Section 172 Dissemination of record information; certification; eligibility for access; scope of inquiry; listing; access limited; rules; use of information
Section 172. Except as otherwise provided in this section and sections one hundred and seventy-three to one hundred and seventy-five, inclusive, criminal offender record information, and where present, evaluative information, shall be disseminated, whether directly or through any intermediary, only to (a) criminal justice agencies; (b) such other agencies and individuals required to have access to such information by statute including United States Armed Forces recruiting offices for the purpose of determining whether a person enlisting has been convicted of a felony as set forth in Title 10, section 504 of the United States Code; to the active or organized militia of the commonwealth for the purpose of determining whether a person enlisting has been convicted of a felony, and (c) any other agencies and individuals where it has been determined that the public interest in disseminating such information to these parties clearly outweighs the interest in security and privacy. The extent of such access shall be limited to that necessary for the actual performance of the criminal justice duties of criminal justice agencies under clause (a); to that necessary for the actual performance of the statutory duties of agencies and individuals granted access under clause (b); and to that necessary for the actual performance of the actions or duties sustaining the public interest as to agencies or individuals granted access under clause (c). Agencies or individuals granted access under clause (c) shall be eligible to receive criminal offender record information obtained through interstate systems if the board determines that such information is necessary for the performance of the actions or duties sustaining the public interest with respect to such agencies or individuals.
The board shall certify those agencies and individuals requesting access to criminal offender record information that qualify for such access under clauses (a) or (b) of this section, and shall specify for each such agency or individual certified, the extent of its access. The board shall make a finding in writing of eligibility, or noneligibility of each such agency or individual which requests such access. No such information shall be disseminated to any agency or individual prior to the board’s determination of eligibility, or, in cases in which the board’s decision is appealed, prior to the final judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction that such agency or individual is so eligible.
No agency or individual shall have access to criminal offender record information under clause (c), unless the board, by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting, determines and certifies that the public interest in disseminating such information to such party clearly outweighs the interest in security and privacy. The extent of access to such information under clause (c) shall also be determined by such a two-thirds majority vote of the board. Certification for access under clause (c) may be either access to information relating to a specific identifiable individual, or individuals, on a single occasion; or a general grant of access for a specified period of time not to exceed two years. A general grant of access need not relate to a request for access by the party or parties to be certified. Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph the procedure and requirements for certifying agencies and individuals under clause (c) shall be according to the provisions of the preceding paragraphs of this section.
Each agency holding or receiving criminal offender record information shall maintain, for such period as the board shall determine, a listing of the agencies or individuals to which it has released or communicated such information. Such listings, or reasonable samples thereof, may from time to time, be reviewed by the board or the council to determine whether any statutory provisions or regulations have been violated.
Dissemination of criminal offender record information shall, except as provided in this section and for purposes of research programs approved under section one hundred and seventy-four, be permitted only if the inquiry is based upon name, fingerprints, or other personal identifying characteristics. The board shall adopt rules to prevent dissemination of such information where inquiries are based upon categories of offense or data elements other than said characteristics; provided, however, that access by criminal justice agencies to criminal offender record information on the basis of data elements other than personal identifying characteristics, including but not limited to, categories of offense, mode of operation, photographs and physical descriptive data generally, shall be permissible, except as may be limited by the regulations of the board. Except as authorized by this chapter it shall be unlawful to request or require a person to provide a copy of his criminal offender record information. At the time of making any criminal record inquiry pursuant to clause (b) or (c) of the first paragraph of this section, the party certified to receive criminal offender record information shall submit to the board an acknowledgement that such inquiry will be undertaken, signed by the person who is the subject of such inquiry on a form prepared or approved by the board.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, the following information shall be available to any person upon request: (a) criminal offender record information consisting of conviction data; provided, however, that all requests for such conviction data shall be made to the board; and provided, further, that the board shall disclose only conviction data which it maintains in a standardized format in its automated criminal history file, and (b) information indicating custody status and placement within the correction system; provided, however, that no information shall be disclosed that identifies family members, friends, medical or psychological history, or any other personal information unless such information is directly relevant to such release or custody placement decision, and no information shall be provided if its release would violate any other provisions of state or federal law. The parole board, except as required by section one hundred and thirty of chapter one hundred and twenty-seven, the department of correction, a county correctional authority, or a probation department with the approval of a justice to the appropriate division of the trial court, may, in its discretion, make available a summary, which may include references to evaluative information, concerning a decision to release an individual on a permanent or temporary basis, to deny such release, or to change his custody status.
Information shall be provided or made available pursuant to the preceding paragraph only if the individual named in the request or summary has been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term of five years or more, or has been convicted of any crime and sentenced to any term of imprisonment, and at the time of the request: is serving a sentence of probation or incarceration, or is under the custody of the parole board; or having been convicted of a misdemeanor, has been released from all custody or supervision for not more than one year; or having been convicted of a felony, has been released from all custody or supervision for not more than two years; or, having been sentenced to the custody of the department of correction, has finally been discharged therefrom, either having been denied release on parole or having been returned to penal custody for violation of parole, for not more than three years. In addition to the provisions of the preceding sentence, court records for all criminal cases shall be made available for public inspection for a period of one week following conviction and imposition of sentence.
Any individual or agency, public or private, that receives or obtains criminal offender record information, in violation of the provisions of this statute, whether directly or through any intermediary, shall not collect, store, disseminate, or use such criminal offender record information in any manner or for any purpose. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the dissemination of information relative to a person’s conviction of automobile law violations as defined by section one of chapter ninety C, or information relative to a person’s charge of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor which resulted in his assignment to a driver alcohol program as described in section twenty-four D of chapter ninety, shall not be prohibited where such dissemination is made, directly or indirectly, by the motor vehicle insurance merit rating board established pursuant to section one hundred and eighty-three of chapter six, to an insurance company doing motor vehicle insurance business within the commonwealth, or to such insurance company’s agents, independent contractors or insurance policyholders to be used exclusively for motor vehicle insurance purposes. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section or chapter sixty-six A, the following shall be public records: (1) police daily logs, arrest registers, or other similar records compiled chronologically, provided that no alphabetical arrestee, suspect, or similar index is available to the public, directly or indirectly; (2) chronologically maintained court records of public judicial proceedings, provided that no alphabetical or similar index of criminal defendants is available to the public, directly or indirectly; (3) published records of public court or administrative proceedings, and of public judicial administrative or legislative proceedings; and (4) decisions of the parole board as provided in section one hundred and thirty of chapter one hundred and twenty-seven.