SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1389        FILED ON: 1/19/2017

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 777

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

William N. Brownsberger

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to reduce the criminalization of poverty.

_______________

PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1389        FILED ON: 1/19/2017

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 777

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)

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An Act to reduce the criminalization of poverty.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Section 368 of chapter 26 of the acts of 2003 is hereby repealed.

SECTION 2.  Section 167 of chapter 6 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in the definition of "Criminal offender record information," the second sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- Such information shall be restricted to information recorded in criminal proceedings that are not dismissed before arraignment.

SECTION 3.  Section 167 of chapter 6 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 41 to 42, the words “is adjudicated as an adult” and inserting in place thereof the words:- was tried as an adult in superior court or tried as an adult after transfer of a case from a juvenile session to another trial court department.

SECTION 4. Section 172B of chapter 6 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting, in line 8, after the words “conviction data” the words “but not sealed juvenile data”

SECTION 5. Section 172F of chapter 6 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting, in line 8, after the words “conviction data” the words “but not sealed juvenile data.”

SECTION 6. Section 21D of chapter 40 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first and second paragraphs and inserting in place thereof the following 3 paragraphs:-

Any city or town may by ordinance or by-law not inconsistent with this section provide for non-criminal disposition of misdemeanors not ineligible for decriminalization under section 70C of chapter 277, any matters deemed civil infractions by any general or special law, and any violations of any ordinance, by-law, rule or regulation of any municipal officer, board or department which is subject to a specific penalty.

A police officer who has witnessed a person commit such a violation may request the person to state his name and address. Whoever, upon such request, refuses to state his name and address, or states a false name and address or a name and address which is not his name and address in ordinary use, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty nor more than fifty dollars. Any such offender who refuses upon such request to state his name and address or states a false name and address or a name and address which is not his name and address in ordinary use may be arrested without a warrant.

Any ordinance or by-law shall provide that any person taking cognizance of a misdemeanor, civil infraction, violation of a specific ordinance, by-law, rule or regulation which that person is authorized to enforce may, as an alternative to initiating criminal proceedings, give to the offender a written notice to appear before the clerk of the district court having jurisdiction thereof at any time during office hours, not later than 21 days after the date of the  notice. The notice shall be produced in triplicate and shall contain the offender’s name, address if known, the specific offense charged and the time and place of the offender’s required appearance. The notice shall be signed by the enforcing person and shall be signed by the offender whenever practicable as an acknowledgement that the notice has been received. 

SECTION 7. Section 22 of chapter 90 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (i).

SECTION 8.  Section 24(1)(a)(1) of chapter 90 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the third sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:-

The assessment shall be waived or reduced if it will cause a substantial financial hardship upon the person or the person’s family or dependents.

SECTION 9.  Section 24(1)(a)(1) of chapter 90 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby further amended by striking out the fifth sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:-

The assessment shall be waived or reduced if it will cause a substantial financial hardship upon the person or the person’s family or dependents.

SECTION 10. Section 24(2)(a) of chapter 90 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the fourth sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:-The assessment shall be waived or reduced if it will cause a substantial financial hardship upon the person or the person’s family or dependents.

SECTION 11.  Section 24D of chapter 90 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 173 and 174, the words “cause a grave and serious hardship to such individual or to the family thereof,” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- cause a substantial financial hardship upon the individual or the family or dependents thereof

SECTION 12. Paragraph (36) of section 33 of chapter 90 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the third sentence and inserting in place thereof the following 2 sentences:- The fee for reinstatement for suspensions and revocation under subsection (c) of section 22 shall be commensurate with the fee established for the corresponding Massachusetts offense resulting in the suspension or revocation under law. In all other cases, there shall be no fee for reinstatement.

SECTION 13. The first paragraph of section 34J of chapter 90 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following 2 sentences:- Whoever operates or permits to be operated or permits to remain on a public or private way a motor vehicle which is subject to the provisions of section 1A during such time as the motor vehicle liability policy or bond or deposit required by the provisions of this chapter has not been provided and maintained as required shall be subject to a civil penalty of $100; provided, however, that any municipality that enforces the provisions of this section shall retain such civil penalty; provided, further, that for a second offense within 6 years the offender shall pay a civil penalty of $500.

SECTION 14. Said section 34J of said chapter 90 is hereby amended by striking out the last paragraph.

SECTION 15.  The thirty-second paragraph of section 8 of chapter 90B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the last sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- The assessment shall be waived or reduced if it will cause a substantial financial hardship upon the person or the family or dependents thereof.

SECTION 16. Paragraph (6) of subsection (A) of section 3 of chapter 90C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting the following paragraph:—

(d) In any case where a violator owes an assessment, such violator may request a payment plan. If said violator so requests, the registrar shall determine a monthly payment plan, taking into consideration the ability of the violator to pay, of not less than $25 each month to be paid by the violator to the registrar or the registrar’s authorized agents. The payment plan shall be sufficient to discharge the violator of all reinstatement fees and underlying fines assessed to the violator. A payment plan granted under this section shall not exceed 12 months. During the period of the payment plan, the registrar shall defer any suspension otherwise mandated by this section.

If a violator signs a payment plan approved by the registrar and fails to make payments on the plan, the registrar may suspend the violator’s license, learners permit or right to operate without further notice or hearing. The registrar shall promulgate regulations governing the determination and use of payment plans.

SECTION 17. Section 34 of chapter 94C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended, in lines 42 to 44, by striking out the words “; provided, however, that departmental records which are not public records, maintained by police and other law enforcement agencies, shall not be sealed;”

SECTION 18. Section 44 of chapter 94C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended, in lines 42 to 44, by striking out the words “; provided, however, that departmental records maintained by police and other law enforcement agencies which are not public records shall not be sealed.”

SECTION 19. Section 16 of chapter 119A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting, in line 44, after the word “obligor” the following words:- ;provided, that the IV-D agency has no evidence of the obligor residing at an address other than the address last known by the IV-D agency.  In no instance shall the IV-D agency notify a licensing authority unless the child support arrearage exceeds an amount equal to 8 weeks obligation or $500, whichever is greater.

SECTION 20. Section 130 of chapter 127 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the words “terms and conditions”, in line 103, the following words:- ; provided, however, that in no instance shall such terms and conditions include payment of a supervision fee.

SECTION 21.  Section 144 of chapter 127 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 3, the word “thirty”, and inserting in place thereof the following figure: $90.

SECTION 22. Chapter 127 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 145, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-  

Section 145.  (a) A justice of a trial court shall not commit a person to a prison or place of confinement solely for non-payment of monies owed if such person has shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the person is not able to pay without causing substantial financial hardship to such person or the family or dependents thereof.  A court shall determine if a substantial financial hardship exists at a hearing where it shall consider the person’s employment status, earning ability, financial resources, living expenses, and any special circumstances that may have bearing on the person’s ability to pay. 

(b) A justice of trial court shall not commit a person to a prison or place of confinement solely for non-payment of monies owed if the person was not offered counsel for the commitment portion of the case.  A person determined to be indigent for the purpose of the offer of counsel shall not be assessed a fee for the assistance of counsel. 

(c) A justice of the trial court shall consider alternatives to incarceration before committing a person to a prison or place of confinement solely for non-payment of a fine or a fine and expenses.

(d) A justice of the trial court shall not commit a juvenile to prison, place of confinement or the Department of Youth Services for nonpayment of monies.

SECTION 23. Section 10 of chapter 209A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 6 to 8, the words “when the court finds that the person is indigent or that payment of the assessment would cause the person, or the dependents of such person, severe financial hardship”, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- when the court finds that the person is indigent or that payment of the assessment would cause substantial financial hardship to the person or the person’s family or dependents.

SECTION 24. Section 2A of Chapter 211D, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (f),(g), (h) and (i) in their entirety and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

(f) The office of the commissioner of probation shall submit quarterly reports to the house and senate committees on ways and means that shall include, but not be limited to: (i) the number of individuals claiming indigency who are determined to be indigent; (ii) the number of individuals claiming indigency who are determined not to be indigent; (iii) the number of individuals found to have misrepresented wage, tax or asset information; (iv) the number of individuals found to no longer qualify for appointment of counsel upon any re-assessment of indigency required by this section; (v) the total number of times an indigent misrepresentation fee was collected and the aggregate amount of indigent misrepresentation fees collected; (vi) the total number of times indigent but able to contribute counsel fees were collected and waived and the aggregate amount of indigent but able to contribute counsel fees collected and waived; (vii) the average indigent but able to contribute counsel fee that each court division collects; (viii) the total number of times an indigent but able to contribute fee was collected and waived and the aggregate amount of indigent but able to contribute fees collected and waived; (ix) the highest and lowest indigent but able to contribute fee collected in each court division; and (x) other pertinent information to ascertain the effectiveness of indigency verification procedures. The information within such reports shall be delineated by court division, and delineated further by month.

SECTION 25. Section 8 of chapter 258B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 38 to 40, the words “would impose a severe financial hardship upon the person against whom the assessment is imposed,”, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- would impose a substantial financial hardship upon the person against whom the assessment is imposed, or the person’s family or dependents.

SECTION 26. Section 47 of chapter 265 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the seventh sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:-  If an offender establishes that the fees would cause a substantial financial hardship upon the offender or the offender’s family or dependents, the court may waive them.

SECTION 27. Section 30 of chapter 266 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 9, 13 to 14, 77 and 82, the words “two hundred and fifty dollars” and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following figure:- $1,500.

SECTION 28. Said section 30 of said chapter 266, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 15 to 23, after the word “dollars,” the words “; or, if the property was stolen from the conveyance of a common carrier or of a person carrying on an express business, shall be punished for the first offence by imprisonment for not less than six months nor more than two and one half years, or by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than six hundred dollars, or both, and for a subsequent offence, by imprisonment for not less than eighteen months nor more than two and one half years, or by a fine of not less than one hundred and fifty nor more than six hundred dollars, or both” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- ; or, if the value of the property stolen exceeds $250 but is less than $500, shall be punished by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than 1 year or by a fine of not more than $500; or, if the value of the property stolen exceeds $500 but is less than $1,000, shall be punished by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than 1 year or by a fine of not more than $1,000; or, if the value of the property stolen exceeds $1,000 but is less than $1,500, shall be punished by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than 1 year or by a fine of not more than $2,500.

SECTION 29. Said section 30 of said chapter 266, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby further amended by adding the following paragraph:-

(6) Law enforcement officers may arrest without warrant any person an officer has probable cause to believe has committed the offense of larceny, as defined in this section, where the value of the property stolen exceeds $250.

SECTION 30. Section 30A of said chapter 266, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 35, 42, and 46 to 47, the words “one hundred dollars” and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following figure:- $250.

SECTION 31. Section 37A of said chapter 266, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 6 to 9, the definition of “credit card” and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-

“Credit card”, any instrument or device, whether known as a credit card, credit plate or by any other name or the code of number used to identify that instrument or device or an account of credit or cash accessed by that instrument or device, issued with or without fee by an issuer for the use of the cardholder in obtaining money, goods, services or anything else of value on credit or by debit from a cash account.

SECTION 32. Section 37B of said chapter 266, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 24 to 25, 29 to 30, 37 to 38, and 45 to 46, the words “two hundred and fifty dollars” and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following figure:- $1,500.

SECTION 33. Said section 37B of said chapter 266, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 49 and 50, the words “five hundred dollars” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $3,000.

SECTION 34. Section 37C of said chapter 266, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 12, 17,23 and 31 to 32, the words “two hundred and fifty dollars” and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following figure:- $1,500.

SECTION 35. Said section 37C of said chapter 266, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 39 to 40, the words “two thousand dollars” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $5,000.

SECTION 36. Section 60 of said chapter 266, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 13, the figure “$250” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $1,500.

SECTION 37. Said section 60 of said chapter 266, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 15, the figure “$1,000” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $2,500.

SECTION 38. Said section 60 of said chapter 266, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 16 and 20, the figure “$250” and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following figure:- $1,500.

SECTION 39. Section 126A of chapter 266 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the second paragraph.

SECTION 40. Section 126B of chapter 266 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the second paragraph.

SECTION 41. Section 127 of said chapter 266, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 13, the words “two hundred and fifty dollars” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $1,500.

SECTION 42. Section 23A of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended, in lines 24 to 25, by striking out the words “and the registry of motor vehicles”.

SECTION 43.  Section 30 of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 5 and 6, the words “except that upon a finding of good cause by the court the fee may be waived,”, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- except that the court may waive the fee upon a finding of good cause or a finding that such a fee would cause a substantial financial hardship to the person or the person’s family or dependents. 

SECTION 44.  Said section 30 of said chapter 276 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 11, the words “unless the judge finds that such person is indigent,” and inserting in place thereof the following words:-

unless the judge finds that the fee would cause a substantial financial hardship to the person or the person’s family or dependents.

SECTION 45.  Section 87A of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the second, third, fourth, fifth , sixth, seventh and eighth paragraphs and inserting in place thereof the following 6 paragraphs:-

The court shall assess upon each person placed on probation, including any person placed on probation for offenses under section 24 of chapter 90, but not including any person placed on probation after release from prison or a house of correction, a monthly probation supervision fee in the amount of $45 each month, which for the purposes of this section shall be referred to as the "probation fee.”. A person shall pay the probation fee once each month for the duration of the time the person remains on probation. Said person may pay a partial or full payment of future scheduled payments in advance. Notwithstanding this section, said fees shall not be assessed upon any person accused or convicted of a violation of sections 1 or 15 of chapter 273 where compliance with an order of support for a spouse or minor child is a condition of probation.

The court may waive payment of the fee if it determines after a hearing that such payment would constitute a substantial financial hardship to the person or the person’s family. Following the hearing and upon a finding of hardship the court may require said person to perform unpaid community service work at a public or nonprofit agency or facility, as approved and monitored by the probation department, for no more than 4 hours per month in lieu of payment of a probation fee. A waiver shall be in effect only during the period of time that a person is unable to pay the monthly probation fee.

The court may waive payment of the fee in whole or in part if the person is assessed payment of restitution. In those cases, fees may be waived only to the extent and during the period that restitution is paid in an amount equivalent to the fee.

The probation fee shall be collected by the probation offices of the trial court and transmitted to the state treasurer for deposit into the General Fund. The state treasurer shall account for all fees received and report the fees annually, itemized by court division, to the house and senate committees on ways and means.

The court shall also assess upon every person placed on probation, including all persons placed on probation for offenses under section 24 of chapter 90, a monthly probationers' victim services surcharge which, for purposes of this section, shall be referred to as "victim services surcharge'', in the amount of $5 per month. The person on probation shall pay said victim services surcharge once each month for the duration of the time the person remains on probation.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, the fees shall not be assessed upon any person accused or convicted of a violation of sections 1 or 15 of chapter 273, where compliance with an order of support for a spouse or minor child is a condition of probation.

The court may waive payment of the fee if it has determined, after a hearing, that the payment would constitute a substantial financial hardship to the person or the person’s family.. A waiver shall be in effect only for the duration of the period of time that the person is unable to pay the monthly probation fee.

SECTION 46. Chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out section 92 and inserting in place thereof the following section:

Section 92.  (a) When the court orders a defendant to make financial restitution to the victim of a crime for which the defendant has been convicted or to which the defendant has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, a civil judgment shall automatically be entered by the trial court against the defendant on behalf of the victim for that amount. If the restitution ordered by the court is not made within the specified time period, the civil judgment for the amount of the restitution ordered, minus the amount already paid, may be enforced by the state or by a victim named in the order to receive the restitution, in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action.

(b) An order of restitution enforced pursuant to this section is also an order that the defendant owes all reasonable and necessary attorney's fees and costs incurred in collecting the restitution order due to the defendant's nonpayment.

(c) The conviction, guilty plea or plea of nolo contendere of a defendant for an offense involving the act giving rise to restitution shall prevent the defendant from denying the essential allegations of that offense in any subsequent civil proceeding.

(d) An order of restitution hereunder shall not bar any subsequent civil remedy or recovery, but the amount of such restitution shall be set off against any subsequent independent civil recovery.

(e) The civil judgment allowed under this section shall be dischargeable in bankruptcy. 

SECTION 47. Section 100A of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is amended by striking, in line 83, the words “for employment used by an employer” between the words “application” and “which” and inserting in place thereof, the following words:- used to screen applicants for employment, housing or an occupational or professional license”

SECTION 48. Section 100A of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is amended by inserting, in line 85 to 86, the words “or for housing or an occupational or professional license” between the words “employment” and “with”

SECTION 49. Section 100A of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is amended by inserting, in line 89, the words “or for housing or an occupational or professional license” between the words “employment” and “with”

SECTION 50. Section 100A of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is amended by inserting, in line 92, the words “or for housing or an occupational or professional license” between the words “employment” and “may”

SECTION 51. Section 100C of Chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is amended by striking, in line 23, the words “for employment used by an employer” between the words “application” and “which” and inserting in place thereof, the following words:- used to screen applicants for employment, housing or an occupational or professional license”

SECTION 52. Section 100C of Chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is amended by inserting, in line 26 through 27, the words “or for housing or an occupational or professional license” between the words “employer” and “with”

SECTION 53. Section 100A of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is amended by inserting, in line 28, between the number “268A” and the period at the end of the sentence, the words- “,except for convictions for resisting arrest”

SECTION 54. Section 100A of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 9, 14, and 21, the figure “5” and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following figure:- 3

SECTION 55. Section 100A of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 12, 15, and 22, the figure “10” and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following figure:- 7

SECTION 56. Section 100B of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out said section in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following new section:-

Section 100B.

(a)Any person having a record of entries of a court appearance in any proceeding pursuant to section 52 to 62 of chapter 119, inclusive, in the commonwealth on file in the office of the commissioner of probation may, on a form furnished by the commissioner, signed under the penalties of perjury, request that the commissioner seal such file. The commissioner shall comply with such request provided (1) that any court appearance or disposition including court supervision, probation, commitment or parole, the records for which are to be sealed, terminated not less than one year prior to said request; (2) that said person has not been adjudicated delinquent or found guilty of any criminal offense within the commonwealth in the one year preceding such request, except motor vehicle offenses in which the penalty does not exceed a fine of five-hundred and fifty dollars nor been imprisoned under sentence or committed as a delinquent within the commonwealth within the preceding one year; and (3) said form includes a statement by the petitioner that he has not been adjudicated delinquent or found guilty of any criminal offense in any other state, United States possession or in a court of federal jurisdiction, except such motor vehicle offenses as aforesaid, and has not been imprisoned under sentence or committed as a delinquent in any state or county within the preceding one year.

(b)At the time of dismissal of a case, nolle prosequi, non-adjudication or when imposing any sentence, period of commitment or probation, or other disposition under section 58 of said chapter 119, the court shall inform all juveniles in writing of their right to seek sealing under this section, and that if the case ended in a dismissal, nolle prosequi, or without an adjudication, the court shall order sealing of the record at the time of the disposition unless the person charged with the offense objects.

(c)When records of delinquency and youthful offender appearances and dispositions are sealed by the commissioner in his files, the commissioner shall notify forthwith the clerk and the probation officer of the courts in which the adjudications or dispositions have occurred, or other entries have been made, police department from where the charges originated and the department of youth services of such sealing, and said clerks, probation officers, police department and department of youth services likewise shall seal records of the same proceedings in their files. Sealing of records under this section shall not preclude expungement of police records. The commissioner of probation also shall notify the State Police of such sealing and the State Police shall notify the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the sealing order and request that the FBI note that the record was sealed in its records if it has a record of the case.

Such sealed records of a person shall not operate to disqualify a person in any future examination, appointment or application for public service under the government of the commonwealth or of any political subdivision thereof; nor shall such sealed records be admissible in evidence or used in any way in any court proceedings or hearings before any boards of commissioners, except in imposing sentence for subsequent offenses in juvenile or criminal proceedings.

Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, the commissioner shall report such sealed  juvenile record to inquiring police and court agencies only as ''sealed juvenile record over one year old'' and to other authorized persons who may inquire as ''no record''. The information contained in said sealed juvenile record shall be made available to a judge or probation officer who affirms that such person, whose record has been sealed, has been adjudicated a delinquent or has pleaded guilty or has been found guilty of and is awaiting sentence for a crime committed subsequent to sealing of such record. Said information shall be used only for the purpose of consideration in imposing sentence.

SECTION 57. Chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting, after section 100D,  the following  sections:-

Section 100E. After records of a criminal or juvenile appearance or disposition are sealed by the commissioner pursuant to section 100A, 100B, or 100C, the defendant may request sealing of police records related the charge or charges. Upon receipt of such a request from the defendant, the commissioner of probation shall inform, as applicable, the police department or Massachusetts state police that arrested or initiated the complaint against the defendant of the request for sealing of police records. The police department or Massachusetts State Police, as applicable, shall then seal the records related to the charge or charges including, but not limited to, arrest logs. Notwithstanding this provision, criminal justice agencies as defined in section 167 of chapter 6, shall have access to police records sealed under this section as necessary for the performance of their criminal justice duties.  For purposes of this section, “sealing” shall mean to remove from public access all information that is available to or can otherwise be provided to the public upon request. Sealing of records under this section shall not preclude expungement of police records.

Section 100F.  Whenever the commissioner seals records pursuant to sections 100A, 100B or 100C, he shall forthwith notify the state police and the state police shall take action to assure that any arrest records maintained in state police, federal or interstate databases, related to the sealed criminal or delinquency appearances and dispositions are also sealed for all purposes other than criminal justice, weapons-related background checks and national security.

Section 100G. The commissioner shall notify the state police to update the disposition of a case upon any change in its disposition and the state police shall take action to ensure that the disposition of each case is attached and included with any arrest records maintained in state police, federal or interstate databases related to the criminal or delinquency appearances and dispositions resulting from that arrest.

SECTION 58. Chapter 276 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby further amended by adding the following section:-

Section 104: After a court appearance has reached its final disposition including termination of court supervision, probation, commitment or parole, upon motion of the defendant and after notice to the district attorney who shall be given the opportunity to be heard, a court may order expungement of all records related to the court appearance if the court determines that expungement is in the interest of justice because: (i) the complaint issued against the named defendant because of misidentification or other errors by law enforcement or court employees; (ii) the named defendant was determined to have no connection to the alleged criminal activity; (iii) the named defendant was prosecuted because another person impersonated him or her, or used his or her name when arrested by police; (iv) there was fraud on the court related to the claim that the defendant committed the offense;  or (v) there was lack of probable cause for initiation of the complaint or violation of a constitutional right related to initiation of the complaint. The court shall enter written findings of fact when it orders expungement of records under this section and shall immediately provide a certified copy of the order and findings of fact to the named defendant and the commissioner of probation.  The commissioner of probation shall expunge said court appearance and disposition recorded in the commissioner’s files and the clerk and the probation officers of the courts in which the proceedings occurred or were initiated shall expunge the records of the proceedings from their files. No individual or other entity, including but not limited to criminal justice agencies as defined under section 167 of chapter 6, shall have access to expunged criminal offender record information related to the expunged charge or charges. The court on request of the defendant shall order the expungement of records that directly pertain to expunged case that are in the care, custody, and control of any other agencies, departments, commissions, or entities, including but not limited to law enforcement agencies. Such expunged records shall include, but not be limited to, arrest and other police records and district attorney files.

If the court orders expungement of the records, the person, when applying for employment, housing, or occupational licensing application, may answer “no record” as to any charge expunged pursuant to this section in response to an inquiry regarding prior arrests, court appearances or criminal cases. A charge that is expunged shall not operate to disqualify a person in any examination, appointment or application for public employment in the service of the commonwealth or any other political subdivision thereof, nor shall such charges and convictions be used against a person in any way in any court proceedings or hearings before any court, board or commission to which the person is a party to the proceedings. For the purpose of this chapter, the words, expunge, expunged, or expungement, shall mean permanent erasure and destruction of records.

Upon receipt of an expungement order, the state police shall submit such order to the Interstate Identification Index and, upon confirmation that the case or cases have been expunged from said index, shall also expunge said cases from any records in its custody.

SECTION 59.  Section 1 of chapter 279 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the fourth sentence, the following sentence:- When a person is sentenced to pay a fine of any amount, or is assessed fines, fees, costs, civil penalties, or other expenses at disposition of a case, the court shall inform that person that: (i) nonpayment of the fines, fees, costs, civil penalties, or expenses may result in commitment to a prison or place of confinement; (ii) payment must be made by a date certain; (iii) failure to appear at such date certain or failure to make the payment may result in the issuance of a default; and (iv) if an inability to pay exists as the result of a change in financial circumstances or for any other reason, the person has a right to address the court on inability to pay. Under no circumstances may a person be committed on a delinquency or youthful offender case for failure to pay a fee, fine, or costs.

SECTION 60.  Section 6A of chapter 280 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the fourth sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:-

The court or justice may in his discretion waive all or any part of the cost assessment, the payment of which would cause a substantial financial hardship to the person convicted or the person’s family.

SECTION 61.  Section 16 shall be effective on September 1, 2018.

SECTION 62. The last sentence in subsection (c) of section 56 shall be effective January 1, 2019.

SECTION 63.  Section 57 shall be effective July 1, 2019.

SECTION 64.  The last paragraph of Section 58 shall be effective  January 1, 2019.