Bill > S1058

This bill modifies Massachusetts laws regarding the expungement of juvenile and young adult criminal records, making several key changes to existing statutes. The bill expands the definition of "expungement" to mean the permanent erasure of records so they are no longer accessible to courts, criminal justice agencies, or other state/municipal agencies, while allowing non-identifying information to be retained for statistical research purposes. It removes previous limitations on the number of records that can be expunged and broadens eligibility for record expungement by changing qualification criteria. Specifically, the bill allows expungement for records where offenses occurred at least 7 years prior for felonies (except those tried in juvenile court) and 3 years prior for misdemeanors or juvenile court cases. The legislation also adds new restrictions on expungement, excluding certain serious offenses like those resulting in death or serious bodily injury, sex offenses, and domestic violence-related convictions. Additionally, the bill requires law enforcement to stop transmitting arrest-related fingerprints and records to federal agencies for offenses committed before the age of criminal majority and mandates that the commissioner of probation annually report detailed statistics on sealing and expungement petitions to the judiciary committee and make these reports publicly available.

Budget and Finance, Justice

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/S1058