DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION

M.G.L. pt. Part I, tit. Title II, ch. c. 27

in effect

M.G.L. c. 27, § 1 Department of correction; commissioner; salary; qualifications

c. 27, § 1. Department of correction; commissioner; salary; qualifications Section 1. There shall be a department of correction, under the supervision and control of a commissioner of correction. The commissioner shall be the executive and administrative head of the department and all officers and employees of the department and all of the correctional institutions of the commonwealth shall be under his supervision and control. The position of commissioner shall be classified in accordance with section forty-five of chapter thirty and the salary shall be determined in accordance with section forty-six C of said chapter thirty and he shall devote his full time during business hours to the duties of his office. The secretary of public safety shall appoint, with the approval of the governor, the commissioner who shall serve at the pleasure of the secretary and may be removed by the secretary at any time, subject to the approval of the governor. Any person appointed to said office shall, at the time of his appointment, have had at least five years of adult correctional administrative experience and have an established record of high character and qualities of leadership.

M.G.L. c. 27, § 2 Deputy commissioners; salary; qualifications; employees

c. 27, § 2. Deputy commissioners; salary; qualifications; employees Section 2. The commissioner shall, with the approval of the secretary of public safety, appoint and may, with like approval, remove a deputy commissioner for institutional services, a deputy commissioner for personnel and training, and a deputy commissioner for community services. The position of deputy commissioner shall be classified in accordance with section forty-five of chapter thirty and the salary shall be determined in accordance with section forty-six C of said chapter thirty and he shall devote his full time during business hours to the duties of his office. All such deputy commissioners shall possess qualifications of character and ability similar to that required of the commissioner, and shall have had training and experience in work generally similar to those required of the commissioner or otherwise suitably preparing them for the work of their respective offices. They shall not be subject to the provisions of section nine A and nine B of chapter thirty, or chapter thirty-one. The commissioner may designate any deputy commissioner to discharge the duties of the commissioner during his absence or disability. Subject to appropriation and to all applicable requirements of chapter thirty or thirty-one, the commissioner shall appoint and may remove such other officers and such employees as the work of the department shall require, provided, that said commissioner may require that a physician who is to be so appointed be certified as to his qualifications by one of the physicians' specialty boards approved by the Council on Medical Education and Hospitals of the American Medical Association; and from time to time he may, subject to appropriations, employ such consultants as he deems necessary. Subsequent to January first, nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, no person who smokes any tobacco product shall be eligible for appointment as an employee of the department in a position or office the regular or incidental duties of which require the care, supervision, or custody of prisoners, criminally insane persons or defective delinquents and no person so appointed after said date shall continue in such office or position if such person thereafter smokes any tobacco product; the personnel administrator shall promulgate regulations for the implementation of the provisions of this sentence.

M.G.L. c. 27, § 2A Positions in department of correction; educational requirements

c. 27, § 2A. Positions in department of correction; educational requirements Section 2A. Notwithstanding the provisions of section twenty-one of chapter thirty-one, the personnel administrator shall establish the following educational requirements for taking an examination for the following positions in the department of correction:— An applicant for director of psychological research shall have a doctoral degree in psychology from an accredited college or university. An applicant for principal psychologist shall have a minimum of a master's degree in psychology from an accredited college or university. An applicant for chief supervisor of psychiatric social work shall have a minimum of a master's degree in social work from an accredited graduate school of social work. An applicant for head psychiatric social worker shall have a minimum of a master's degree in social work from an accredited graduate school of social work.

M.G.L. c. 27, § 4 Parole board; members; appointment and term; chairman; powers and duties; salaries

c. 27, § 4. Parole board; members; appointment and term; chairman; powers and duties; salaries Section 4. There shall be in the department, but not subject to its jurisdiction, a parole board, consisting of seven members, 1 of whom shall at all times have experience in forensic psychology, to be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the council, for terms of five years. The governor may, with the advice and consent of the council, remove members from the board for cause, upon a written certification of such cause; provided, that such member shall have the right to notice and the opportunity for a public hearing before the council relative to such removal. Whenever a vacancy occurs in the membership of the board the governor may appoint a panel of 9 persons consisting of the administrative justice for the superior court department, the president of the state parole officers association, 1 person chosen from a list of 3 nominees submitted by the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association, 1 person chosen from a list of 3 nominees submitted by the committee for public counsel services, 1 person chosen from a list of 3 nominees submitted by the Prisoners' Legal Services and 1 member from local law enforcement, the chairman of the advisory committee on correction, the president of the Massachusetts bar association or his designee, and the secretary of the executive office of public safety who shall serve as chairman of said panel. Said panel shall submit to the governor, within sixty days of the establishment of said panel, a list of not less than six nor more than nine persons, or not more than twelve persons in the event there should be two or more vacancies to fill, who are qualified by knowledge, education or experience in the administration of criminal justice or in the behavioral sciences as hereinafter provided. Such persons shall be graduates of an accredited four-year college or university and shall have had at least five years of training and experience in one or more of the following fields:— parole, probation, corrections, law, law enforcement, psychology, psychiatry, sociology and social work; provided, however, that the panel may, by unanimous vote, submit the name of a person who has demonstrated exceptional qualifications and aptitude for carrying out the duties required of a parole board member, if such person substantially, although not precisely, meets the above qualifications. At least 1 person on said list shall be a professional with not less than 5 years of experience and training in adolescent development and psychology, and shall be selected from a list of proposed nominees provided by the following organizations: the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Inc.; the New England Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Inc.; the Massachusetts Psychological Association, Inc.; and the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, Inc. The list of names of such persons for each vacancy shall include one or more of the following, insofar as it is possible to select such persons who are willing and able to fill promptly the existing vacancy or vacancies:— an attorney admitted to practice in Massachusetts, a psychiatrist who is a member in good standing of the American Psychiatric Association, a victim witness advocate; provided, that such victim representative is otherwise qualified as provided for above, a psychologist certified by the Massachusetts Board of Certification in Psychology, Inc., and a member of the Massachusetts parole staff. If the governor does not appoint a panel as aforesaid any vacancy on said board shall be filled by the appointment of a member who possesses the qualifications as hereinbefore provided. The governor shall designate one of the members as chairman, said member to serve as chairman at the will of the governor. The chairman shall be the executive and administrative head of said board, shall have the authority and responsibility of directing assignments of members of said board and shall be the appointing and removing authority for parole agents and other members of the parole staff. In the case of the absence or disability of the chairman, the governor may designate one of the members to act as chairman during such absence or disability. The positions of chairman and each of the other members shall be classified in accordance with section forty-five of chapter thirty and the salaries shall be determined in accordance with section forty-six C of said chapter thirty. Members shall devote full time to their duties, and no member shall hold any other salaried public office or engage in any activity which is in violation of any law or which interferes or conflicts with his full time service as a member during his incumbency.

M.G.L. c. 27, § 5 Parole board; powers and duties

c. 27, § 5. Parole board; powers and duties Section 5. The parole board shall (a) within its jurisdiction, as defined in section one hundred and twenty-eight of chapter one hundred and twenty-seven, determine which prisoners in the correctional institutions of the commonwealth or in jails or houses of correction may be released on parole, and when and under what conditions, and the power within such jurisdiction to grant a parole permit to any prisoner, and to revoke, revise, alter or amend the same, and the terms and conditions on which it was granted shall remain in the parole board until the expiration of the maximum term of the sentence or sentences for the service of which such prisoner was committed, or until the date which has been determined by deductions from the maximum term of his sentence or sentences for good conduct, or unless otherwise terminated; (b) supervise all prisoners released on parole permits granted by it, make such investigations as may be necessary in connection therewith, determine whether violation of parole terms and conditions exist in specific cases, decide the action to be taken with reference thereto, and aid paroled prisoners to secure employment; (c) be the advisory board of pardons with the power and duties in relation thereto set forth in section one hundred and fifty-four of chapter one hundred and twenty-seven; (d) supervise all prisoners pardoned on parole conditions, and report to the governor violations by any such prisoner of the parole conditions applicable to his pardon; (e) make rules relative to the performance of its duties, the calling and conduct of meetings and for the conduct of its employees in the performance of their duties; (f) print its rules and the statutes relating to its powers and duties, in convenient form, from time to time, and annually during the month of January mail or deliver one copy thereof to each justice of the superior and district courts, each sheriff and to the master, keeper or principal officer of each penal institution in the commonwealth, and two hundred copies thereof to the board of probation; (g) make an annual report to the commissioner; (h) employ subject to appropriation and the requirements of chapter thirty and chapter thirty-one an executive secretary and such hearing officers, clerks, attorneys, and other employees and consultants as the work of the parole board may require. Any three members of the board may be appointed by the chairman to act as the parole board for the purpose of granting or revocation of paroles; provided, however, that for the purpose of considering hearing officer recommendations to the board under paragraph (b) of section one hundred and thirty-four of chapter one hundred and twenty-seven, any single member of the board may be so appointed. The chairman may also designate any member to act in his absence as the executive and administrative head of the board.

M.G.L. c. 27, § 7 Special members of parole board

c. 27, § 7. Special members of parole board Section 7. (a) Retired members of the parole board and retired judges of the commonwealth whose names have been placed on the list of special parole board members pursuant to paragraph (d) may be designated by the secretary of the executive office of public safety, upon application by the chairman of the parole board as provided in paragraph (e), to perform such of the duties of parole board members as they are assigned by the chairman of the parole board and which they may be willing to undertake. (b) In performing such services, a special member of the parole board shall exercise all powers and authority of the office with respect to matters to which he is assigned. Any decision or vote of any such member shall be equal to any decision or vote of any active member of the parole board. (c) A special member of the parole board shall receive compensation equivalent to that received by active members of the parole board and payment of any pension or retirement benefits shall be deemed to have been waived during such service as provided by section ninety B of chapter thirty-two. Such special member of the parole board shall be reimbursed for all expenses incurred while performing such services. While so serving, such staff support, clerical assistance and facilities as are customarily available to active members of the parole board shall be provided. (d) Any retired member of the parole board or any retired judge who is eligible as hereinafter provided, may notify the secretary that he wishes his name to be placed on the list of such persons who may be designated as a special member of the parole board. The secretary may place the name of any retired member of the parole board or any retired judge on the list of special parole board members. No retired judge shall be designated to serve as a special member of the parole board if he is designated and assigned pursuant to section twenty-four of chapter two hundred and eleven, section sixteen of chapter two hundred and eleven A, and section fourteen of chapter two hundred and eleven B, nor shall any such judge consider the parole eligibility, commutation or pardon of any inmate who has ever appeared before him in his judicial capacity. (e) Application for designation of a special member of the parole board shall be made by the chairman of the parole board to the secretary by a certification by said chairman that a significant number of cases is pending and has been pending for a least thirty days and that the active members of the parole board could not dispose of these cases within sixty days. The secretary shall consult with the chairman as to the number of special members of the parole board who should be designated and the length of time such designation shall remain in effect; provided, however, that no more than three temporary appointments to the parole board shall be in effect at any one time; and provided, further, that at no time shall more than one temporary appointment serve as a member of the parole board to dispose of any particular case. In no event may a designation remain in effect for longer than one year; provided, however, that the secretary may redesignate an individual as a special parole board member. Any designation may specify that a special member may serve on a less than full time basis. (f) Upon recommendation of the chairman, the secretary may withdraw an individual's designation as a special parole board member at any time. (g) Whenever the secretary has designated one or more special members of the parole board, the chairman shall file with the secretary a monthly report on the efforts to address the caseload and shall indicate the number of pending cases.

Source: Massachusetts General Court (malegislature.gov)URL: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleII/Chapter27Fetched: 10/20/2026