Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XVII Chapter 119
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 119, § 54 (2026)

Delinquent children; complaint; indictment; examination of complainant

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 54. If complaint is made to any court that a child between 12 and 18 years of age is a delinquent child, said court shall examine, on oath, the complainant and the witnesses, if any, produced by him, and shall reduce the complaint to writing, and cause it to be subscribed by the complainant.

An application for such complaint submitted to the juvenile court by a police department against a child arrested for a felony offense shall be accompanied by an offense-based tracking number. The failure to include the arrestee's offense-based tracking number shall not preclude the issuance of a complaint where there is otherwise a valid application submitted by a police department against a child. If a complaint is issued based on an application for a complaint for a felony submitted by a police department against a child that did not include the child's offense-based tracking number, the prosecutor shall submit the offense-based tracking number of the child to the court to be included in the case file.

The commonwealth may proceed by complaint in juvenile court or in a juvenile session of a district court, as the case may be, or by indictment as provided by chapter two hundred and seventy-seven, if a person is alleged to have committed an offense against a law of the commonwealth while between the ages of fourteen and 18 which, if he were an adult, would be punishable by imprisonment in the state prison, and the person has previously been committed to the department of youth services, or the offense involves the infliction or threat of serious bodily harm in violation of law or the person has committed a violation of paragraph (a), (c) or (d) of section ten or section ten E of chapter two hundred and sixty-nine. The court shall proceed on the complaint or the indictment, as the case may be, in accordance with sections fifty-five to seventy-two, inclusive. Complaints and indictments brought against persons for such offenses, and for other criminal offenses properly joined under Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure 9 (a) (1), shall be brought in accordance with the usual course and manner of criminal proceedings.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 60 cases (7 in the last 5 years), 1972–2026 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Quincy Q., 753 N.E.2d 781 (Mass. 2001).
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Commonwealth v. Quincy Q., 753 N.E.2d 781 (Mass. 2001). · cites it 13× “On appeal from that adjudication, the defendant claims error in the following: (1) the motion judge’s failure to dismiss the youthful offender indictment under G. L. c. 119, § 54; (2) the admission in evidence of a videotape depicting the complainant’s “fresh complaint”; (3) the…”
Commonwealth v. Mogelinski, 1 N.E.3d 237 (Mass. 2013). · cites it 15× “119, § 72A[,] or would the individual be proceeded against as a youthful offender pursuant to G. L. c. 119, §§ 54 and 58? *629 “4. If no to question 2, may the court permit such an indictment to proceed if a delinquency complaint on the same facts against the [defendant was…”
Commonwealth v. Clint C., 715 N.E.2d 1032 (Mass. 1999). · cites it 13× “At issue in this case is whether a Juvenile Court judge erred in dismissing a youthful offender indictment under G. L. c. 119, § 54, charging the fifteen year old juvenile with *220 rape of a child, G.”
Commonwealth v. Dale D., 730 N.E.2d 278 (Mass. 2000). · cites it 9× “The question presented in this case is whether, under G. L. c. 119, § 54, the Commonwealth may continue to proceed against a juvenile as a delinquent by complaint in the Juvenile Court after a grand jury return a “no bill,” thereby failing to indict the juvenile as a youthful…”
State v. Jones, 47 P.3d 783 (Kan. 2002). · cites it 3× “at 862 (citing Mass. Gen. L. ch. 119, § 54 [1996]). While the Quincy Q court disagreed that the State met its burden of proof in the indictment, a clearly established requirement, the court continued to address the implications Apprendi had on the Massachusetts’ system.”
Commonwealth v. Lutskov, 106 N.E.3d 632 (Mass. 2018). · cites it 5× “The defendant was adjudicated a youthful offender pursuant to G. L. c. 119, § 54, on all charges. 3. Sentencing .”
Police Comm'r v. Mun. Court of Dorchester Dist., 374 N.E.2d 272 (Mass. 1978). · cites it 3× “The statement of agreed facts shows that the juvenile was arrested on January 10, 1975, and charged with an act of delinquency, G. L. c. 119, § 54, by reason of assault with force and intent to rob, G.”
Commonwealth v. Washington W., 967 N.E.2d 615 (Mass. 2012). · cites it 4× “But where, as here, the Commonwealth indicts a juvenile as a youthful offender under G. L. c. 119, § 54, the Commonwealth must prove, in addition to the elements of the crime of rape of a child, the three elements required to charge the juvenile as a youthful offender: (1) the…”
Commonwealth v. Connor C., 738 N.E.2d 731 (Mass. 2000). · cites it 4× “The defendant was indicted as a “youthful offender,” G. L. c. 119, § 54, for possession of a firearm without a license, subsequent offense, in violation of G.”
Commonwealth v. Porges, 952 N.E.2d 917 (Mass. 2011). · cites it 4× “Nor do we understand § 72A under the 1996 statute to be inconsistent with G. L. c. 119, § 54, also enacted in 1996, which provides that, in designated circumstances, children between the ages of fourteen and seventeen who are alleged to have committed an offense that, if…”
Commonwealth v. Carter, 52 N.E.3d 1054 (Mass. 2016). · cites it 3× “On February 6, 2015, the defendant, Michelle Carter, was indicted as a youthful offender under G. L. c. 119, § 54, on *625 a charge of involuntary manslaughter after she, at the age of seventeen, encouraged Conrad Roy (the victim), then eighteen years of age, to commit suicide.”
Commonwealth v. Carter, 115 N.E.3d 559 (Mass. 2019). · cites it 3× “3d 1054 ; and that her offense did not involve the infliction or threat of serious bodily harm, as required by G. L. c. 119, § 54, the youthful offender statute, Carter I , supra at 637 n.”
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