Bill
SD 3128
Codifies quarterly, aggregate jail population reporting by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, sharing non-identifying data with state officials to boost transparency.
Status: Placed on file (Introduced August 14, 2025)
Purpose and Intent
- The bill frames and formalizes a quarterly population reporting requirement for Franklin County’s Sheriff’s Office, aligning with Massachusetts General Laws and the statewide cross-tracking framework.
- It emphasizes aggregate, non-identifying data about jail and house of correction populations, with data-sharing to specified legislative and executive branch officials.
Key Provisions and Data Scope
- Reporting requirement: The sheriff must record comprehensive data for each person committed to a jail or house of correction, and compile this into a quarterly aggregate report for the full quarterly period.
- Data fields (as specified by the report framework):
- 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 outcomes during incarceration
- Case disposition
- Bail amount or reason if no bail set
- Privacy protection: Reports contain no identifying information about individual inmates/detainees.
- Data source: The report relies on data from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Criminal Justice Cross-Tracking System, in partnership with the Executive Office of Public Safety & Security (EOPSS).
Data Definitions and Limitations
- PCF: An identifier assigned by the Massachusetts Probation Service; not tied to fingerprint-based ID.
- SID: A unique ten-character identifier associated with fingerprint-based ID via AFIS, created at first justice-system contact.
- OBTN: A unique event-specific identifier linking fingerprints/arrest/custody events.
- Data limitations: SID, PCF, and OBTN may lag behind real-time intake and are sometimes missing in initial extractions. Data entry may occur after numbers are received; not all fields are immediately populated.
- Important note: The statute requires case disposition, bail amount, and bail-absence reason, which originate with the Trial Court and may not be fully populated by Sheriff’s Offices. MSA, Trial Court, and EOPSS are coordinating to refine retrieval and electronic reporting for these fields.
Recipients and Reporting Timeline
- Quarterly reporting 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 Massachusetts House and Senate.
- Frequency: Quarterly; the report for Q1 2025 is highlighted in this filing.
- Origin: The Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association is the reporting entity for the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office data.
Affected Parties and Practical Impact
- Directly affects: Franklin County Sheriff’s Office (data collection and quarterly reporting responsibilities).
- Indirectly affects: Massachusetts state committees and EOPSS officials who receive and monitor the data; Trial Court data stream for disposition and bail metrics.
- The measure supports standardized data reporting, transparency, and cross-agency data sharing while acknowledging data gaps and coordination needs with the Trial Court.
Timeline and Procedural Details
- Introduced: August 14, 2025
- Status: Placed on file on August 14, 2025 (no further legislative action described)
Bottom line
- SD 3128 proposes codifying and standardizing the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Q1 2025 population data report, enabling quarterly, aggregate data sharing with state officials while noting data limitations and ongoing coordination with the Trial Court and EOPSS.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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