Massachusetts Statutes

Section 6. He shall make an annual report setting forth fully and in detail the actual condition on November thirtieth of each correctional institution of the commonwealth, and on December thirty-first of each jail and house of correction, the number of inmates in each, such stat…

Section 6A. (a) The department of correction, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Sheriffs Association, Inc., shall report on the use of all facilities of the department and of each sheriff's office during the periods of January 1 to June 30, inclusive, and July 1 to December…

Section 8. Clerks of courts shall annually, on or before January fifteenth, make reports to the commissioner of all criminal cases commenced in the superior court in the several counties during the year ending on December thirty-first, and of all criminal cases entered therein on…

Section 9. The police commissioner of Boston, city marshals or chiefs of police and every officer making an arrest in a town not having a city marshal or chief of police shall make monthly reports to the commissioner of the number of persons of each sex arrested in their several …

Section 1. As used in this chapter and elsewhere in the general laws, unless the context otherwise requires, the following words shall have the following meanings: (a) ''administrator'', chief administrative officer of a county correctional facility; (b) ''commissioner'', the com…

Section 10. All officers of such institutions, before entering upon the performance of their official duties, shall take and subscribe the following oaths:—''I, A.B., do solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and will suppo…

Section 11. The department of correction shall maintain, for the security and confinement of prisoners of the commonwealth, the correctional institutions of the commonwealth. A person convicted and sentenced in a court of the United States need not be received in any such institu…

Section 12. All persons sentenced to any of the correctional institutions of the commonwealth shall be held in accordance with the sentences or orders of the courts and the rules and regulations of the commissioner. The personal property, valued in excess of fifty dollars, of all…

Section 13. The officers of each correctional institution shall be a superintendent, a deputy, chaplains and such other officers as the commissioner may find necessary; provided, that there shall be employed therein such additional officers as the commissioner shall consider nece…

Section 14. Subject to rules and regulations established by the commissioner and according to law, the superintendent shall be responsible for the custody and control of all prisoners in the correctional institution, and shall govern and employ them pursuant to their respective s…

Section 15. The superintendent, and his deputy, shall reside constantly within the precincts of the correctional institution, unless otherwise authorized by the commissioner.

Section 16. All females convicted of crimes in the courts of the commonwealth and sentenced to imprisonment or otherwise committed to the custody of the department shall be committed to the Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Framingham, or to such other correctional facility…

Section 17. The commissioner may, in behalf of the commonwealth hold not more than one acre of land within the town of Sherborn which may be used for the burial of prisoners who die in the Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Framingham.

Section 18. The Bridgewater state hospital shall be part of the Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Bridgewater. The commissioner, with the approval of the commissioner of mental health, shall appoint a physician as medical director of the Bridgewater state hospital. The medi…

Section 19. No person shall be committed to the Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Bridgewater, for the treatment of alcoholism, except in accordance with the provisions of chapter one hundred and eleven B and chapter one hundred and twenty-three.

Section 2. The superintendent and the deputy of each correctional institution of the commonwealth shall be appointed by the commissioner, shall hold office during his pleasure, and shall not be subject to the provisions of sections nine A and nine B of chapter thirty, or chapter …

Section 20. All contracts on account of any correctional institution of the commonwealth, except those required to be made by the state purchasing agent, shall be made by the commissioner in writing. The commissioner and his successors in office may sue or be sued upon any contra…

Section 21. At the time supplies for any of the said institutions are delivered, bills of the quantity and price of such supplies shall be taken and compared at the institution. Bills for all services rendered shall be taken and checked in like manner. Bills found to be correct s…

Section 3. All other officers and all employees in the said institutions shall be appointed by the commissioner, and, except as otherwise provided in chapter thirty and thirty-one, shall hold office during his pleasure. The duties of a correction officer or correctional program o…

Section 4. In certifying the names of persons eligible for appointment as correction officers in said institutions, the personnel administrator shall certify the names of persons who at the time of examination were over the age of nineteen.

Section 5. If the office of the superintendent of any of the said institutions is vacant, or if the said officer is absent from the institution or is unable to perform his duties, an acting superintendent designated by the commissioner shall have the powers to perform the duties …

Section 6. The commissioner shall appoint a treasurer of each correctional institution of the commonwealth, who shall give bond with surety for the faithful performance of his duties. In each such institution the said treasurer shall receive and disburse all moneys paid by the co…

Section 7. The superintendent of each such institution shall from time to time suggest to the commissioner in writing such alterations in the commissioner's rules as he considers advisable for the direction of the officers and employees of the institution and its government.

Section 8. Officers and employees in each such institution required to wear uniforms while on duty shall be furnished at the expense of the commonwealth with such uniforms of standard pattern as shall be prescribed by the commissioner.

Section 9. The commissioner shall establish a training academy in cooperation with the municipal police training council and using their facilities and programs where appropriate and such other courses or places of training as he deems necessary for the training of correction off…

Section 1. The county commissioners shall be inspectors of the prisons in their counties. They shall twice in each year, at intervals of not exceeding eight months, themselves or by a committee of two of their members, visit all the prisons in their county, and fully examine into…

Section 10. A sentence to a house of correction shall be executed in any house of correction in the county.

Section 11. The county commissioners of the several counties and the penal institutions commissioner of Boston shall cause the rules established for the management of the house of correction and for the government of the prisoners therein to be strictly observed, shall examine al…

Section 12. The sheriff shall report to the superior court, at each session for criminal business, the number of prisoners sentenced to labor in houses of correction in the county employed, and also the number not employed with the reasons why they are not employed.

Section 16. The sheriff shall have custody and control of the jails in his county, and, except in Suffolk county, of the houses of correction therein, and of all prisoners committed thereto, and shall keep the same himself or by his deputy as jailer, superintendent or keeper, and…

Section 17. No sheriff shall receive any rent or emolument from the jailers and keepers of the houses of correction for the use and occupation of the dwelling houses provided for them by the county.

Section 18. The compensation of all officers, assistants and employees of jails and houses of correction shall be paid by their respective counties, and shall be in full compensation for all their services. They shall devote their entire time, not exceeding the time limited by se…

Section 18A. An employee in a jail or house of correction of a county who, while in the performance of duty, receives bodily injuries resulting from acts of violence of patients or prisoners in his custody, and who as result of such injury is entitled to benefits under chapter on…

Section 2. When the commissioners or any of them visit any of said prisons, the sheriff, superintendent, keeper or other officer in charge thereof shall admit them, when required, into every apartment of such prison, exhibit all books, precepts, documents, accounts and papers rel…

Section 21. The keeper of a jail or master of a house of correction to which a female has been committed shall forthwith transmit to the commissioner of correction such an abstract of the mittimus upon which she has been committed as he may require.

Section 22. If a prisoner dies in the jail or house of correction, the sheriff or keeper shall, except as provided in chapter one hundred and thirteen, deliver the body to his relatives or friends if they request it; otherwise, he shall bury it in the common burying ground, and t…

Section 23. Upon the expiration of the term of office of a sheriff, or upon his resignation or removal, he shall deliver to his successor all the prisoners in his custody, but he shall retain the keeping of the jails and houses of correction and of the prisoners therein under his…

Section 24. Upon the death of a sheriff, the jailer, superintendent or keeper appointed by him shall continue in office and retain the custody and control of the jail or house of correction and of all prisoners therein until a successor to the deceased sheriff has qualified, or u…

Section 25. The keeper of each jail and the superintendent of each house of correction shall, at the county's expense, cause it to be constantly kept in as cleanly and healthful a condition as may be. No permanent vault shall be used in any apartment. Every room occupied by a pri…

Section 26. If disease breaks out in a jail or other county prison, which, in the opinion of the inspectors of the prison, may endanger the lives or health of the prisoners to such a degree as to render their removal necessary, the inspectors may designate in writing a suitable p…

Section 27. If a jail or other county prison or any building near thereto is on fire, or if a bomb threat has been received, or there is reason to believe a bomb threat or similar threat exists, and the prisoners are exposed to danger thereby, the sheriff, jailer or other person …

Section 28. The county commissioners shall, except in Suffolk county, without extra charge or commission to themselves or to any other person, procure or cause to be procured all necessary supplies for the jails and houses of correction, to be purchased and provided under their d…

Section 29. The expense of keeping and maintaining convicts sentenced to imprisonment in the jail or house of correction, of the keeping of persons charged with or convicted of crime and committed for trial or sentence, and of prisoners committed on mesne process or execution, so…

Section 3. If it appears to the commissioners, from the report of their committee or otherwise, that any law relative to prisons has been violated or neglected in their county, they shall forthwith give notice thereof to the district attorney.

Section 30. Superintendents and keepers of jails and houses of correction authorized or directed to expend money in behalf of the county may have money advanced to them from the county treasury in such amounts as the county commissioners may approve, not exceeding the sum of thre…

Section 31. Every officer applying for such an advance shall certify in writing that the amount asked for is needed for immediate use, and, as specifically as may be, the purposes for which it is required. The certificate shall bear the approval of the county commissioners, and w…