Justice seal or expunge its records as
87	87	58required by section 100T of this chapter and section 36 of chapter 22C of the General laws.
88	88	59 Section 100W. The office of the commissioner of probation shall collect and annually
89	89	60report on:
90	90	61 a) the number of petitions and number of allowances and denials on petitions for sealing,
91	91	62pursuant to sections 100B and 100C, separately, of Chapter 276 of the General Laws;
92	92	63 b) the number of petitions and number of allowances and denials of petitions for
93	93	64expungement, pursuant to sections 100F, 100G and 100H, separately, of Chapter 276 of the
94	94	65General Laws
95	95	66 c) the number of petitions and number of allowances and denials of petitions for
96	96	67expungement, pursuant to section 100K of Chapter 276 of the General Laws; and
97	97	68 d) the number of petitions and number of allowances and denials on petitions for sealing,
98	98	69pursuant to section 100A of Chapter 276 of the General Laws.
99	99	70 e) the number of denials pursuant to sections 100I and 100J, separately, of Chapter 276 of
100	100	71the General Laws. 5 of 5
101	101	72 Said report shall submitted to the joint committee chairs of the joint committee on the
102	102	73judiciary and the clerks of the house of representatives and senate to the house and senate no
103	103	74later than 75 days after the end of the fiscal year and made available to the public.