Massachusetts Criminal Records
Massachusetts criminal records refer to an individual’s criminal history, including any warrants, arrests, and convictions to their names. Unless expunged or otherwise sealed, criminal records are open to the public under Massachusetts law. Requesters can get access to the following information when searching for criminal records:
- Complete name
- Date of birth
- Physical descriptors
- Current and past addresses
- Warrant history
- Arrest records
- Convictions, if any
- Fingerprints
- mugshots
What Are the Types of Crimes in Massachusetts?
Crimes in Massachusetts are generally categorized into two: misdemeanors and felonies.
Misdemeanor crimes are less severe than felonies and usually include probation or incarceration in jail as punishment and are handled by either the municipal or the district court.
Some of the most common misdemeanor cases in Massachusetts include
- Assault
- Shoplifting
- Trespassing
- Failure to appear in court
- Disorderly conduct
- Resisting arrest
- Indecent exposure
- Malicious damage
- Drug possession
- Domestic assault
- DUI
Felony charges are more severe than misdemeanors and would stay for 10 years on a person’s criminal record, unless expunged.
Felonies in Massachusetts include:
- Indecent assault
- Gun charges
- Burglary
- Vehicular homicide
- Murder
- Assault and battery with a dangerous weapon
- Child endangerment
- Kidnapping
- Rape
- Sexual assault
- Child pornography
- Drug possession with intent to distribute
- DUI on a third offense or more
How Does Probation Work in Massachusetts?
Probation serves as an alternative to prison. Instead of staying inside a jail, probation allows inmates to remain outside of prison as long as they meet the criteria and follow the rules set by the judge, and duly report to their designated parole officer.
Typically, there are three types of probation: intensive probation being the most strict, supervised probation as the most common type, and minimally supervised, which is often granted to inmates who committed a first or a lighter offense with minimal threat to the community. Probation usually differs from person to person since it is issued depending on the nature of the crime committed by an inmate.
How Does Parole Work in Massachusetts?
Parole in Massachusetts criminal records means they were granted early release while incarcerated in a state facility. Inmates who qualify for parole must meet certain conditions for a specific time as part of their parole conditions. One of these conditions is to pay a monthly supervision fee, which may be lower if an inmate is determined to be unable to pay such a fee.
How Does Expungement Work in Massachusetts?
Under the law, expungement in Massachusetts criminal records is defined as “the permanent erasure or destruction of a record so that the record is no longer accessible to, or maintained by, the court, any criminal justice agencies, or any other state agency, municipal agency, or county agency.”
Expungement in the state is allowed if it falls under any of these conditions:
- The convicted was incorrectly named, or there was a serious error, fraud, or any other miscarriage of justice.
- The offense occurred before the person’s twenty-first birthday.
- The convicted person has no more than two (2) criminal cases on their record.
- The convicted did not commit the offense intending to cause serious bodily injury or death or did not result in those two conditions.
Take note that some offenses are not open for expungement,like the following:
- Domestic battery and assault
- Offenses that involve the possession of dangerous weapons
- Offenses that involve sexual violence or any sexual offense
- Offenses involving drugs, alcohol, and driving under the influence.
Note that for misdemeanor cases, a minimum of three years is needed before requesters can perform an expungement. For felonies, seven years of wait time applies. For sexual offenses, convicted offenders need to wait 15 years before they can expunge or seal their criminal records.
Requesters can expunge their records by appropriately filling up and submitting an expungement form to the court that heard their case.
How To Obtain a Criminal Record in Massachusetts
To obtain a Massachusetts criminal record, requesters can go in person to law enforcement agencies or the clerk of courts or submit a records request to the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services through the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI).
To obtain Massachusetts criminal records through CORI, requesters need to do the following:
- Download and fill out the CORI request form.
- Sign the form and have it notarized.
- Get a money order of $25 payable to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or get an affidavit of indigency.
- Send the filled-out, notarized form and money order to the
Department of Criminal Justice Information Services
200 Arlington Street, Suite 2200
Chelsea, MA 02150
Attn: CORI Unit
A copy of the requestor’s criminal records will be available within two weeks to be sent via mail.
Third-party sites may also offer criminal record information for free but may be limited compared to official government sources.
Counties in Massachusetts
- Barnstable
- Berkshire
- Bristol
- Dukes
- Essex
- Franklin
- Hampden
- Hampshire
- Middlesex
- Nantucket
- Norfolk
- Plymouth
- Suffolk
- Worcester