Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XVII Chapter 120
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 120, § 21 (2026)

Effect of commitment on application for public service; discharge; restoration of civil rights; records; inspection; consent; evidence in other proceedings

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 21. Commitment to the care of the department of a delinquent child or youthful offender shall not operate to disqualify said child in any future examination, appointment or application for public service under the government either of the commonwealth or of any political subdivision thereof.

Whenever a person committed to the department by a court upon conviction of a crime is discharged from its control such discharge shall, when so ordered by the department, restore such person to all civil rights and shall have the effect of setting aside the conviction. The conviction of such a person shall not operate to disqualify him for any future examination, appointment or application for public service under the government either of the commonwealth or of any political subdivision thereof.

The records of commitment to the department shall be withheld from public inspection except with the consent of the department, but such records concerning any child who at the time of commitment was between seven and 18 years of age shall be open, at all reasonable times, to the inspection of the child, his or her parent or parents, guardian or attorney, or any of them. A commitment to the department shall not be received in evidence or used in any way in any proceeding in any court except in subsequent proceedings for waywardness or delinquency against the same child, and except in imposing sentence in any criminal proceeding against the same person.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases, 1981–2010 · leading case: United States v. Ellis, 619 F.3d 72 (1st Cir. 2010).
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United States v. Ellis, 619 F.3d 72 (1st Cir. 2010). · cites it 3× “Ellis contends that his juvenile adjudication for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon was “set aside” by operation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 120, § 21 . That statute provides: Whenever a person committed to the department [of Youth Services] by a court upon conviction of a…”
Dep't of Youth Servs. v. a Juv., 429 N.E.2d 709 (Mass. 1981). · cites it 2× “G. L. c. 120, § 21. This statutory protection does not, however, extend to subsequent sentencing proceedings; the Commonwealth would be free to place the defendant’s extended commitment record before a sentencing judge in a future criminal matter.”
United States v. Ellis, 604 F. Supp. 2d 346 (D. Mass. 2009). · cites it 5× “Defendant’s primary contention is that Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 120, § 21 and 18 U.S.”
United States v. Gautier, 590 F. Supp. 2d 214 (D. Mass. 2008). “See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 120, § 21 . Gautier notes that for one of the two indictments on which he was convicted in 1998, he was adjudicated a youthful offender, committed to DYS custody, and then discharged at age 21.”
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