Bill
HD 5051
Presents Q1 2025 aggregate data on Norfolk County Correctional Facility populations to inform state oversight and policy while protecting inmate privacy.
Status: Placed on file (Introduced August 18, 2025)
Bill Title: A communication from the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association submitting the aggregate population data for the Norfolk County Correctional Facility for Q1 2025
Purpose and context
- This measure is a communication from the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association (MSA) presenting the quarterly population report for Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office, in compliance with Mass. Gen. Laws, Part I, Title XVIII, Chapter 126, Section 40.
- The report covers the first quarter of calendar year 2025 and is prepared in partnership with the Executive Office of Public Safety & Security (EOPSS) using the Commonwealth’s Cross-Tracking System.
- Aimed at providing aggregated, non-identifying data to state officials to inform oversight and policy decisions while maintaining inmate privacy.
Key provisions and data elements
- Required data points (for each person processed in a jail or house of correction):
- Probation Central File (PCF) number
- State Identification Number (SID), if available
- Race and ethnicity
- Offense-Based Tracking Number (OBTN)
- Type of release; type of admission
- Length of sentence
- Jail credit from pretrial incarceration; earned time
- Program participation and outcome during incarceration
- Case disposition; bail amount or reason if no bail set
- The report aggregates data for the entire quarterly period and excludes any identifying information about individual inmates/detainees.
- The bill emphasizes that three data points (case disposition, bail amount, and reason if no bail set) originate with the Trial Court and may not be populated by Sheriffs’ Offices until cross-referenced with Court data.
Data governance, limitations, and methodology
- Data are compiled from local sheriff’s offices and the state Cross-Tracking System; data use is coordinated with EOPSS.
- Important disclaimer: SID, PCF, and OBTN numbers may lag or be incomplete at intake; some identifiers are added as information becomes available.
- Not all requested fields may be fully populated due to dependencies on Court data (as noted in the “Important Data Note”).
Recipients and timing
- Quarterly reporting requirement: The sheriff must deliver aggregate data to:
- Secretary of Public Safety and Security
- House and Senate chairs of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary
- House and Senate chairs of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security
- Clerks of the House and Senate
- This particular measure provides the Q1 2025 Norfolk County report.
Impact and use
- Increases transparency of jail population metrics while safeguarding individual identifiers.
- Supports state-level oversight and data-driven policy discussions related to jails and corrections.
- Establishes a standardized reporting framework that can be refined as Court data fields become electronically retrievable.
Overall assessment
- The bill does not appear to enact new statutory changes but formalizes and communicates the quarterly aggregate population data from the Norfolk County Correctional Facility, highlighting data definitions, limitations, and interagency coordination.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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