Massachusetts Statutes

Section 134. (a) In the case of an inmate committed to a correctional institution of the commonwealth, no parole permit shall be granted by the parole board until the inmate has been seen by at least three members of said board, except when the chairman has designated three membe…

Section 135. The commissioner or the jailer, superintendent or keeper of a jail or house of correction shall furnish to the parole board all information in his possession relating to any prisoner whose case is under consideration. As each prisoner is received in the correctional …

Section 136. No application for release on parole of a prisoner made by him or on his behalf shall be entertained by the parole board, but such a release of a prisoner by said board shall be solely on its own initiative. In every case where a prisoner is serving a sentence for 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 142. Whenever, in the opinion of the physician of any prison or other place of confinement in which is imprisoned a woman who is about to give birth to a child during the term of her imprisonment, the best interests of the woman or of her unborn child require that she be …

Section 143. The county commissioners, or, in Boston, the penal institutions commissioner, subject to the approval of a justice of the court which imposed the sentence, after six months from the time of sentence, may discharge a person sentenced to the house of correction, upon a…

Section 144. A prisoner confined in a prison or place of confinement for non-payment of a fine or a fine and expenses shall be given a credit of $90 on such fine or fine and expenses for each day during which he shall be so confined, and shall be discharged at such time as the sa…

Section 145. (a) A court shall not commit a person to a correctional facility solely for non-payment of money owed if such person has established, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the person is unable to pay the fine without causing substantial financial hardship to the p…

Section 146. If a poor prisoner has been confined in a jail or house of correction for one month under one or more sentences for fine or fine and expenses only, the jailer, superintendent or keeper shall make a report thereof, in Suffolk county to the municipal court of the city …

Section 148. The parole board may revoke a permit to be at liberty at any time prior to its expiration.

Section 149. If a permit to be at liberty has been revoked, the parole board may order the arrest of the holder of such permit by any officer qualified to serve civil or criminal process in any county, and order the return of such holder to the prison or jail to which he was orig…

Section 149A. If a parole officer believes that a parolee has lapsed or is about to lapse into criminal ways or has associated or is about to associate with criminal company or that he has violated the conditions of his parole, the parole officer may, with the consent of a parole…

Section 150. A prisoner whose term expires on Saturday, Sunday or on a legal holiday shall be discharged on the preceding day.

Section 151. When a prisoner at the expiration of his sentence is in such condition from bodily infirmity or disease as to render his removal from a correctional institution inexpedient, the principal officer of such institution may, with the approval of the physician, authorize …

Section 151A. The compacting states to this interstate compact recognize that each state is responsible for the supervision of adult offenders in the community who are authorized pursuant to the by-laws and rules of this compact to travel across state lines both to and from each …

Section 151B. As used in sections 151A to 151N, inclusive, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires a different meaning have the following meanings:— ''Adult'', individuals legally classified as adults and juveniles treated as adults by court order, statute,…

Section 151C. (a) The compacting states hereby create the interstate commission for adult offender supervision. (b) The interstate commission shall be a body corporate and joint agency of the compacting states. (c) The interstate commission shall have all the responsibilities, po…

Section 151D. The chairman of the parole board, or his designee, shall serve as the compact administrator and as the state's commissioner on the interstate compact commission. The Massachusetts state council shall be appointed by the compact administrator. The state council shall…

Section 151E. The interstate commission shall have the following powers and duties:— (a) to adopt a seal and suitable by-laws governing the management and operation of the interstate commission; (b) to promulgate rules which shall have the force and effect of statutory law and sh…

Section 151F. (a) The interstate commission shall, by a majority of the members, within 12 months of the first interstate commission meeting, adopt by-laws to govern its conduct as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of the compact including, but not limited…

Section 151G. (a) The interstate commission shall meet and take such actions as are consistent with the provisions of this compact. (b) Except as otherwise provided in this compact and unless a greater percentage is required by the by-laws, in order to constitute an act of the in…

Section 151H. (a) The interstate commission shall promulgate rules in order to effectively and efficiently achieve the purposes of the compact including transition rules governing administration of the compact during the period in which it is being considered and enacted by the s…

Section 151I. (a) (1) The interstate commission shall oversee the interstate movement of adult offenders in the compacting states and shall monitor such activities being administered in non-compacting states which may significantly affect compacting states. (2) The courts and exe…

Section 151J. (a) The interstate commission shall pay or provide for the payment of the reasonable expenses of its establishment, organization and ongoing activities. (b) The interstate commission shall levy on and collect an annual assessment from each compacting state to cover …

Section 151K. (a) Any state is eligible to become a compacting state. (b) The compact shall become effective and binding upon legislative enactment of the compact into law by no less than 35 of the states. The initial effective date shall be the later of July 1, 2001, or upon ena…

Section 151L. (a) (1) Once effective, the compact shall continue in force and remain binding upon each and every compacting state except that a compacting state may withdraw from the compact by enacting a statute specifically repealing the statute which enacted the compact into l…

Section 151M. (a) The provisions of this compact shall be severable, and if any phrase, clause, sentence or provision is deemed unenforceable, the remaining provisions of the compact shall be enforceable. (b) The provisions of this compact shall be liberally constructed to effect…

Section 151N. (a) (1) Nothing herein prevents the enforcement of any other law of a compacting state that is not inconsistent with this compact. (2) All compacting states' laws conflicting with this compact are superseded to the extent of the conflict. (b) (1) All lawful actions …

Section 152. In a case in which the governor is authorized by the constitution to grant a pardon, he may, with the advice and consent of the council, and upon the written petition of the petitioner, grant it, subject to such conditions, restrictions and limitations as he consider…

Section 153. In all cases of petitions for pardons referred to the executive council by the governor, where the petitioner is serving a sentence in the state prison, the executive secretary shall notify the attorney general, and also the district attorney who prosecuted the case,…

Section 154. The parole board shall be the advisory board of pardons. Said board shall, forthwith, upon receipt of a pardon petition in a case in which the petitioner is confined in a correctional institution of the commonwealth, forward a copy of such petition to the attorney ge…

Section 155. If a prisoner who has been pardoned upon conditions to be observed and performed by him violates such conditions, the parole board shall forthwith cause him to be arrested and detained, and the warden, superintendent or keeper, respectively, of the institution in whi…

Section 156. The governor and council shall, upon receiving such notice, examine the case of such prisoner; and if it appears by his own admission or by evidence that he has violated the condition of his pardon, the governor, with the advice and consent of the council, shall orde…

Section 157. If a prisoner is pardoned or his punishment is commuted, the officer to whom the warrant for such purpose is issued shall, as soon as may be after executing it, make return thereof, signed by him, with his doings thereon, to the secretary's office, and shall file in …

Section 158. The agents employed by the parole board shall, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the board, supervise, counsel and advise prisoners released on parole from the correctional institutions of the commonwealth, or from any institution to which they were rem…

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 instituti…

Section 160. The parole board may expend such sum as may be appropriated for the assistance of prisoners released from any correctional institution of the commonwealth, or from any institution to which they were removed therefrom. Such assistance may be in the form of a loan on s…

Section 161. The commissioner shall cause an account to be kept of the money expended by the agents for the necessary expenses of the service required by sections one hundred and fifty-eight and one hundred and fifty-nine, for correspondence and travel in procuring employment for…

Section 162. The superintendent of any correctional institution of the commonwealth may pay from the treasury of the institution not more than fifty dollars to every prisoner leaving the institution. A prisoner who leaves the institution shall be provided with decent clothing.

Section 162A. The superintendent of a correctional institution shall immediately prior to the release or discharge from such institution of any person sentenced upon conviction of the crime of arson or a violation of sections 102 to 102C, inclusive, of chapter 266 notify the stat…

Section 163. The agents for aiding discharged prisoners shall annually, on or before December fifteenth, make full and detailed statements to the commissioner of their doings for the year ending on November thirtieth, which shall be included by the commissioner in his annual repo…

Section 164. The county commissioners may provide a prisoner released from prison with such amount of money as in their opinion can be wisely used to encourage his reformation, or they may pay it to a suitable person designated by them to be used for such prisoner.

Section 165. The superintendent or keeper of a jail or house of correction may, with the approval of the county commissioners, expend such amount, not exceeding twenty-five dollars, in aiding a prisoner discharged from his custody as in his opinion will assist such prisoner in hi…

Section 166. No person shall, in the attempt to procure, or for the procurement of, any pardon, parole, commutation of or respite from sentence of a prisoner then confined in, or at liberty after having been confined in, any of the penal institutions of this commonwealth, or then…

Section 167. No person shall represent or purport to represent any prisoner then confined in, or at liberty after having been confined in, any of the penal institutions of this commonwealth or then under sentence to serve a term of imprisonment in any of said institutions, in the…

Section 168. Whoever violates any provision of section one hundred and sixty-six or one hundred and sixty-seven shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than two years, or both.