Criminal Court Reports and Dashboards

Below is a list of available Massachusetts Trial Court statistical reports and interactive dashboards on criminal matters. Summary statistics reflect the type and volume of cases handled across the state over recent years.

Interactive Dashboards

• ​​​​​​Massachusetts Trial Court, Case Filings, Adult and Juvenile Substance Abuse, M.G.L. Chapter 123, Section 35
  • Case filings for adult and juvenile substance use commitments under M.G.L. Chapter 123, Section 35. Section 35 authorizes involuntary commitments to a treatment facility for up to 90 days in cases where someone is likely to do serious harm to themself or others. This data is updated quarterly.
• Massachusetts Trial Court, Case Filings, Restraining Orders (209A) and Harassment Orders (258E) 
  • Case filings for restraining orders (209A) and harassment orders (258E). Includes data by county and Trial Court department. This data is updated annually.
• Massachusetts Trial Court, Charges Dashboard
  • Criminal charges filed in Massachusetts Trial Courts. Data is organized by year, jurisdiction, and charge detail. This data is updated annually.
• Massachusetts Trial Court, Dangerousness Hearings
  • Dashboard of cases with one or more dangerousness hearings under M.G.L. Chapter 276, Section 58A. In a dangerousness hearing, the prosecution asks that the defendant be held without bail for up to 120 days. This data is updated quarterly.
• Massachusetts Trial Court, Emergency Protection Orders (ERPO)
  • Dashboard of Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) petitions filed in Massachusetts Trial Court. View data by petition outcomes, party race, ethnicity, gender, and ERPO surrenders. This data is updated quarterly.
• Massachusetts Trial Court, Initial Release Decisions in Criminal Cases
  • Initial release decisions in criminal cases in the District and Boston Municipal Courts. Data is updated annually.
• Massachusetts Trial Court, Show Cause Hearing Decisions
  • Dashboard of "show cause" applications for criminal complaints in the Boston Municipal and District Courts. A show cause hearing is a hearing that a magistrate may schedule after someone files a criminal complaint. This hearing gives the accused an opportunity to respond to the complaint against them.

Data Files with Extracts of Case Information

• 2022 Dataset
  The dataset contains 140,825 records. Each record represents a single criminal case that was filed in FY 2022 in the Boston Municipal or District Court department without data elements that will identify a specific case. The offense data reflects the lead charge (first criminal charge listed), though the total number of charges by type is also provided. Only criminal charges are included. Demographic data is reported for the defendant associated with the case, as submitted on criminal complaints from police or revised by Probation. Each defendant has a unique identifier and may appear multiple times in the dataset.
• 2021 Dataset
  The dataset contains 129,236 records. Each record represents a single criminal case that was filed in FY 2021 in the Boston Municipal or District Court department without data elements that will identify a specific case. The offense data reflects the lead charge (first criminal charge listed), though the total number of charges by type is also provided. Only criminal charges are included. Demographic data is reported for the defendant associated with the case, as submitted on criminal complaints from police or revised by Probation. Each defendant has a unique identifier and may appear multiple times in the dataset.
• 2020 Dataset
  The dataset contains 141,243 records. Each record represents a single criminal case that was filed in FY 2020 in the Boston Municipal or District Court department without data elements that will identify a specific case. The offense data reflects the lead charge (first criminal charge listed), though the total number of charges by type is also provided. Only criminal charges are included. Demographic data is reported for the defendant associated with the case, as submitted on criminal complaints from police or revised by Probation. Each defendant has a unique identifier and may appear multiple times in the dataset.
• 2019 Dataset
  The dataset contains 170,763 records. Each record represents a single criminal case that was filed in FY 2019 in the Boston Municipal or District Court department without data elements that will identify a specific case. The offense data reflects the lead charge (first criminal charge listed), though the total number of charges by type is also provided. Only criminal charges are included. Demographic data is reported for the defendant associated with the case, as submitted on criminal complaints from police or revised by Probation. Each defendant has a unique identifier and may appear multiple times in the dataset.

Criminal Court Reports

• Survey of Pretrial Statistics in Criminal Cases FY2019
  • This report provides a statistical overview of the pretrial process for adult criminal cases initiated in the Boston Municipal and District Court. The report analyzes several stages of the criminal case process, including case initiation, arraignment, bail, and initial release decisions. Findings are presented by general case and defendant demographic characteristics.
• Initial Release Outcome and Bail Amount
• Post-Arraignment Defaults - "Failure to Appear"
• Pretrial Release Decisions
• Annual Reports: Chapter 205 of the Acts of 2008 - An Act Further Protecting Children

Last updated:	December 16, 2022