Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XVI Chapter 111B
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 111B, § 8 (2026)

Incapacitated persons; assistance to facility or protective custody

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 8. Any person who is incapacitated may be assisted by a police officer with or without his consent to his residence, to a facility or to a police station or the Dukes county sheriff's office. To determine for purposes of this chapter only, whether or not such person is intoxicated, the police officer may request the person to submit to reasonable tests of coordination, coherency of speech, and breath.

Any person assisted by a police officer to a police station or the Dukes county sheriff's office shall have the right, and be informed in writing of said right, to request and be administered a breathalyzer test. Any person who is administered a breathalyzer test shall be presumed intoxicated if evidence from said test indicates that the percentage of alcohol in his blood is ten one hundredths or more and shall be placed in protective custody at a police station or the Dukes county sheriff's office or transferred to a facility. Any person who is administered a breathalyzer test, under this section, shall be presumed not to be intoxicated if evidence from said test indicates that the percentage of alcohol in his blood is five one hundredths or less and shall be released from custody forthwith. If any person who is administered a breathalyzer test, under this section, and evidence from said test indicates that the percentage of alcohol in his blood is more than five one hundredths and is less than ten one hundredths there shall be no presumption made based solely on the breathalyzer test. In such instance a reasonable test of coordination or speech coherency must be administered to determine if said person is intoxicated. Only when such test of coordination or speech coherency indicates said person is intoxicated shall he be placed in protective custody at a police station or the Dukes county sheriff's office or transferred to a facility.

Any person presumed intoxicated and to be held in protective custody at a police station or the Dukes county sheriff's office shall, immediately after such presumption, have the right and be informed of said right to make one phone call at his own expense and on his own behalf. Any person assisted by a police officer to a facility under this section shall have the right to make one phone call at his own expense on his own behalf and shall be informed forthwith upon arriving at the facility of said right. The parent or guardian of any person, under the age of eighteen, to be held in protective custody at a police station or the Dukes county sheriff's office shall be notified forthwith upon his arrival at said station or the Dukes county sheriff's office or as soon as possible thereafter.

If any incapacitated person is assisted to a police station or the Dukes county sheriff's office, the officer in charge or his designee shall notify forthwith the nearest facility that the person is being held in protective custody. If suitable treatment services are available at a facility, the department shall thereupon arrange for the transportation of the person to the facility in accordance with the provisions of section seven.

No person assisted to a police station or the Dukes county sheriff's office pursuant to this section shall be held in protective custody against his will; provided, however, that if suitable treatment at a facility is not available, an incapacitated person may be held in protective custody at a police station or the Dukes county sheriff's office until he is no longer incapacitated or for a period of not longer than twelve hours, whichever is shorter.

A police officer acting in accordance with the provisions of this section may use such force as is reasonably necessary to carry out his authorized responsibilities. If the police officer reasonably believes that his safety or the safety of other persons present so requires, he may search such person and his immediate surroundings, but only to the extent necessary to discover and seize any dangerous weapons which may on that occasion be used against the officer or other person present; provided, however, that if such person is held in protective custody at a police station or the Dukes county sheriff's office all valuables and all articles which may pose a danger to such person or to others may be taken from him for safekeeping and if so taken shall be inventoried.

A person assisted to a facility or held in protective custody by the police pursuant to the provisions of this section, shall not be considered to have been arrested or to have been charged with any crime. An entry of custody shall be made indicating the date, time, place of custody, the name of the assisting officer, the name of the officer in charge, whether the person held in custody exercised his right to make a phone call, whether the person held in custody exercised his right to take a breathalyzer test, and the results of the breathalyzer test if taken, which entry shall not be treated for any purposes, as an arrest or criminal record.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 36 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1980–2025 · leading case: Stratton v. City of Boston, 731 F. Supp. 42 (D. Mass. 1989).
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Stratton v. City of Boston, 731 F. Supp. 42 (D. Mass. 1989). · cites it 8× “The complaint also alleges state-law claims for violations of Mass. Gen.L. ch. 111B, §§ 8 and 13 and for assault and battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
Commonwealth v. O'Brien, 750 N.E.2d 1000 (Mass. 2001). · cites it 13× “263, § 5A) had been impeded by the police when they held him in protective custody without adhering to all of the requirements of the protective custody statute (G. L. c. 111B, § 8). The Commonwealth appealed, and we transferred the case to this court on or own motion.”
NATASHA M. BAPTISTA, individually & as Pers. Rep. v. BRISTOL Cnty. SHERIFF'S Dep't (& a companion case )., 100 Mass. App. Ct. 841 (Mass. App. Ct. 2022). · cites it 11× “In the circumstances of consolidated tort actions arising from the death of an incapacitated individual who was struck by another while in protective custody under G. L. c. 111B, § 8, the judge did not err in denying the motions of the defendants (a sheriff's department and the…”
Commonwealth v. Shipps, 507 N.E.2d 671 (Mass. 1987). · cites it 4× “Finally, the defendant claimed that the police violated the protective custody statute, see G. L. c. 111B, §§ 8 and 10 (1984 ed.), and as a result his statements should be suppressed.”
Irwin v. Town of Ware, 467 N.E.2d 1292 (Mass. 1984). · cites it 2× “383, § 2; "Any person who is incapacitated may be assisted by a police officer with or without his consent to his residence, to a facility or to a police station.”
Alfano v. Lynch, 847 F.3d 71 (1st Cir. 2017). “Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 111B, § 8; see id. § 3 (specifying, as pertinent here, that an “[incapacitated” person is one who is both intoxicated and, “by reason of the consumption of intoxicating liquor is .”
Lucia v. City of Peabody, 971 F. Supp. 2d 153 (D. Mass. 2013). · cites it 6× “It is consistent with Mass. Gen Laws ch. 111B, § 8. It limits the use of protective custody only to those individuals who are incapacitated from consuming alcohol (not drugs alone).”
Ringuette v. City of Fall River, 888 F. Supp. 258 (D. Mass. 1995). · cites it 3× “See Mass.Gen.L. ch. 111B, § 8. He was placed in handcuffs into the cruiser and transported to the station.”
Commonwealth v. Weston W., 913 N.E.2d 832 (Mass. 2009). “The police retain the authority to take any person, including a juvenile, into protective custody if he or she is incapacitated, G. L. c. 111B, § 8; and to take a child under the age of seventeen into protective custody for up to four hours if the child is found in the presence…”
McCarthy v. City of Waltham, 924 N.E.2d 316 (Mass. App. Ct. 2010). · cites it 2× “” That the plaintiff’s claims were subsumed within the protective custody requirements of G. L. c. 111B, § 8, fifth par. (providing, in relevant part, that “an incapacitated person may be held *564 in protective custody .”
Police Comm'r v. Civil Serv. Comm'n, 494 N.E.2d 27 (Mass. App. Ct. 1986). · cites it 2× “That testimony reveals that Ford knew of the alternative courses of action that he could take under G. L. c. 111B, § 8, in order to protect the woman he had taken into custody.”
Commonwealth v. Wall, 15 N.E.3d 708 (Mass. 2014). “” G. L. c. 111B, § 8. Thus, the judge’s instruction was accurate.”
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