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

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 119, § 58B (2026)

Delinquent children; motor vehicle violations; disposition; admissibility of adjudication and disposition as evidence in other proceedings

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 58B. If, under the provisions of section fifty-eight, a child is adjudged a delinquent child by reason of having violated any statute, by-law, ordinance or regulation relating to the operation of motor vehicles, the court may place the case on file, or may place the child in the care of a probation officer, or may commit him to the custody of the department of youth services, as provided in section fifty-eight, and may require restitution as provided in section sixty-two; and in addition to or in lieu of such disposition, the court may impose upon such child a fine not exceeding the amount of the fine authorized for the violation of such statute, by-law, ordinance or regulation. Any fine imposed under the authority of this section shall be collected, recovered and paid over in the manner provided by chapters two hundred and seventy-nine and two hundred and eighty; provided, however, that if any child shall neglect, fail or refuse to pay a fine imposed under this section, he may be arrested upon order of the court and brought before the court, which may thereupon place him in the care of a probation officer or commit him to the custody of the department of youth services; but no such child shall be committed to any jail, house of correction, or correctional institution of the commonwealth. The provisions of sections sixty and sixty A shall apply to any case disposed of under this section; provided, however, that the court shall provide the registrar of motor vehicles with an abstract of every such adjudication and disposition, in the manner provided by section twenty-seven of chapter ninety; and provided, further, that such adjudication and disposition shall be admissible as evidence in any proceeding for the revocation or restoration of the child's license or right to operate a motor vehicle and for the cancellation of a motor vehicle insurance policy covering the vehicle operated by such child, and in any action of tort arising out of the negligent operation of a motor vehicle by said child, to the same extent that such evidence would be admissible if said child were an adult.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2 cases, 1981–2013 · leading case: Registrar of Motor Vehs. v. Bd. of Appeal on Motor Veh. Liab. Policies & Bonds, 416 N.E.2d 1373 (Mass. 1981).
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Registrar of Motor Vehs. v. Bd. of Appeal on Motor Veh. Liab. Policies & Bonds, 416 N.E.2d 1373 (Mass. 1981). “90, § 24 (2) (a) , and G. L. c. 119, § 58B. Under G. L. c. 90, § 24 (2) (b) , the adjudication of delinquency by virtue of a conviction of use of an automobile without authority is one of several offenses requiring the registrar to revoke the driver’s license of the offender.”
Commonwealth v. Avram A., 982 N.E.2d 548 (Mass. App. Ct. 2013). “See G. L. c. 119, § 58B. Section 85G states, in pertinent part, “Parents of an unemancipated child under the age of eighteen and over the age of seven years shall be liable in a *214 civil action for any willful act committed by said child which results in injury or death to…”
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.