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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1442 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1812
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Mary S. Keefe
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act to promote timely access to parole hearings.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Mary S. Keefe15th Worcester1/14/2025Carmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex2/14/2025 1 of 2
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1442 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1812
By Representative Keefe of Worcester, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1812) of
Mary S. Keefe and Carmine Lawrence Gentile relative to access to parole hearings. The
Judiciary.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act to promote timely access to parole hearings.
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 27 of the General Laws, is hereby amended by striking
2the first sentence and inserting the following sentence:-
3 There shall be in the department, but not subject to its jurisdiction, a parole board,
4consisting of twelve members, to be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of
5the council, for terms of five years.
6 SECTION 2. Section 4 of chapter 27 of the General Laws, is hereby amended by
7inserting after the last sentence in the third paragraph the following sentences:-
8 The chairperson shall designate 7 of the 12 members to preside over life sentence
9hearings and 5 of the 12 members to preside over regular order hearings. The chairperson shall
10consider regional appointments of board members for the purposes of covering regular order
11hearings. At least 1 of the 7 life sentence hearing board members shall have professional
12experience in forensic psychology and at least 2 of the 7 life sentence hearing board members 2 of 2
13shall have professional experience in social services or reentry coordination. At least 1 of the 5
14regular order hearing board members shall have professional experience in forensic psychology
15and at least 2 of the 5 regular order hearing board members shall have professional experience in
16social services or reentry coordination. The chairperson shall designate board members to sit on
17a rotating basis for clemency and parole termination proceedings.
18 SECTION 3. Section 133A of chapter 127 of the General Laws, is hereby amended in the
19first sentence by striking the number “18” and inserting the number “21”.
20 SECTION 4. Section 133A of chapter 127 of the General Laws, is hereby amended by
21striking the second sentence and inserting the following sentence:-
22 The parole board shall, within 60 days before the expiration of such minimum term,
23conduct a public hearing before 5 out those 7 board members appointed to sit for life sentence
24hearings, as determined by the chairperson, unless a member of the board is determined to be
25unavailable as provided in this section.