The law makes major changes to the way employers and others obtain access to Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) and provides important protections to individuals with criminal records. Some parts of the law, such as the provision that prevents certain employers from asking whether an applicant has been convicted of a criminal offense on an initial written employment application, become effective on November 4, 2010. Other parts of the law, such as the provisions that reduce the waiting periods for sealing records, will become effective on May 4, 2012.
Effective November 4, 2010
The Criminal History Systems Board (CHSB) will be renamed the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS). The day-to-day operational division of CHSB, the agency responsible for the collection, storage, dissemination, and use of CORI prior to November 4, 2010, will become DCJIS. The board, however, which hears employers' applications for access to CORI, as well as complaints, will retain the name Criminal History Systems Board until May 4, 2012. Businesses and organizations that submitted CORI requests to CHSB and obtained CORI reports from CHSB prior to November 4, 2010 will submit the same CORI requests to DCJIS and will receive the same reports from DCJIS until May 4, 2012.
Certified volunteer organizations will be authorized to obtain CORI for paid staff, vendors and contractors, in addition to volunteers. Volunteer organizations working with children and certified under section 172H of chapter 6 of the General Laws to screen volunteers, now will be authorized to obtain CORI reports to screen paid staff, vendors, and contractors, in addition to volunteers.
The law "bans the box" on initial written employment applications. Except in instances where an employer is prohibited by law from hiring individuals because of criminal convictions, employers in Massachusetts will no longer be allowed to ask whether an applicant for a job has been convicted of a criminal offense on an initial written employment application. For further information regarding "ban the box" provisions, which will be enforced by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, please see http://www.mass.gov/mcad/documents/Criminal%20Records%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf.
Effective May 4, 2012
CORI will be available online.
Standard CORI access for employers and landlords. Employers and landlords will have standard access to CORI via the Internet, for a fee, for the purpose of screening current and prospective employees, volunteers, and tenants. The standard access CORI report will contain the following information:
Convictions:
o All murder, manslaughter, and sex offense convictions.
o Any felony convictions that occurred within the last 10 years or for which the applicant was incarcerated within the last 10 years; and
o Any misdemeanor convictions that occurred within the last 5 years or for which the applicant was incarcerated within the last 5 years.
o Note: If any criminal conviction qualifies to be included on the CORI report under the above rules, then all prior convictions will appear on the CORI report as well, regardless of when they occurred.
Open cases:
o Any criminal charges pending as of the date of the request, including open cases that have been continued without a finding.
Sealed records will never appear on a CORI report, and the report will not show that a sealed record exists.
Employers who make hiring decisions based on official CORI reports within 90 days of receiving the reports shall be held harmless in negligent hiring lawsuits that allege additional criminal background checks should have been conducted.
Additional CORI access for employers and organizations with specific requirements. Employers or organizations that require additional access to CORI because of a statutory, regulatory or accreditation requirement will receive the necessary access. Employers or agencies that received CORI access under a federal or state law that authorized or required them to conduct CORI checks prior to November 4, 2010, will continue to receive access. Examples of employers that fall within this category include schools, camps, banks, security guard companies, hospitals, day care centers, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, councils on aging, public housing authorities, security systems installers, amusement device operators, and insurance companies.
Individual access for self-auditing purposes. Individuals may obtain a copy of their entire CORI report and may also request, free-of-charge every 90 days, a self-audit that identifies all agencies, organizations, and individuals that have requested their CORI report. This self-audit will not include any requests for the individual's CORI made by law enforcement or criminal justice agencies. More frequent audits may be requested for a fee. Continue to monitor this web site for more details about this service.
The Criminal Record Review Board (CRRB) will become the name of the entity that investigates complaints. CRRB will investigate and hear complaints regarding violations of the CORI statutes and regulations.
The waiting periods for sealing records will be reduced. The CORI reform bill does not provide for automatic sealing. The sealing of any non-conviction or conviction will continue to be subject to the conditions listed in sections 100A and 100C of chapter 276 of the General Laws.
Beginning May 4, 2012, individuals may request that their criminal records be sealed according to the following schedule:
Misdemeanor: 5 years after the conviction or any period of incarceration, whichever is later.
Felony: 10 years after the conviction or any period of incarceration, whichever is later.
Sex offense: 15 years after the conviction or any period of incarceration, or after the obligation to register as a sex offender ceases, whichever is later. Sex offenders classified as Level 2 or Level 3 will not be eligible to have their convictions sealed.
To be eligible for sealing, an applicant must not have a conviction for any crime during the above waiting periods.
Individuals interested in requesting that their criminal records be sealed must contact the Massachusetts Office of the Commissioner of Probation (OCP) at 617-727-5300. Additional information is also available at the OCP web site at: http://www.mass.gov/courts/probation/forms.html.