Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S1276 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. 787 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1276
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	John C. Velis
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 dangerousness hearings.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :John C. VelisHampden and Hampshire 1 of 5
16	16	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 787 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
17	17	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1276
18	18	By Mr. Velis, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1276) of John C. Velis for legislation
19	19	relative to dangerousness hearings. The Judiciary.
20	20	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
21	21	SEE SENATE, NO. 1140 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 dangerousness hearings.
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. Said chapter 276 is hereby amended by striking out subsection (1) of
31	31	2section 58A, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the
32	32	3following subsection:-
33	33	4 The commonwealth may move, based on dangerousness, for an order of pretrial detention
34	34	5or release on conditions when a defendant has been charged with any of the following: (a) felony
35	35	6offense that has as an element of the offense the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical
36	36	7force against the person of another; (b) the crimes of burglary or arson; (c) a violation of an order
37	37	8pursuant to section 18, 34B or 34C of chapter 208, section 32 of chapter 209, section 3, 4 or 5 of
38	38	9chapter 209 A or section 15 or 20 of chapter 209C; (d) a misdemeanor or felony involving abuse
39	39	10as defined in section 1 of said chapter 209A or while an order of protection issued under said 2 of 5
40	40	11chapter 209A was in effect against such person; (e) an offense for which a maximum penalty of
41	41	12ten years or more is prescribed in chapter 94C; (f) a violation of section 13B of chapter 268; (g) a
42	42	13third or subsequent violation of section 24 of chapter 90 or section 8 of chapter 90B; or a
43	43	14violation of section 24G of chapter 90 which occurs under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or a
44	44	15violation of section 8B of chapter 90B; (h) a violation of section 131N of chapter 140 or
45	45	16subsection (a), (b), (c), (d), (h), (j) or (m) of section 10 or section 10A, 10E, 10G or 11 C of
46	46	17chapter 269, provided, however, that the commonwealth may not move for an order of detention
47	47	18under this section based on possession of a large capacity feeding device without simultaneous
48	48	19possession of a large capacity weapon; torture of animals, or any abuse of animals which
49	49	20constitutes a violation of section 77 or 94 of chapter 272, or of section 112 of chapter 266; a sex
50	50	21offense involving a child as defined in section 178C of chapter 6; a violation of section 13, 13 ½,
51	51	2213B, 13B ½, 13 B ¾, 13F, 18B, 22, 22A, 22B, 22C, 23, 23A, 23B, 24, 25, 26B, 26C, 37, 43A, 50
52	52	23or 51 of chapter 265 or a violation of section 13D of said chapter 265 in which the public
53	53	24employee is a police officer or firefighter engaged in the performance of his or her duties; a
54	54	25violation of section 4A, 4B, 16, 29A, 29B, 29C, 77 or 105 of chapter 272; a violation of section
55	55	26102, or a malicious violation of section 127 of chapter 266; threats to kill, rape, or cause serious
56	56	27bodily injury; conspiracy or solicitation to commit any of the above enumerated crimes.
57	57	28 SECTION 2. Said chapter 276 is hereby amended by striking out subsection (3) of
58	58	29section 58A and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-
59	59	30 (a) If, after a hearing pursuant to the provisions of subsection (4), the district or superior
60	60	31court justice finds by clear and convincing evidence that no conditions of release will reasonably
61	61	32assure the safety of any other person or the community, said justice shall order the detention of
62	62	33the person prior to trial. A person so detained shall be detained until the disposition of the case 3 of 5
63	63	34and shall brought to trial as soon as reasonably possible and subject to the requirements of Rule
64	64	3536.
65	65	36 (b) Nothing in this section shall be construed as modifying or limiting the presumption of
66	66	37innocence.
67	67	38 (c) A hearing under this section may be reopened by the judge, at any time before trial, or
68	68	39upon a motion of the commonwealth or the person detained if the judge finds that: (i)
69	69	40information exists that was not known at the time of the hearing or that there has been a change
70	70	41in circumstances and (ii) that such information or change in circumstances has a material bearing
71	71	42on the issue of whether there are conditions of release that will reasonably assure the safety of
72	72	43any other person or the community.
73	73	44 (d) On an annual basis, the Secretary of Public Safety shall conduct an analysis of
74	74	45prosecutorial decisions to seek dangerousness hearings within the Commonwealth, and judicial
75	75	46determinations of dangerousness when a hearing is conducted. Such analysis shall examine the
76	76	47treatment of offenders and determine whether offenders who are charged with the same offenses
77	77	48and who have similar criminal histories are treated equally to one another, or whether there is
78	78	49disparate impact by race, gender, or ethnicity. The trial court shall provide to the Department of
79	79	50Criminal Justice Information Services data regarding the number and location of dangerousness-
80	80	51eligible offenses, the number of dangerousness hearings that are conducted, the outcome of such
81	81	52hearings, and the demographic information of the accused parties. The analysis of the Secretary
82	82	53of Public Safety shall be presented to the General Court and shall be a public document.
83	83	54 SECTION 3. Said chapter 276 is hereby amended by adding to the conclusion of section
84	84	5558, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, the following subsection:- 4 of 5
85	85	56 (1) Any adult who has been charged with a crime, and any adult guardian of a juvenile
86	86	57who has been charged with an act of delinquency, shall be requested to voluntarily provide the
87	87	58court with his or her cellular telephone number, if the defendant or guardian has such a device,
88	88	59but may decline to do so; provided, however, that upon the order of a judicial officer a defendant
89	89	60may be required to provide such information. The executive office of the trial court shall
90	90	61procure or establish a service using a system of automated text messaging to remind criminal
91	91	62defendants of mandatory court appearance dates in advance of the date of such appearance. Such
92	92	63service shall be made available to all criminal defendants and to the guardians of juvenile
93	93	64defendants free of charge. Information so provided by a criminal defendant or the guardian of a
94	94	65juvenile defendant pursuant to this subsection shall not be deemed to be a public record, shall not
95	95	66be provided to law enforcement agencies for criminal investigative purposes, and may not be
96	96	67used against the defendant in any criminal proceeding; provided, however, that the fact that a
97	97	68party did or did not participate in this system shall be marked on the docket, and such fact may
98	98	69be used in a proceeding if otherwise admissible. This subsection shall take effect on July 1, 2023.
99	99	70 SECTION 4. Said chapter 276 is hereby amended by inserting after section 82A the
100	100	71following section:-
101	101	72 Section 82B. (1) A person who violates any non-financial condition of release ordered
102	102	73under section 58 of chapter 119, section 58, 58A, 58B, 59, or 87 of this chapter, or section 1 or
103	103	741A of chapter 279; or any other non-financial condition of probation imposed by a court after
104	104	75conviction or admission to sufficient facts; or any non-financial term or condition of parole
105	105	76imposed by the parole board; may be arrested upon probable cause by a sheriff, deputy sheriff or
106	106	77police officer and kept in custody in a convenient place, not more than 24 hours, Sunday
107	107	78excepted, until notice of the violation can be given to the probation service, and such person be 5 of 5
108	108	79taken before the issuing court upon a warrant obtained by the probation service; or, in the case of
109	109	80a person under parole supervision, to the parole board.
110	110	81 (2) The trial court, the probation service and the parole board shall promptly provide to
111	111	82the department of criminal justice information services records of all non-financial conditions of
112	112	83release imposed upon criminal defendants and delinquent children, and all non-financial
113	113	84conditions of probation and parole, and the department of criminal justice information services
114	114	85shall make such information accessible in electronic format to sheriffs, deputy sheriffs and police
115	115	86officers.
116	116	87 SECTION 5. Chapter 268 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
117	117	88section 13D the following section:-
118	118	89 Section 13E. Whoever unlawfully removes, destroys, damages, or interferes with the
119	119	90proper functioning of a court-imposed geolocation monitoring device, any breath-testing
120	120	91instrument, or any other mechanical or electronic mechanism intended to facilitate recognizance
121	121	92or compliance with conditions of pretrial release, probation or parole, shall be punished by
122	122	93imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 10 years or imprisonment in a house of
123	123	94correction for not more than 2 and ½ years. A sentence imposed for violation of this section
124	124	95shall not run concurrently with any other sentence. In any subsequent proceeding under section
125	125	9658, 58A, 58B or 59 of chapter 276, the fact of a person’s prior violation of this section shall be
126	126	97prima facie evidence that there is no financial condition or other condition of release that will
127	127	98reasonably assure the presence of the person so convicted.