Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H1667 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2482 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1667
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Kip A. Diggs
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 safety and justice.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Kip A. Diggs2nd Barnstable1/16/2025 1 of 7
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2482 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1667
18	18	By Representative Diggs of Barnstable, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1667) of Kip
19	19	A. Diggs relative to convictions and release of sexual offenders. The Judiciary.
20	20	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
21	21	SEE HOUSE, NO. 4989 OF 2023-2024.]
22	22	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
23	23	_______________
24	24	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
25	25	(2025-2026)
26	26	_______________
27	27	An Act relative to safety and justice.
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. Section 4 of chapter 211D of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022
31	31	2Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the fifth sentence the following sentence:-
32	32	3The committee shall establish a system for the assignment of social service vendors to assist
33	33	4counsel to indigent clients who are eligible to obtain relief under Chapter 258D of the General
34	34	5Laws
35	35	6 SECTION 2. Section 9 of said chapter 211D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
36	36	7striking out subsection (e) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:
37	37	8 (e) method for the provision of social services or social services referrals including, but
38	38	9not limited to, referrals for post release transitional services. 2 of 7
39	39	10 SECTION 3. Section 26 of chapter 218 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
40	40	11amended by inserting, in line 28, after the figure “274” the following words:- , section 13F of
41	41	12chapter 268.
42	42	13 SECTION 4. Section 1 of chapter 258D of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
43	43	14amended by striking out, in line 24, the words “clear and convincing” and inserting in place
44	44	15thereof the following words:- a preponderance of the.
45	45	16 SECTION 5. Section 5 of said chapter 258D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
46	46	17striking out subsection (A) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-
47	47	18 (A) Upon a finding or verdict that the claimant has met the requirements of section 1 by
48	48	19the requisite standard of proof and is not barred from compensation by section 2, the court or the
49	49	20jury shall determine the damages that shall be payable to the claimant. In making such
50	50	21determination, the court or jury shall consider, but not be limited to, the consideration of: the
51	51	22income the claimant would have earned, but for his conviction, incarceration, parole or other
52	52	23supervised release,; the particular circumstances of the claimant's trial and other proceedings; the
53	53	24length and conditions under which the claimant was incarcerated or on parole or other supervised
54	54	25release and; any other factors deemed appropriate under the circumstances in order to fairly and
55	55	26reasonably compensate the claimant. The court, in its discretion, may admit expert testimony on
56	56	27these or any factors. The court may include, as part of its judgment against the commonwealth,
57	57	28an order requiring the commonwealth to provide the claimant with services to address the
58	58	29individual’s physical, social, and emotional needs, including financial literacy training, and
59	59	30waive tuition and fees for the claimant for any educational services from a state or community
60	60	31college in the commonwealth including, but not limited to, the University of Massachusetts at 3 of 7
61	61	32Amherst and its satellite campuses. Once the damages have been determined, the court shall
62	62	33enter a judgment against the commonwealth for the claimant in an amount certain. A judgment
63	63	34against the commonwealth may not include punitive or exemplary damages. The total liability of
64	64	35the commonwealth for any judgment entered under this chapter shall not exceed $1,000,00 for up
65	65	36to 10 years of incarceration, shall not exceed $2,000,000 for up to 20 years of incarceration, shall
66	66	37not exceed $3,000,000 for up to 30 years of incarceration and shall not exceed $4,000,000 for up
67	67	38to 40 years of incarceration. The damages award shall not be reduced by any award of services,
68	68	39tuition or fees under Sections 5(A) or (E) or Section 10 or any award of reasonable attorney fees
69	69	40and costs of litigation as provided in section 6 below. Notwithstanding any general or special law
70	70	41to the contrary, the clerk of court shall not add to the judgment and the commonwealth shall not
71	71	42be liable for paying, any prejudgment or post judgment interest on damages. Subject to section 4,
72	72	43relative to award or settlements, the rights and remedies afforded to certain individuals by this
73	73	44chapter are not intended to limit in any way any rights or remedies that such individuals or other
74	74	45individuals may be entitled to exercise and pursue under common law or under any other state or
75	75	46federal statute including without limitation chapter 258 and 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. Any monetary
76	76	47award received by the claimant as the result of a federal civil rights lawsuit under 42 U.S.C.
77	77	48Section 1983 shall be deducted from the damages awarded under this subsection; provided that
78	78	49the claimant shall reimburse the state for damages awarded under this subsection if the monetary
79	79	50award under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 is received after judgment entry herein.
80	80	51 SECTION 6. Section 6 of said chapter 258D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
81	81	52inserting, in lines 1 to 2, after the word “chapter” the following words:- , or who enters into a
82	82	53settlement agreement with the commonwealth in connection with a claim asserted under this
83	83	54chapter. 4 of 7
84	84	55 SECTION 7. Section 7 of said chapter 258D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
85	85	56striking out subsection (A) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-
86	86	57 (A) Upon the entry of a judgment in favor of a claimant under this chapter or upon
87	87	58settlement of a claim brought pursuant to this chapter and following a separate hearing on the
88	88	59matter, on motion of the claimant the court shall enter an order either directing the expungement
89	89	60or sealing of those records of the claimant maintained by the department of criminal justice
90	90	61information services, the probation department, and the sex offender registry that directly pertain
91	91	62to the claimant's erroneous felony conviction case, including documents and other materials and
92	92	63any samples obtained from the claimant. The commonwealth, as well as any other law
93	93	64enforcement agency that may be directly affected by such expungement or sealing of such
94	94	65records including, but not limited to, the district attorney that prosecuted the felony case against
95	95	66the claimant, shall be given reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard on the issue of
96	96	67whether such records, documents and materials shall be so expunged or sealed. In making its
97	97	68determination as to whether such records, documents and materials shall be so expunged or
98	98	69sealed, the court shall consider the interests of privacy and justice pertaining to the claimant's
99	99	70erroneous felony conviction as well as the probable effect of such expungement or sealing on
100	100	71relevant law enforcement entities and their ability to appropriately investigate and prosecute
101	101	72other persons for the felony which forms the basis of the claim or other crimes that may relate to
102	102	73the information contained in such records, documents and materials.
103	103	74 SECTION 8. Chapter 268 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
104	104	75section 13E the following section: - 5 of 7
105	105	76 Section 13F. Whoever intentionally removes, destroys, damages, or interferes with the
106	106	77proper functioning of a global positioning system device used to facilitate recognizance or
107	107	78compliance with conditions of pretrial release, probation or parole shall be punished by
108	108	79imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 5 years or imprisonment in a house of
109	109	80correction for not more than 2 ½ years.
110	110	81 SECTION 9. Section 58A of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
111	111	82amended by striking out subsection (1) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-
112	112	83 (1) The commonwealth may move, based on dangerousness, for an order of pretrial
113	113	84detention or release on conditions when a person has been charged with any of the following
114	114	85offenses:
115	115	86 (A) a third or subsequent violation of section 24 of chapter 90 or section 8 of chapter 90B
116	116	87within 10 years of the previous conviction for such violation;
117	117	88 (B) a violation of section 24G of chapter 90;
118	118	89 (C) a violation of section 8B of chapter 90B;
119	119	90 (D) an offense for which a mandatory minimum term of 3 years or more is prescribed in
120	120	91chapter 94C ;
121	121	92 (E) a violation of section 131N of chapter 140;
122	122	93 (F) a violation of an order pursuant to section 18, 34B or 34C of chapter 208;
123	123	94 (G) a violation of an order pursuant to section 32 of chapter 209; 6 of 7
124	124	95 (H) a violation involving abuse as defined in section 1 of chapter 209A while an order of
125	125	96protection issued under said chapter was in effect against the defendant;
126	126	97 (I) a violation of an order pursuant to section 3, 3B, 3C, 4 or 5 of chapter 209A;
127	127	98 (J) a violation of an order pursuant to section 15 or 20 of chapter 209C;
128	128	99 (K) a violation of an order involving abuse as defined pursuant to section 1 of chapter
129	129	100258E;
130	130	101 (L) a violation of section 13, 13 ½, 13B, 13B ½, 13 B ¾, 13F,18B, 22, 22A, 22B, 22C,
131	131	10223, 23A, 23B, 24, 24B, 26, 26B, 26C, 26D, 43A, 50 or 51 of chapter 265;
132	132	103 (M) a violation of section 1, 2, 14, 17, 102, 102A, 102B, 102C or 112 of chapter 266;
133	133	104 (N) a violation of section 13B of chapter 268;
134	134	105 (O) a violation of subsection (a), (c), (d), (h), (j), (m) or (n) of section 10 of chapter 269;
135	135	106 (P) a violation of section 10A, 10E, 10F, 10G or 11C of chapter 269;
136	136	107 (Q) a violation of section 4A, 4B, 29A, 29B, 29C, 35A, 77 or 94 of chapter 272;
137	137	108 (R) a felony violation of section 105 of chapter 272;
138	138	109 (S) any other violation of any general or special law that constitutes a felony offense that
139	139	110has as an element of said offense the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical force
140	140	111against the person of another; or
141	141	112 (T) any violation of any general or special law that constitutes conspiracy or solicitation
142	142	113to commit any crime identified in clauses (A) through (S), inclusive. 7 of 7
143	143	114 SECTION 10. Said chapter 276 is hereby amended by inserting after section 58B the
144	144	115following section:-
145	145	116 Section 58C. No person 18 years of age or older who has been charged with any act that
146	146	117would constitute abuse, as defined in section 1 of chapter 209A, or a violation of sections 13M or
147	147	11815D of chapter 265, or any offense enumerated in subsection 1 of section 58A that involves an
148	148	119identified victim, shall be admitted to bail before the alleged victim is notified of the person’s
149	149	120imminent release; provided, however, that the person charged shall not be held more than 6
150	150	121hours in order to permit prior notice to the alleged victim.
151	151	122 When a person so charged is to be released from the custody of a police department, such
152	152	123notice shall be provided by the police department. When a person so charged is to be released
153	153	124from a courthouse, such notice shall be provided by the commonwealth. When a person so
154	154	125charged is to be released from a jail or correctional facility, such notice shall be provided by the
155	155	126superintendent or superintendent’s designee. The person or agency responsible for providing
156	156	127notice shall undertake to provide notice promptly.