Massachusetts H 3659: An Act relative to improvements and enhancements of the Sex Offender Registry Board

Bill Text

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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3036 FILED ON: 1/18/2019
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3659

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Thomas P. Walsh and Paul F. Tucker
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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 relative to improvements and enhancements of the Sex Offender Registry Board.
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PETITION OF:

NAME: DISTRICT/ADDRESS: DATE ADDED:
Thomas P. Walsh 12th Essex 1/18/2019
Paul F. Tucker 7th Essex 2/1/2019
David T. Vieira 3rd Barnstable 1/24/2019
Harold P. Naughton, Jr. 12th Worcester 2/1/2019

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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3036 FILED ON: 1/18/2019
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3659
By Messrs. Walsh of Peabody and Tucker of Salem, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
3659) of Thomas P. Walsh, Paul F. Tucker and others relative to the Sex Offender Registry
Board. The Judiciary.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)
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An Act relative to improvements and enhancements of the Sex Offender Registry Board.

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

1 SECTION 1. Section 178D of chapter 6 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016
2 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding after the third paragraph the following paragraph:-
3 When an offender who is required to register pursuant to said sections 178C to 178P,
4 inclusive, fails to do so, an electronic notification generated by the database or some other
5 electronic means established by the board, shall be automatically transmitted to the point of
6 contact within any municipality where the offender failed to register.
7 SECTION ¬¬2. Section 178E of said chapter 6, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
8 adding the following subsection:-
9 (r) The chief of police of a municipality may designate in writing to the board an official
10 point of contact for the purpose of communicating with the board and other departments or
11 agencies in connection with sex offender registration pursuant to sections 178C to 178P,

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12 inclusive. If such designation is not made, the chief of police shall serve as the official point of
13 contact for the municipality.
14 SECTION 3. Section 178F ½ of said chapter 6, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
15 striking out, in lines 1 and 2, the words “finally classified by the board as a level 2 or level 3 sex
16 offender”.
17 SECTION 4. Said section 178F ½ of said chapter 6, as so appearing, is hereby further
18 amended by striking out, in lines 16 and 17, the words “who is finally classified by the board as a
19 level 2 or level 3 offender and”.
20 SECTION 5. Said section 178F ½ of said chapter 6, as so appearing, is hereby further
21 amended by striking out, in line 60, the words “finally classified as a level 2 or level 3 offender”.
22 SECTION 6. Said chapter 6 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 178K
23 the following section:-
24 Section 178K ½ . Upon determining that an offender has an obligation to register but
25 before final classification, the board shall enter and maintain information on the sex offender
26 internet database to identify the offender and any convictions or adjudications against the
27 offender, including the dates of such convictions or adjudications. The information entered and
28 maintained pursuant to this section shall only be made available to those departments and
29 agencies that are authorized to access information regarding a level 1 sex offender.
30 SECTION 7. Section 178P of said chapter 6, as so appearing, is hereby further amended
31 by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following 2 paragraphs:-

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32 Whenever a police department of a municipality has probable cause to believe that a sex
33 offender who has registered in that municipality has failed to comply with the registration
34 requirements of sections 178C to 178P, the police department shall, within 10 business days,
35 apply for a warrant authorizing the arrest of the offender.
36 Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, whenever a police officer has probable cause
37 to believe that a sex offender has failed to comply with the registration requirements of sections
38 178C to 178P, inclusive, such officer shall have the right to arrest such sex offender without a
39 warrant and to keep such sex offender in custody.
40 SECTION 8. Chapter 6 is hereby amended by inserting after section 178Q the following
41 section:-
42 Section 178R. (a) As used in this section, the following terms shall, unless the context
43 clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-
44 “Board”, the sex offender registry board.
45 “Eastern region”, the geo