Press Release  Launch of Public Dashboard for Charges & Convictions of Sentenced Individuals

BOSTON — Today, in a significant stride toward enhancing public awareness and transparency, the Massachusetts Sheriffs' Association announces the release of the Charges and Convictions for Sentenced Offenders public dashboard.

The public dashboard is the latest effort of the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association, on behalf of the Massachusetts Sheriffs, working collaboratively with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPPS) and other criminal justice partners to fulfill requirements within the 2018 Criminal Justice Reform Act.  

This innovative platform provides a comprehensive overview of the charges and convictions for criminally sentenced individuals across all Massachusetts custodial agencies each January 1, from 2017-2023.

"Increasing transparency and providing accessible information to the public are paramount in fostering trust and accountability within our justice system," said Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi, President of the Massachusetts Sheriffs' Association. "The launch of this public dashboard underscores our commitment to openness and collaboration in serving our communities."

Respecting the privacy of incarcerated individuals and adhering to the Criminal Offender Record Information laws (CORI), the dashboard excludes any personally identifiable information, and efforts have been made to anonymize data. Users can categorize the data by agency or groups of agencies, offense type, offense sub-type, offense severity, sex, age, and race/ethnicity.

The Charges & Convictions for Sentenced Offenders Dashboard, accessible via this link, encompasses three key components:
 

• Governing Offense: This line chart and table shows the governing offense for all offenders in custody for each January 1, from 2017 through 2023.

• All Charges & Convictions: This series of charts and tables show all the charges and convictions associated with the custodial placement of the sentenced offender at the selected snapshot date. Each offender in custody has a single governing offense even though the cases associated with the placement might have started with one or more charges and resulted in one or more convictions.
   
• All Charges: This series of charts and tables show a summary of all the charges associated with the cases for which sentenced offenders were in custody on the snapshot date. Information on the charges is shown for offense type, offense sub-type, and offense severity. 

The Charges & Convictions for Pre-Trial Offenders Dashboard is anticipated to go live by June 30^th, 2024. Click this link to view the landing page for all the dashboards and datasets that display and provide the Commonwealth’s criminal justice data for public use.

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