ACCESS TO MASSACHUSETTS STATE CRIMINAL RECORDS

To find out if an individual has a criminal record in the state of Massachusetts we check the state repository, the relevant county criminal court records, and civil court records. 

Of the fourteen (14) counties in Massachusetts, eight (8) counties will provide felony record searches by mail, phone or fax. For additional information, the state repository now provides criminal conviction information by mail. However, the repository will release records only under limited circumstances. If the county specified can only mail records back to us then there will be an unavoidable delay.
               
Sixteen (16) Superior Courts hold all records of felonies and civil case filings of less than $25,000. Two (2) counties, Plymouth and Suffolk have two Superior Courts which are listed. There are also seventy (70) District Courts. These courts handle all misdemeanor records and civil case filings of less than $25,000. Since there may be as many as ten (10) District Courts in one (1) county, we have listed a District Court for the county only when that court can provide a complete countywide record search. In most cases, this District is housed in the same building with the Superior Court.

• *Full Name, first, last and middle (if applicable)
• *Date of Birth (Required for county criminal records)
• *City (Required for county criminal records)
•  Social Security Number

• Case Number
• County
• Defendant Name
• Date of Birth
• Race/Sex
• Charge(s)
• Offense Date
• Arrest Date
• File Date
• Disposition Date
• Disposition & Sentence

• Felonies are crimes that are usually punishable by at least one year or more of jail time.
• Misdemeanors are less severe charges punishable by a fine or jail time of less than one year.
• Appeals Court

  The appeals court is the place where people go when they aren't satisfied with the lower courts decision. Although everyone who loses is unhappy, only a small percentage of civil cases are ever appealed. On the other hand, people who are in jail are very unhappy and consequently a large number of criminal convictions are appealed. An appeal is very different from a case brought to a trial court. The primary purpose of an appeal is to correct legal mistakes, not rehear the facts. As a result, the appeals court has no juries whose function it is to resolve disputed factual questions, such as deciding whether a witness is telling the truth. Instead, cases in the appeals court are reviewed by a panel of three judges who examine the trial court record looking for mistakes made by the judge or jury regarding the law. Often these mistakes will be very technical, involving a piece of evidence or testimony that was improperly admitted. The person appealing will argue that this evidence should not have been presented to the jury and that since they were exposed to it the trial was unfair and the decision should be overturned. 

  The appeals court is obviously reluctant to do this even if it finds a mistake and will reverse a lower courts decision only if it believes the outcome would have been different had the error not been made. Most cases that are appealed go to this court, a few types of appeals including appeals from 1st degree murder convictions, may bypass it and go directly to the Supreme Judicial Court.