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SD 1370

Middlesex County Sheriff's Office Q3 2024 Population Report

194th Legislature (2025-2026)

Requires quarterly, aggregate, non-identifying Middlesex jail population reports (Q3 2024) with EOPSS, drawn from the Cross-Tracking System; notes Trial Court data limits.

Placed on file
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Bill Summary · SD 1370

SD 1370 — Middlesex County Sheriff's Office Q3 2024 Population Report

A concise summary of the proposed bill, which aligns with the existing statutory framework mandating quarterly reporting on jail and house of correction populations, with a focus on Middlesex County.

Purpose and Intent

  • Establishes and clarifies the requirement for a quarterly population report for Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office (Q3 2024 data) as part of Massachusetts’ ongoing commitment to transparent, aggregated data on jail populations.
  • Frames the report as a product in partnership with the Executive Office of Public Safety & Security (EOPSS) and based on cross-agency data from the Commonwealth Criminal Justice Cross-Tracking System.

Key Provisions

  • Reiterates the statutory obligation under Mass. General Laws, Part I, Title XVIII, Chapter 126, Section 40, to record comprehensive data for each person committed to a jail or house of correction.
  • Requires aggregate, non-identifying data to be compiled into a quarterly report covering the entire quarter.
  • Mandates delivery of the quarterly report 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 House of Representatives and Senate
  • Report contents must be prepared in collaboration with the EOPSS and drawn from the Cross-Tracking System data.

Data Elements and Definitions

  • Collects for each inmate/detainee: Probation Central File (PCF) number, fingerprint-based 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, case disposition, and bail information (amount or reason if no bail set).
  • Important: Some fields—specifically case disposition, bail amount, and reason if no bail—derive from the Trial Court and are not sheriff-owned. The MSA, in coordination with the Trial Court and EOPSS, is working to refine methods to retrieve these metrics electronically.

Data Definitions (Highlights)

  • PCF: Probation identification number (not linked to fingerprint data).
  • SID: Ten-character state ID linked to fingerprint data via AFIS.
  • OBTN: Unique event-based identifier connecting fingerprints/arrests to an individual.

Data Limitations and Coordination

  • Acknowledges that three key data points originate with the Trial Court and may not be fully populable by sheriffs at present.
  • Emphasizes ongoing collaboration to standardize retrieval from the Cross-Tracking System for electronic reporting.

Affected Parties

  • Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office (primary reporting entity)
  • Trial Court (source of certain data fields)
  • Massachusetts Trial Court, EOPSS (data integration partners)
  • Legislature and select committees (receivers of the reports)

Timeline and Status

  • Introduced: January 21, 2025
  • Status: Placed on file

This bill reinforces standardized, quarterly reporting while acknowledging current data-sharing limitations and the need for interagency coordination to fully populate all mandated fields.

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

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