WeVote
Log In

Bill

Bill

HD 5989

A communication from the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association (see Section 40 of Chapter 126 of the General Laws) submitting the aggregate data on the population of the Essex County Correctional Facility for the third quarter of calendar year 2025

194th Legislature (2025-2026)

The bill requires Essex County sheriffs to quarterly report de-identified jail population data and related metrics to state officials to improve transparency and policy analysis.

Placed on file
0
WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · HD 5989

Summary: Bill HD 5989 (194th MA Legislature) – Essex County Correctional Facility Quarterly Population Report

Note: This document reflects a Massachusetts bill originating as a communication from the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association (MSA) under Chapter 126, Section 40 of the General Laws. The bill concerns quarterly population reporting for Essex County corrections facilities and related data definitions/disclaimers.

1) Purpose and Intent

  • Establishes and codifies the Sheriff’s obligation to record and report detailed quarterly population data for individuals committed to jails and houses of correction.
  • Aims to provide aggregate, non-identifying data on jail populations to state officials and legislative bodies, supporting oversight, policy analysis, and public safety planning.
  • Integrates data sources from the Cross-Tracking System (CTC) and notes partnership with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS) to compile the dataset.
  • Acknowledges limitations related to data points not owned by the Sheriff’s Offices (case disposition, bail amount, and bail rationale), and signals ongoing collaboration with Trial Court and EOPSS to refine extraction and electronic reporting of these metrics.

2) Key Provisions and Changes

  • Data to be Collected (for each inmate):
    • Probation Central File number (PCF)
    • State Identification number (SID), when available
    • Race and ethnicity
    • Offense-based tracking number (OBTN)
    • Bail type/release status and other intake/outcome fields
    • Type of admission and type of release
    • Length of sentence
    • Jail credit from pretrial incarceration
    • Earned time
    • Program participation and outcomes during incarceration
    • Case disposition
    • Bail amount and rationale if bail is set or not set
  • Aggregate Reporting:
    • Each sheriff shall assemble a quarterly report for each jail/house of correction containing the data listed above (excluding any data fields lacking available data or identifying information).
    • Reports must cover the entire quarterly period and be devoid of any identifying information about individual inmates or detainees.
    • The Sheriff must deliver the quarterly report to:
    • Secretary of Public Safety and Security
    • Chairs of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary (House and Senate)
    • Clerks of the House of Representatives and the Senate
  • Data Privacy and Anonymization:
    • Reports must contain no identifying information about individual inmates or detainees.
  • Data Reliability and Limitations:
    • The SID, PCF, and OBTN identifiers may lag or be incomplete at intake; officers manually populate these fields as data arrive.
    • There are three data points (case disposition, bail amount, bail rationale) that originate with the Trial Court and are not always available to sheriffs; efforts are underway to retrieve these metrics electronically via the Cross-Tracking System in collaboration with Trial Court and EOPSS.
  • Reporting Partnership:
    • The data report is produced in part with the Executive Office of Public Safety & Security.

3) Who and What Would Be Affected

  • Primary Affected Entity: Essex County Sheriff's Office (Essex County Jail/House of Correction facilities).
  • Administratively, county sheriffs would be responsible for compiling and submitting the quarterly population report.
  • State agencies and legislative committees (Secretary of Public Safety and Security; Joint Judiciary Committee; Joint Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee) would receive the reports.
  • The public data set would be aggregated and de-identified, reducing privacy concerns while enabling policy analysis.

4) Procedural and Timeline Aspects

  • Reporting Timeline: The bill requires quarterly reporting, with delivery of each jurisdiction’s report every quarter to the designated state offices and legislative clerks.
  • Data Definitions and Disclaimer: The bill includes explicit definitions of data fields (e.g., PCF, SID, OBTN) and a disclaimer about data lag and missing fields, ensuring transparency about data quality and limitations.
  • Ongoing Data Refinement: The MSA, in consultation with Trial Court and EOPSS, is actively working to refine the three critical data points (case disposition, bail amount, bail rationale) so they can be retrieved electronically in future reports.

5) Practical Impact

  • Improves transparency around jail populations and front-end processing in Essex County, aiding policy makers in understanding admissions, releases, and program outcomes.
  • Establishes standardized data collection practices across sheriffs’ offices, with a clear mechanism for reporting to state leaders.
  • Highlights data gaps (particularly case disposition and bail details) and sets a collaborative path to resolve them through cross-agency data-sharing enhancements.

If you’d like, I can tailor this into an executive briefing or create a comparison with similar reporting requirements in other jurisdictions.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

Sign in to ask a question.