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Court reports

Find reports on a range of court management issues. This list is updated as new reports are made available.
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Access to Justice Commission

Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission Final Report April 2015 (PDF 96.94 KB)

Annual reports

These reports are published annually by the Massachusetts Court System to provide updates on operations and selected statistics. They include data on funding, criminal charges, and case filings.

FY 2021 Annual Report for the Court System (PDF 26.25 MB)
FY 2020 Annual Report for the Court System (PDF 30.21 MB)
FY 2019 Annual Report for the Court System (PDF 6.06 MB)
FY 2018 Annual Report for the Court System (PDF 16.41 MB)
FY 2017 Annual Report for the Court System (PDF 4.77 MB)
FY 2016 Annual Report for the Court System (PDF 2.48 MB)
FY 2015 Annual Report for the Court System (PDF 2.19 MB)
FY 2014 Annual Report for the Court System (PDF 3.08 MB)
FY 2013 Annual Report for the Court System (PDF 1.3 MB)
FY 2012 Annual Report for the Court System (PDF 737.5 KB)
FY 2011 Annual Report for the Court System (PDF 711.68 KB)
FY 2010 Annual Report for the Court System (PDF 2.08 MB)
FY 2009 Annual Report for the Court System (PDF 1.04 MB)

Court Management Advisory Board (CMAB)

Court Management Advisory Board reports 

Diversity, equity, inclusion & user experience

Massachusetts Trial Court Annual Diversity Report Fiscal Year 2021 (PDF 2.65 MB)
Massachusetts Trial Court Annual Diversity Report Fiscal Year 2020 (PDF 3.03 MB)
Massachusetts Trial Court Annual Diversity Report Fiscal Year 2019 (PDF 1.82 MB)
Massachusetts Trial Court Annual Diversity Report Fiscal Year 2018 (PDF 1004.02 KB)
Massachusetts Trial Court Annual Diversity Report Fiscal Year 2017 (PDF 625.06 KB)
Racial disparities in the Massachusetts criminal system, September 2020. 

Submitted by the Criminal Justice Policy Program at Harvard Law School

2017 Massachusetts Trial Court Report on the Access and Fairness Survey (PDF 672.82 KB)
Within Our Reach: Gender, Racial and Ethnic Equality in the Courts (PDF 202.1 KB)

Supreme Judicial Court, March 2004.

Hiring & promotion

I/O Solutions Report to the MA Trial Court on the Scoring Process of Probation Examinations - July 2015 (PDF 425.37 KB)
Final Report of the Supreme Judicial Court Task Force on Hiring in the Judicial Branch (Dec. 16, 2011) (PDF 321.35 KB)

Scott Harshbarger, Chair

Action Plan for Hiring and Promotion of Employees of the Trial Court Recorder, Clerks and Registers of Probate (PDF 336.54 KB)

SJC Task Force for Hiring in the Judicial Branch, November 8, 2011

Action Plan for Hiring and Promotion of Trial Court Administrative Employees, 2011 (PDF 598.73 KB)

SJC Task Force for Hiring in the Judicial Branch, August 9, 2011

Statement of the SJC Justices Regarding the Hiring and Promotion Practices of the Mass. Probation Department - February 2011 (PDF 39.36 KB)
Report of the Independent Counsel - November 2010 (PDF 4.58 MB)

The Ware Report. Investigation of alleged improprieties with respect to the hiring and promotion of employees within the Probation Department, November 9, 2010

Statement of the SJC Justices Relative to the Report of the Independent Counsel - November 2010 (PDF 37.56 KB)

SJC response to the Ware report.

Administrative Office of the Trial Courts Staffing Study Final Report February 2005 (PDF 197.91 KB)

Officials from the Massachusetts Administrative Office of the Trial Courts (AOTC) requested technical assistance from the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) to review the current staffing methodologies and develop a staffing model (February 2005).

Pretrial statistics

Massachusetts Trial Court Survey of Pretrial Statistics in Criminal Cases FY2019 (PDF 1.37 MB)

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.

Separate and secure waiting areas

Separate and Secure Waiting Area Task Force Implementation Progress Report, July 1, 2018 (PDF 2.68 MB)
Separate and Secure Waiting Area Task Force Implementation Progress Report, July 1, 2017 (PDF 2.46 MB)
Separate and Secure Waiting Area Task Force Implementation Progress Report - July 1, 2015 (PDF 2.64 MB)

Strategic planning

Trial Court Strategic Plan 

Strategic plans, 2013 - date

Reinventing Justice 2022: Report of the Chief Justice's Commission on the Future of the Courts, 1992 (PDF 1.2 MB)

Technology

Report of the Massachusetts Court Technology Visiting Committee (PDF 632.52 KB)

Designed to assist the Judicial Information Services Department (JISD) and court leaders through a review of JISD and the use of information technology (IT) in the court system to make recommendations for improvements (June 2016).

Additional court management & procedure

SJC Working Group on Substance Use and Mental Health COVID-19 Interim Report (PDF 651.26 KB)
Jury Management Advisory Committee Report and Recommendations on the Resumption of Jury Trials  
Report of the Trial Court Working Group on Complaint Standards (PDF 802.12 KB)
Supreme Judicial Court Committee on Grand Jury Proceedings Final Report to the Justices - June 2018 (PDF 875.59 KB)
Report of the Visiting Committee on Managing with Data in the Massachusetts Trial Court (PDF 1.54 MB)

November 2017. "The Committee’s recommendations are aimed at facilitating the Trial Court’s ongoing transition from the stage of collecting data and tabulating and reporting metrics to the more sophisticated uses of data analyses to gain insights that will guide management decisions"

Report of the Fines and Fees Working Group - November 2016 (PDF 193.94 KB)
Comprehensive Report on Jorge Zambrano Cases - June 2016 (PDF 324.57 KB)
Zambrano Report Recommendations - June 2016 (PDF 132.76 KB)
Report of SJC's ad hoc committee on Bosch litigation, 2014 

The committee recommends that "No longer would [the SJC] hear and decide every Bosch case in Massachusetts. The cases instead would be allocated between the Supreme Judicial Court and the Probate and Family Court, based on the nature of the issues involved.

Comments on Report of SJC Study Group on Eyewitness Identification - February 2014 (PDF 6.95 MB)
Supreme Judicial Court Study Group on Eyewitness Evidence - Report and Recommendations to the Justices - July 2013 (PDF 914.1 KB)
Report to the Supreme Judicial Court by Special Counsel R. J. Cinquegrana - October 2012 (PDF 2.63 MB)

Investigated the rate of acquittal in jury-waived trials on charges of operating under the influence (“OUI”) of drugs or alcohol.

Statement of the SJC Justices Relative to the Report of Special Counsel R.J. Cinquegrana - November 2012 (PDF 32.27 KB)
Massachusetts Trial Court Report to the Legislature on Court Relocations August 10, 2011 (PDF 1.71 MB)
Report of the Study Committee on Trial Transcripts (PDF 429.68 KB)

Submitted to the SJC on June 30, 2003.

Report of the Visiting Committee on Management in the Courts (Monan Report) - March 2003 (PDF 1.3 MB)

Contact

Phone

(617) 788-6867

Address

John Adams Courthouse
One Pemberton Square, G300
Boston, MA 02108
Directions 
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