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S 1232

Authorizes Christopher Walser to take the competitive civil service examination for the position of police officer and be placed on the eligible list for employment as a full-time police officer

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Rachel May

Mass. law to collect and annually report detailed data on how emergency medical care is delivered to arrestees and inmates, to identify gaps and reduce preventable deaths.

COMMITTED TO RULES
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Bill Summary · S 1232

Summary — S.1232 (MA Senate)

An Act to study the delivery of medical care to persons held in custody

Purpose / Intent

This bill requires the Commonwealth to collect and study detailed information about the delivery of emergency medical care to people who are arrested, en route to incarceration, or incarcerated (i.e., persons “held in custody”). The stated goal is to better understand why custodial deaths and serious medical events occur, identify gaps in timely and competent medical response, reduce preventable deaths and injuries, improve public trust, and inform policy and resource allocation.

Key provisions

  • Establishes statutory definitions for terms including “law enforcement officer,” “correctional officer,” “correctional agency,” “custody,” and “emergency medical condition.”
  • Finds that current Death in Custody Reporting Act (DCRA) reporting is insufficient (counts-only) and does not capture clinical pre‑mortality data needed to study care delivery.
  • Directs the state administering agency (SAA) for DCRA — identified in the text as the Research and Policy Analysis Division (RPAD) / Statistical Analysis Center within the Office of Grants and Research (OGR) of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS) — in consultation with local and state law enforcement, correctional facilities and EMS, to submit information on emergency medical care delivery to the Massachusetts Attorney General.
  • Requires the Attorney General, working with the DCRA SAA, to annually acquire, classify, analyze and report uniform, detailed data about when and how emergency medical care is summoned and provided to persons in custody.
  • The annual report must include (among other elements): frequency, nature, and timing of emergency medical care; numbers of emergency department admissions and hospitalizations (text truncated in provided copy, but indicates detailed clinical and operational data will be reported).
  • Reporting deadline: initial submission required not later than 365 days after enactment; then annual reporting thereafter.

Definitions (selected)

  • “Emergency medical condition”: broad definition including physical, behavioral, substance-use, or mental conditions whose lack of prompt attention could reasonably be expected to place the person’s health or another’s at serious risk.
  • “Custody”: detention during arrest, transport to incarceration, or while incarcerated (municipal/county jails, state prisons, juvenile facilities).

Who is affected

  • People arrested, transported, or incarcerated in Massachusetts (arrestees and inmates).
  • Municipal and county police departments, college/university police, county houses of correction and jails, state prisons, state agencies with arrest powers, and EMS providers — all will be required to cooperate in data collection.
  • The Attorney General’s office and the DCRA SAA (RPAD/OGR/EOPSS) will have new reporting and analytical responsibilities.
  • Correctional and law‑enforcement oversight bodies, policymakers, public health agencies, and litigants may be affected indirectly by improved data and subsequent reforms.

Potential impacts

  • Improved ability to study clinical care delivered before deaths or serious events in custody, potentially leading to policy, training, resource, or procedural changes to reduce preventable deaths and litigation costs.
  • Administrative and data-collection burden on law enforcement, correctional facilities, EMS, and state reporting entities; implementation costs are not specified in the text provided.
  • Could strengthen oversight and public transparency about custodial medical care.

Procedural status and timing (as provided)

  • Filed/Presented in the Massachusetts Senate by Senator Patrick M. O’Connor (First Plymouth & Norfolk) — Senate Docket No. 1612 (filed 01/16/2025).
  • Introduced in Senate: 04/01/2025.
  • Legislative status shown as COMMITTED TO RULES (06/13/2025).
  • Requires first report within 365 days after enactment; subsequent reports annually.
  • (Hearing scheduling entries appear in the provided metadata for later 2025 dates.)

Note: the package of metadata provided included titles and sponsor lists that appear to reference different or federal legislation (and an unrelated individual civil‑service authorization). This summary is limited to the Massachusetts Senate bill text titled “An Act to study the delivery of medical care to persons held in custody” (S.1232 / Senate Docket No. 1612).

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

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