Executive Order

Executive Order  No. 339: Alternative facilities for pretrial detention of juveniles

Date: 08/14/1992
Issuer: William F. Weld
Mass Register: No. 694
Revoking and Superseding: Executive Order 280
Revoked and Superseded by: Executive Order 522

Table of Contents

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth has historically acknowledged that juvenile offenders should be detained separately from adult offenders while awaiting trial; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of the Commonwealth not to detain juveniles, following arrest, in police stations or town lockups, which also detain adults, for more than six hours for an alleged delinquency offense; and

WHEREAS, law enforcement personnel are provided with a list of emergency facilities and services, including secure juvenile facilities, that will be available on a local and statewide basis for post-arrest and pretrial detention of juveniles, which are separate from adult detention facilities; and

WHEREAS, section 223(a) (14) of the Federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (hereinafter "the Act") of 1974, as amended, mandates adherence to its provisions in order to receive federal grant money; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth is committed to taking all the steps necessary to ensure that alleged juvenile delinquents are appropriately detained in accordance with the mandates set forth in section 223(a) (14) of the Act;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, William F. Weld, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Supreme Executive Magistrate, do hereby revoke Executive Order 280 and order that it be superseded as follows:

Section 1. The Massachusetts Committee on Criminal Justice shall spend all of its Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act grant money, except planning and administration and state Advisory Group set aside, towards establishing adequate alternatives to police lockup detention.

Section 2. In order to obtain specific information on the number of juveniles held in locked areas, all local police departments, with juvenile cells that have been approved by the Department of Youth Services, shall submit monthly juvenile lockup data to the Massachusetts Committee on Criminal Justice. The Massachusetts Committee on Criminal Justice and the Department of Youth Services shall collaborate to amend the Department of Youth Services' inspection criteria to include the police reporting requirement.

Section 3. The Massachusetts Committee on criminal Justice will conduct an assessment of the available lockup data in order to determine the geographic areas, within the Commonwealth, with the greatest need for alternatives to police lockups for alleged delinquent youth. This determination will be based on the number of juveniles detained in violation of section 223(a) (14) of the Act for each of the cities and towns that submit data to the Massachusetts Committee on criminal Justice.

Section 4. All agencies concerned with the administration of juvenile justice in the Commonwealth shall collaborate in identifying possible sites to serve as alternatives to police stations and town lockups. These sites must include secure facilities capable of detaining alleged violent, delinquent youth. Local law enforcement officers are expected to transport alleged delinquent youth to the alternative site and to court, unless the youth is involved with the Department of Social Services or the Department of Youth Services. In such cases it will be the responsibility of the respective agency to ensure that the youth is detained in a juvenile rather than an adult lockup facility pending trial. Alternative sites will be designated by the Massachusetts Committee on criminal Justice.

Section 5. Once alternative facilities are established, the Massachusetts Committee on criminal Justice and the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee will provide training for law enforcement officials and juvenile probation officials regarding the consequences of holding alleged juvenile delinquents in secure police lockups for more than six hours.

Section 6. The Executive Office of Public Safety is to play an integral role in supporting, promoting and assisting local law enforcement officials in complying with all programs directed towards achieving compliance with Section 223(a) (14) of the Act.

Section 7. Nothing herein is to be construed to limit the facilities in which a juvenile can be held after such juvenile has been transferred to the adult criminal justice system pursuant to the procedures set forth in M.G.L. c. 119, s. 61, as amended by Chapter 488 of the Acts of 1991.

Given at the Executive Chamber in Boston this 14th day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and ninety-two.

William F. Weld, Governor
Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Michael Joseph Connolly
Secretary of the Commonwealth

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