Massachusetts Statutes

Section 36. Said commissioners may erect on said land such temporary buildings of inexpensive construction as they consider necessary for the proper housing of prisoners and for other purposes, in no case, however, costing over three thousand dollars. If the land reclaimed, culti…

Section 37. On the request of said commissioners, the sheriff of the county shall remove to said farm such prisoners as in his opinion can advantageously be employed thereon in carrying out sections thirty-five and thirty-six, and on the order of the said commissioners the sherif…

Section 38. To meet the expense of acquiring land in fee under section thirty-five or for constructing buildings under section thirty-six, the county commissioners may borrow from time to time, upon the credit of the county, such sums as may be necessary, not exceeding in the agg…

Section 39. The county commissioners, at the time of authorizing each loan, shall provide for the payment thereof in accordance with the preceding section; and a sum sufficient to pay the interest as it accrues and to make such payments on the principal as may be required under s…

Section 4. Jails shall be used for the detention of persons charged with crime and committed for trial, committed to secure their attendance as witnesses upon the trial of criminal causes, committed pursuant to a sentence upon conviction of crime or for any cause authorized by la…

Section 40. The sheriff shall record, without limitation, the following data for each person committed to a jail or house of correction: (i) probation central file number; (ii) fingerprint-based state identification number, if available; (iii) race and ethnicity; (iv) offense-bas…

Section 5. If there are several jails in a county, the sheriff may cause the prisoners to be confined in any of them.

Section 6. If a prisoner escapes by reason of the insufficiency of the jail, whereby the sheriff is made liable to a party at whose suit the prisoner was committed, or to whose use any forfeiture was adjudged against him, the county shall reimburse the amount recovered by such pa…

Section 7. The jailers of the county shall, at the opening of each session of the superior court for criminal business, return to the court a list of all prisoners in their custody, specifying the causes for which and the persons by whom they were committed, and produce and exhib…

Section 8. The county commissioners in each county, except Dukes, shall at the expense of the county provide a house or houses of correction, suitably and efficiently ventilated, with convenient yards, workshops and other suitable accommodations adjoining or appurtenant thereto, …

Section 8A. The chief administrative officer of a house of correction shall be the superintendent. The superintendent, and any deputy superintendents, shall be appointed by the sheriff, or in the case of Suffolk county, by the penal commissioner of the city of Boston, and shall s…

Section 9. The yards shall be of sufficient extent for the convenient employment of the persons confined therein, and shall be enclosed by fences of sufficient height and strength to prevent escapes and to prevent all persons who are without from access to or communication with a…

Section 9A. Officers and employees of each county penal institution required to wear uniforms shall wear while on duty uniforms prescribed by the sheriff of the county, which shall be furnished at the expense of said county; provided, that expenditures for the same are authorized…

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 therapeu…

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…

Section 111A. He may remove any person committed to a department for defective delinquents established at any institution under the department of correction under section one hundred and seventeen of chapter one hundred and twenty-three, from such department to a like department …

Section 113. The commissioner may remove from one jail or house of correction to another, or to any correctional institution of the commonwealth a prisoner convicted and sentenced by a United States court and thereafter transferred by the Attorney General of the United States to …

Section 115. The sheriff in any county, except Suffolk, may remove prisoners from one jail to another or from a jail to a house of correction or from a house of correction to a jail in his own county.

Section 116. A prisoner who is removed or returned under any provision of sections ninety-seven to one hundred and fifteen, inclusive, shall be held in the place of imprisonment to which he is so removed or returned under the terms of his original sentence, unless sooner discharg…

Section 117. Whenever the physician of any state correctional facility certifies that any prisoner held therein requires medical, dental or other similar professional treatment which cannot safely or properly be given in such state correctional facility or the hospital at the Mas…

Section 117A. Whenever the physician of any jail or house of correction certifies that any prisoner held therein requires medical, dental or other similar professional treatment which is not available in such jail or house of correction, the sheriff or, in the case of the house o…

Section 118. (a) Upon admission to a correctional facility, while awaiting trial or after sentencing, a female inmate shall be screened and assessed for pregnancy by a licensed health care professional; provided, however, that the inmate shall be informed of any necessary medical…

Section 119. Any prisoner placed in a hospital or medical facility under section one hundred and seventeen, one hundred and seventeen A or one hundred and eighteen shall, during his absence from prison or the jail or house of correction, be considered as in the custody of the off…

Section 119A. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:— ''Medical parole plan'', a comprehensive written medical and psychosocial care plan specific to a prisoner and including, but not limit…

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 120. Every order of removal of the commissioner shall be signed by him or his designee and shall be directed to the officer by whom it is to be executed. All mittimuses, processes and other official papers by which a prisoner is committed or held, or attested copies there…

Section 121. An officer authorized to serve criminal process may execute an order of removal or return issued under this chapter.

Section 123. The expense of removing a prisoner from one jail or house of correction to another shall be paid by the county from which he is removed. The expense of removing a prisoner to or from any of the correctional institutions of the commonwealth by order of the commissione…

Section 124. The expense of supporting a prisoner transferred from a correctional institution of the commonwealth to a jail or house of correction shall be paid by the commonwealth, if the prisoner was not originally sentenced from the county where such jail or house of correctio…

Section 125. The expense of supporting a prisoner transferred from a jail or house of correction in one county to another, removed from the Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Bridgewater to a house of correction, or sentenced to a jail or house of correction in a county othe…

Section 126. The expense of supporting a prisoner removed from a jail or house of correction to the Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Bridgewater shall be paid to the commonwealth by the county from which he is removed, and the amount thereof shall be determined by the comm…

Section 127. The governor, upon the written recommendation of the commissioner or the chairman of the parole board, may appoint any employee of the department of correction or the parole board, respectively, a special state police officer for a term of three years, unless sooner …

Section 128. Subject to other provisions of law, parole permits, in this chapter also referred to as permits to be at liberty, may be granted by the parole board to prisoners in state and county correctional institutions serving sentences or total aggregate sentences of sixty day…

Section 129B. The sentence of any prisoner in any correctional institution of the commonwealth or in any house of correction or jail, who was held in custody awaiting trial shall be reduced by the number of days spent by him in confinement prior to such sentence and while awaitin…

Section 129C. For the satisfactory conduct of a prisoner confined in a prison camp, the commissioner may grant, in addition to the deductions of sentence provided under section one hundred and twenty-nine, a further deduction of sentence of not more than two and one half days for…

Section 129D. Prisoners are eligible to earn deductions from sentences and completion credits, collectively known as good conduct deductions, for participation in and completion of programs and activities as follows: (a) For the satisfactory conduct of a prisoner while confined a…

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 sh…

Section 130. No prisoner shall be granted a parole permit merely as a reward for good conduct. Permits shall be granted only if the board is of the opinion, after consideration of a risk and needs assessment, that there is a reasonable probability that, if the prisoner is release…

Section 130A. The parole board may, by a majority vote of all of the members, issue to a parolee under its supervision a certificate of termination of sentence, provided that in the judgment of the board such termination of sentence shall be in the public interest; and provided, …

Section 130B. (a) As used in this section, the following terms shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:— ''Parole plan'', a plan, approved by the parole board, that includes the general and special conditions of parole and requirements fo…

Section 130C. (a) For the satisfactory conduct of a parolee under the supervision of the parole board who is serving a sentence to state prison, the chairman of the parole board or the chairman's designee may grant compliance credits of up to a maximum monthly total of 15 days; p…

Section 131. The parole board shall, in releasing a prisoner on parole, specify in writing the terms and conditions of his parole, and a copy of such terms and conditions shall be given to the parolee. A violation of such terms and conditions shall render the parolee liable to ar…

Section 131A. Not less than twenty-four hours prior to the effective date of any parole permit the parole board shall notify in writing the department of state police and the police department in the city or town to which the parolee will return of such parole, specifying the ter…

Section 133. Parole permits may be granted by the parole board to prisoners subject to its jurisdiction at such time as the board in each case may determine; provided, however, that no prisoner sentenced to the state prison shall be eligible for such permit until such prisoner sh…

Section 133A. Every prisoner who is serving a sentence for life in a correctional institution of the commonwealth, except prisoners confined to the hospital at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Bridgewater, except prisoners serving a life sentence for murder in the firs…

Section 133B. The parole board shall, within 60 days before the expiration of two-thirds of the maximum sentence of a prisoner sentenced under section 25 of chapter 279, and thereafter at least once in each ensuing 2–year period, consider carefully and thoroughly the merits of re…