Guideline 2:10
As soon as the complaint is filed, the court’s probation department must check all available criminal history information, from both State and Federal sources, including the Statewide Registry of Civil Restraining Orders for information about prior and pending abuse and harassment prevention orders, and provide the judge with information on any criminal record pertaining to the defendant and the plaintiff and any previous or current abuse prevention orders.
If the court issues an abuse prevention order, the probation department must, on the same day, record that order in the Statewide Registry of Civil Restraining Orders. Similarly, once a person files a certified copy of a protection order issued by another jurisdiction, along with an affidavit, the probation department must also record that order in the Statewide Registry of Civil Restraining Orders on the same day. See Guideline 14 Filing and Enforcement of Abuse Protective and Other Protective Orders Issued by Other Jurisdictions.
The probation department may assist in gathering information needed from the parties, such as identifying information. The probation department may also perform financial support guideline calculations. However, the parties should not be referred to the probation department, or elsewhere, for diversion of the c. 209A complaint or for mediation or couples counseling of any kind. See Guideline 1:01 Protective Purpose of c. 209A; Guideline 4:05 Reconciliation; and, Guideline 6:01 Referral for Treatment or Supportive Services.
Commentary
General Laws c. 209A, § 7, states that the judge “shall cause a search to be made” of the Statewide Registry of Civil Restraining Orders and shall review the resulting data. The Statewide Registry of Civil Restraining Orders contains records of active, expired, and terminated c. 209A orders. Similarly, the 1994 Violence Against Women Act provides that all available criminal history information, whether from State or Federal sources, is to be made available to a judge issuing abuse prevention orders. The probation department is required to make this search. It must be completed as soon as possible after the complaint is received, so that the judge will have the results when the case proceeds in court. This search should be repeated before each subsequent hearing so that the judge has access to the most up-to-date information.
The purpose of the search is to provide the court with information that can be essential to providing protection for the plaintiff, either in terms of immediate court action (where the defendant is on default or probation status, see Guideline 3:05 Court Action on Defendant’s Default, Probation, Parole, or Warrant Status at Ex Parte Hearings; Heightened Safety Concerns; and Guideline 5:07 Court Action on Defendant’s Warrant Status), or in terms of appropriately adjudicating or fashioning abuse prevention orders. If the court’s decision whether to issue or deny an order relies on such information, the judge should note on the record the specific information that was considered, as an appellate court does not have independent access to prior records.
A check of the Court Activity Records Information (CARI) database, including the Statewide Registry of Civil Restraining Orders, may also reveal information pertinent to federal law regarding possession of firearms by defendants convicted of “misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence.” See Guideline 4:04 Ex Parte Orders to Surrender Firearms, Ammunition, and Firearms Licenses (FID; LTC) and Guideline 6:05 Orders to Surrender Firearms, Ammunition, and Firearms Licenses (FID; LTC).
The probation department may also be called upon by the court to perform other functions at later stages of the case. However, use of probation officers to “help resolve the parties’ problem” or to mediate disputes is fundamentally inconsistent with the protective purpose of the c. 209A procedure.
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| Last updated: | October 20, 2025 |
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