Massachusetts · statute · Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 127 · 190 active provisions
Section 1. As used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:— ''Behavioral health counseling'', a non-pharmacological intervention carried out by a qualified behavioral health professional in a therapeutic context at an individual, family or…
Section 1A. In accordance with paragraphs (d) and (q) of section one of chapter one hundred and twenty-four the commissioner shall establish, and shall from time to time revise, minimum standards for the care and custody of all persons committed to county correctional facilities. Prior to establishing or revising such…
Section 1B. At least once each six months the commissioner or his delegate shall inspect each county correctional facility to determine compliance with minimum standards. The results of such inspections shall be summarized in the annual report of the commissioner to the general court. Personnel of the department shall…
Section 2. The superintendents of correctional institutions of the commonwealth and the superintendents and keepers of jails, houses of correction and of all other penal or reformatory institutions shall keep full and accurate records of all prisoners committed thereto, maintained therein or discharged therefrom. Syste…
Section 3. They shall keep a record of all money or other property found in possession of prisoners committed to such institutions, and shall be responsible to the commonwealth for the safe keeping and delivery of said property to said prisoners or their order on their discharge or at any time before. The superintenden…
Section 5. The jailer, keeper or superintendent of each jail and house of correction shall keep in a bound book or an electronic computer database an exact calendar of all prisoners committed thereto, in which shall be recorded the names of all prisoners, their places of abode and additions, the time, cause and authori…
Section 6. All process to be served within the precincts of any penal or reformatory institution shall be directed to and served by the superintendent, superintendent or keeper of each jail or house of correction thereof or his deputy.
Section 7. All warrants, mittimuses, processes and other official papers by which a prisoner is committed or released, or attested copies thereof, shall contain a detailed statement of the fees of the officer for making the commitment, shall be regularly filed in chronological order, and safely kept with the calendar i…
Section 8. Each jailer and superintendent of a house of correction shall have a prison book, in which he shall keep an account of the value of the labor of the prisoners, of the salaries of officers and of articles furnished for the support of the prisoners, the quantity of such articles, of whom bought and the price p…
Section 9. The keeper, superintendent or other officer having charge of a jail, house of correction, county training school or other county public institution shall keep an invoice book, in which shall be entered, on the day of receipt, all bills for supplies for the maintenance of such institution. Such books shall be…
Section 10. Annually, on or before August fifteenth, the sheriffs, county commissioners and the penal institutions commissioner of Boston, shall make a report to the commissioner of the salaries of prison officers, of the number and cost of support of prisoners, and of such other details relative to the management and…
Section 12. Any officer or employee in any correctional institution of the commonwealth who is unfaithful or incompetent, or uses intoxicating liquor to excess, shall be forthwith removed by the commissioner.
Section 13. The jailer, superintendent or keeper of a jail or house of correction, except in Suffolk county, may be removed by the superior court for neglect of duty or for wasteful or extravagant use of supplies, upon complaint of the county commissioners, after notice to the sheriff and the person complained of and a…
Section 14. The sheriffs of the several counties and the penal institutions commissioner of Boston may remove any officer appointed by them, respectively, to any position of trust or authority in a jail or house of correction who is known to use intoxicating liquor to excess.
Section 16. The superintendents of the correctional institutions of the commonwealth, and the keepers and superintendents of jails and houses of correction shall cause a thorough physical examination to be made by a competent physician of each inmate in their respective institutions committed for a term of thirty days'…
Section 16A. The commissioner may include in the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to the provisions of section forty-eight provisions for the reimbursement of medical expenses by persons incarcerated in department of correction pre-release facilities.
Section 17. Specifications governing the manner and time of such physical examinations shall be promulgated by the department of public health. Said department shall prescribe the medical records to be kept, shall require such laboratory or other diagnostic aids to be used as in its judgment are expedient, and shall fo…
Section 17A. (a) The commissioner shall establish programs in state correctional facilities, as defined in section 1 of chapter 125. The programs shall include, but not be limited to, residential treatment units, as are necessary for the treatment of mentally ill inmates confined therein who are in need of mental healt…
Section 17B. The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of public health, shall offer medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder to a state detainee or prisoner at the Massachusetts alcohol and substance abuse center, the Massachusetts correctional institution at Framingham or the South Middlese…
Section 17C. The commissioner shall ensure that, not later than 120 days prior to the expected discharge date of a state detainee or prisoner serving a sentence to a state prison, a state detainee or prisoner shall have access to a qualified addiction specialist who shall conduct an assessment of the state detainee or…
Section 17D. (a) The commissioner shall report quarterly to the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on mental health, substance use and recovery, the joint committee on public safety and homeland security and the joint committee on the judiciary the following information for the prior cal…
Section 18. Any officer named in section sixteen who neglects or refuses to comply with said section or who violates any rule or regulation of the department of public health made under section seventeen shall forfeit not more than fifty dollars.
Section 19. The commissioner may institute a system of physical training, including military drill and organized athletic sports in any penal institution in the commonwealth, to be under the direction of the director of physical training of the department. He may prescribe the powers and duties of the director and may…
Section 20. There shall be established by the commissioner, with the approval of the governor and council, a reception center for all male prisoners, except those sentenced to the Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Bridgewater. Any male convict who is sentenced to any correctional institution of the commonwealth,…
Section 20A. The superintendent of each correctional facility shall establish a periodic classification board, the membership of which he shall appoint. Such boards shall make recommendation to such superintendent or his deputy for a prisoner's periodic grading and classification; provided, however, that such recommend…