Bill
SD 640
Creates the Office of Community Justice Programs to replace 211F with a continuum of community-based supervision and treatment, expanding ISWT, pretrial, and reentry services.
Status: House concurred
Introduced: February 27, 2025
Sponsor: Senator William N. Brownsberger
Committee: Public Safety and Homeland Security
Overview
This bill proposes a comprehensive reform of Massachusetts’ community corrections system. It would replace Chapter 211F with a new framework, create a dedicated Office of Community Justice Programs, and expand the use of community-based supervision and services as alternatives to incarceration. The reforms seek to provide a statewide continuum of community-based programs, improve access to treatment and supervision, and incorporate pretrial and reentry services into the criminal justice process, subject to funding.
What the bill would do
- Replace the current Chapter 211F structure with a new set of definitions and authorities governing community corrections.
- Establish an Office of Community Justice Programs within the Office of the Commissioner of Probation to coordinate a statewide continuum of community-based programs.
- Create and fund a statewide continuum of community justice programs, including intensive supervision with treatment (ISWT), pretrial services, reentry services, and other alternatives to jail or prison.
- Authorize courts to sentence eligible individuals to ISWT as a probation condition, with guidelines to be developed by the commissioner. ISWT would not replace mandatory minimum incarceration terms.
- Expand the use of pretrial services programs in lieu of bail or as conditions of release, with procedural safeguards and victim notification requirements.
- Allow the office to provide non-ISWT programming for probationers and others, including court-ordered programming or programming by agreement.
- Permit the office to offer reentry and other services to individuals released from incarceration (e.g., probationers or parolees), including access to programs previously sentenced to probation even if supervision ends.
Key provisions and definitions
- “Community justice program” includes intensive supervision with treatment, community service, pretrial services, reentry services, and other services deemed appropriate by the commissioner; pretrial and reentry tracks are distinct from ISWT.
- “Intensive supervision with treatment” combines treatment, services, and accountability for moderate-or-higher-risk offenders.
- The executive director of the Office of Community Justice Programs is appointed by the probation commissioner and must work to avoid duplication with the Office of Court Management.
Who would be affected
- Offenders eligible for ISWT or pretrial services, probationers, parolees, and individuals released from incarceration.
- Courts, sheriffs, and the Massachusetts Probation Service, which would implement and administer ISWT and pretrial programs.
- The Office of Community Justice Programs (new) and the broader criminal justice system as it coordinates services statewide.
Funding and implementation
- Establishment and operation are “subject to appropriation,” signaling that funding decisions will determine the pace of implementation.
- The bill requires coordination with existing resources to minimize duplication.
Legislative actions
- Filed and referred February 27, 2025; House concurred on the same date. The bill references prior related measures (Senate No. 1481, 2023-2024).
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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