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HD 880

An Act regulating sex offender registration in the 21st century

194th Legislature (2025-2026) Introduced by Tackey Chan

Massachusetts HD 880 expands the sex offender registry to include electronic aliases, addresses, and domains, requiring updates and extending digital IDs into public records.

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Bill Summary · HD 880

Summary: An Act regulating sex offender registration in the 21st century (HD 880)

Overview

  • Purpose: Modernize and expand Massachusetts sex offender registration to explicitly include online identifiers. The bill adds electronic aliases, addresses, and domains to the information that must be reported and maintained for registered offenders, reflecting how offenders operate in digital spaces.
  • Context: Filed in the 2025-2026 General Court session as House Docket No. 880, with a prior related filing in 2023-2024 (House No. 1417). Introduced in the 194th General Court cycle.

Key Provisions (substantive changes)

  • Definition added: “Electronic alias, address and domain” defined as electronic communications accounts, aliases, websites, domains, and related identifiers used to display or post information. This includes aliases tied to web-based apps, databases, or stored on personal devices.
  • Expanded registration content (across multiple sections of Chapter 6, Section 178): In each specified subsection, the offender’s electronic aliases, addresses, and domains would be included alongside the offender’s name. This expands what must be disclosed and maintained in the registry.
    • Sections affected include 178D, 178E, 178F, 178H, 178J, and 178K (as amended by the bill).
    • In particular, the text instructs that the offender’s electronic aliases, addresses, and domains be listed or referenced where the offender’s name is currently recorded.
  • Notice and updating requirements: The bill requires offenders (and/or the relevant registering agencies) to provide notice of changes to electronic aliases, addresses, or domains, and to add new aliases or domains. It also creates or references penalties for failure to update these electronic identifiers.
  • School-related reference: The amendment language mentions extending “all electronic aliases, addresses and domains” in contexts involving a student’s name, indicating potential application to school or student-related registries or databases.
  • Overall intent reflected in multiple amendments: The bill systematically inserts the phrase “all electronic aliases, addresses and domains” after references to the offender’s name in every applicable subsection, ensuring digital identifiers are treated equivalently to physical identifiers.

Affected Parties

  • Primary: Sex offenders already subject to Massachusetts registration requirements.
  • Registries and agencies: State registry administrators responsible for maintaining offender information.
  • Institutions with registries: Schools or educational contexts referenced by the bill, potentially affecting how student-related offender information is recorded.
  • General public: Information updated to include online identifiers may affect public accessibility of offender data (subject to existing disclosure rules).

Implementation & Timeline

  • Status: Introduced in the 2025-2026 session (HD 880). The provided text lists filing in January 2025 and shows ongoing legislative status as a proposed bill.
  • Effective date: Not specified in the provided text; would typically be determined by final enacted language and a future effective date.

Potential Impacts

  • Digital transparency: Broader visibility of offenders’ online identities could improve monitoring and risk assessment.
  • Compliance burden: Offenders and registries would bear additional reporting obligations for changes to electronic aliases and domains.
  • Privacy and data handling: Expanded data collection may raise privacy and cybersecurity considerations for how electronic identifiers are stored and shared.

Notes

  • This summary focuses on the substantive amendments in the bill text provided. For a complete understanding, refer to the final enacted version and any committee reports or fiscal analyses.

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

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