2019 Massachusetts General Laws
Part I - Administration of the Government
Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons
Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons
Section 130b - Parole Permits Issued for Remainder of Sentence Reduced by Good Conduct Deductions; Terms and Conditions of Parole; Information to Be Provided to Parole Board

Section 130B. (a) As used in this section, the following terms shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:—

''Parole plan'', a plan, approved by the parole board, that includes the general and special conditions of parole and requirements for: (i) a parolee's physical address and co-habitants, if any; (ii) verification of employment, efforts to seek employment or inability to obtain employment; and (iii) an initial reporting date on which the parolee must report in person to a parole field office.

''Release to supervision date'', the date which has been determined by deductions from the maximum term of a prisoner's sentence for good conduct deductions under section 129C, subsection (a) of section 129D and a further deduction for any program completion credits earned under subsection (c) of section 129D; provided however, that such date shall not be earlier than the date which has been determined by reducing a prisoner's imposed maximum term of sentence by 35 per cent.

(b) Notwithstanding sections 133 and 136 and the first 8 sentences of section 130, if a prisoner serving a sentence to state prison has not been granted a parole permit by the prisoner's release to supervision date, then the parole board shall issue a parole permit to that prisoner for the remainder of his or her sentence, as reduced by any good conduct deductions pursuant to subsection (b) of section 129D; provided, however, that in no event shall a parole permit issue pursuant to this section unless the prisoner has been awarded at least 30 days of completion credits under subsection (c) of section 129D; and provided further, that a parole permit shall not issue pursuant to this section unless the prospective parolee submits a parole plan approved by the parole board.

(c) The terms and conditions of the prisoner's parole shall be determined by the parole board. The parole board's determination of such terms and conditions under this section shall not be the subject of judicial review. Such terms and conditions may be revised, altered and amended and may be revoked by the parole board at any time. The violation by the holder of such permit or any of its terms or conditions, or of any law of the commonwealth, may render such permit void, and thereupon, or if such permit has been revoked, the parole board may order his or her arrest and his or her return to prison, in accordance with the provisions of sections 149 and 149A.

(d) If a prisoner has 2 or more sentences to be served otherwise than concurrently, the maximum term of the prisoner's sentence for purposes of subsection (a) shall be the aggregate maximum term of such sentences. If a prisoner has 2 or more sentences to be served concurrently, the maximum term of the prisoner's sentence for purposes of subsection (a) shall be the maximum term of the latest date of such sentences.

(e) A parolee whose permit to be at liberty has been issued pursuant to this section shall enjoy the same privileges and be subject to the same rules, policies, procedures and jurisdiction of the parole board as if the parolee's parole permit had been granted by the parole board pursuant to any other statute authorizing the parole board to grant such permits.

(f) The commissioner shall make available to the parole board all information in the commissioner's possession relating to any prisoner whose case is under consideration. Such information shall include the following: (i) information concerning the prisoner's conduct in prison, including a statement as to all infractions of prison rules and discipline, all punishments meted out to such prisoner, and the circumstances connected therewith; (ii) information concerning the extent to which such prisoner has responded to the efforts made in prison to improve the prisoner's mental and moral condition, including, to the extent available, information as to the prisoner's attitude toward society, toward those responsible for the prisoner's arrest, prosecution and conviction and how the prisoner regards the crime for which the prisoner is in prison and the prisoner's previous criminal career, if any; (iii) information concerning the prisoner's industrial record while in prison, the nature of the prisoner's occupations while in prison and recommendations as to the kind of work the prisoner is best fitted to perform and at which the prisoner is most likely to succeed upon leaving prison; (iv) information concerning the results of such physical, mental and psychiatric examinations as have been made of such prisoner which so far as practicable shall have been made within 2 months of the time of the prisoner's release on parole; (v) information concerning the prisoner's social, physical, mental and psychiatric condition and history; (vi) information concerning the prisoner's record of participation in available work opportunities and education or treatment programs and demonstrated good behavior while in prison, including a description of each program completed by the prisoner, the number of completion credits granted to the prisoner for each program completed and the date on which the prisoner's permit to be at liberty shall expire; and (vii) information concerning the crime or crimes for which the prisoner is then sentenced, including the circumstances of such crime or crimes, the nature of his or her sentence or sentences, the court in which the prisoner was sentenced, the name of the judge and district attorney and copies of such probation reports as may have been made.

These records shall be made available to the parole board so as to be readily accessible when the parole or pardon of such prisoner is being considered.

(g) This section shall not apply to prisoners serving a Massachusetts sentence in a correctional institution of another state or the federal government.

(h) This section shall not apply to prisoners in the custody of the department of correction but who are serving a sentence imposed by another state or the federal government.

(i) A person ineligible for parole because such person is serving a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment shall not be eligible for a parole permit under subsection (b) until such person shall have served such mandatory minimum term of imprisonment, except as otherwise provided by law. Habitual offenders sentenced under subsection (b) of section 25 of chapter 279 shall not be eligible for a parole permit under subsection (b).