Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S1051 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. 246 FILED ON: 1/9/2025
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1051
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 promoting diversion of juveniles to community supervision and services.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Cynthia Stone CreemNorfolk and Middlesex 1 of 4
16	16	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 246 FILED ON: 1/9/2025
17	17	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1051
18	18	By Ms. Creem, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1051) of Cynthia Stone Creem for
19	19	legislation relative to judicial supervision to promote child well-being. The Judiciary.
20	20	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
21	21	SEE SENATE, NO. 940 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 promoting diversion of juveniles to community supervision and services.
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 54A of chapter 119 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022
31	31	2Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “assessment”, in line 16, the
32	32	3following sentence:-
33	33	4 Any referral to the juvenile court for a child requiring assistance as defined in section
34	34	5twenty-one, in accordance with the provisions of this section and of sections thirty-nine F to
35	35	6thirty-nine I, inclusive, shall not disqualify said child from diversion.
36	36	7 SECTION 2. Said section 54A of chapter 119 of the General Laws is hereby further
37	37	8amended by inserting after the word “proceedings”, in line 38, the following words:-
38	38	9 “, after consultation with legal counsel,” 2 of 4
39	39	10 SECTION 3. Said section 54A of chapter 119 of the General Laws is hereby further
40	40	11amended by striking out, in line 45, the words “(iv) any statement made by the child or the
41	41	12child’s family during the course of assessment” and inserting in place thereof the following
42	42	13language:-
43	43	14 (iv) any statement made by the child or the child’s family during the course of
44	44	15assessment; and (v) information obtained during the course of the assessment.
45	45	16 SECTION 4. Subsection (d) of said section 54A of chapter 119 of the General Laws is
46	46	17hereby amended by inserting after the last sentence the sentence:- “A case diverted by a district
47	47	18attorney shall not be considered an issuance of a criminal complaint for the purposes of section
48	48	1937H½ of chapter 71.”
49	49	20 SECTION 5. Said section 54A of chapter 119 of the General Laws is hereby further
50	50	21amended by striking out, in line 87, the word “may” and inserting in place thereof the word:-
51	51	22“shall”
52	52	23 SECTION 6. Said section 54A of chapter 119 of the General Laws is hereby further
53	53	24amended by inserting after the words “any records of the”, in line 101, the following words:-
54	54	25 “assessment and the”
55	55	26 SECTION 7. Said Section 54A of chapter 119 of the General Laws is hereby further
56	56	27amended by striking subsection (g) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-
57	57	28 (g) (1) A child otherwise eligible for diversion pursuant to this section shall not be
58	58	29eligible for diversion:
59	59	30 (i) if the child is indicted as a youthful offender; 3 of 4
60	60	31 (ii) if the child is charged with an offense that cannot be continued without a finding or
61	61	32placed on file;
62	62	33 (iii) unless there is concurrent district court jurisdiction for such offense, if the child is
63	63	34charged with an offense for which a penalty of incarceration greater than five years may be
64	64	35imposed; or
65	65	36 (iv) if the child is charged with an offense listed under the second sentence of section 70C
66	66	37of chapter 277; provided however, that a child shall be eligible for diversion if the child is
67	67	38charged with an offense under:
68	68	39 (A) paragraph (a) of subdivision (2) of section 24 of chapter 90;
69	69	40 (B) subsection (a) of section 13A of chapter 265;
70	70	41 (C) the first paragraph of section 13D of chapter 265;
71	71	42 (D) subsection (a) of section13M, subsection of chapter 265
72	72	43 (E) (b) of section 15A of chapter 265
73	73	44 (F) subsection (b) of section 15B of chapter 265;
74	74	45 (G) section13A of chapter 268; or
75	75	46 (H) Section 13C of said chapter 268.
76	76	47 Diversion of juvenile court charges under this chapter shall not preclude a subsequent
77	77	48indictment on the same charges in superior court. 4 of 4
78	78	49 SECTION 7. Chapter 276 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
79	79	50section 100U, the following section:-
80	80	51 Section 100V. Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, after an arrest of a
81	81	52person under the age of criminal majority, law enforcement and criminal justice agencies shall
82	82	53not transmit fingerprints and any records related to the arrest or filing of a court case against the
83	83	54person to the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Department of Justice for any offense that
84	84	55occurred before the age of criminal majority, except for purposes of requesting that the Federal
85	85	56Bureau of Investigation or the Department of Justice seal or expunge its records as required by
86	86	57section 100T of this chapter and section 36 of chapter 22C of the General laws.