Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 119, § 57 (2026)

Delinquent children; investigation by probation officer; record of performance; reports

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 57. Every case of a delinquent child shall be investigated by the probation officer, who shall make a report regarding the character of such child, his school record, home surroundings and the previous complaints against him, if any. In every case involving a child attending a special class authorized by law, he shall secure from the bureau of special education a record of performance of said child. He shall be present in court at the trial of the case, and furnish the court with such information and assistance as shall be required. At the end of the probation period of a child who has been placed on probation, the officer in whose care he has been shall make a report as to his conduct during such period.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 4 cases, 1978–2003 · leading case: Phillips v. Youth Dev. Prog., Inc., 459 N.E.2d 453 (Mass. 1983).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Phillips v. Youth Dev. Prog., Inc., 459 N.E.2d 453 (Mass. 1983). · cites it 4× “See G.L.c. 119, § 57. [1] In performing her job, the plaintiff had access to court records and school records.”

Police Comm'r v. Mun. Court of Dorchester Dist., 374 N.E.2d 272 (Mass. 1978). “14 “It may be, however, that measures short of physically destroying the records in question will prove adequate to assure complete and effective relief.”

First Just. of the Bristol Div. of the Juv. Court Dep't v. Clerk-magistrate of the Bristol Div. of the Juv. Court Dep't, 438 Mass. 387 (Mass. 2003). “Other services performed by probation officers in the Juvenile Court Department include the role of record-keeping and monitoring in delinquency cases (see G. L. c. 119, §§ 57, 67, 68), evaluation, informal assistance, service referral and monitoring in child in need of services…”

Phillips v. Youth Dev. Prog., Inc., 441 N.E.2d 770 (Mass. App. Ct. 1982). “Under G. L. c. 119, § 57, a probation officer must investigate every case of a delinquent child and make a report.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.