Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 126, § 4 (2026)

Jails; purposes

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 4. Jails shall be used for the detention of persons charged with crime and committed for trial, committed to secure their attendance as witnesses upon the trial of criminal causes, committed pursuant to a sentence upon conviction of crime or for any cause authorized by law, or detained or committed by the courts of the United States. Jails may also be used for the detention of persons arrested without a warrant and not admitted to bail pending appearance before the district court, provided that no adequately equipped lock-up established in accordance with the provisions of section thirty-four of chapter forty is available for the detention of such person.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 7 cases, 1926–2010 · leading case: McNeil v. Comm'r of Corr., 633 N.E.2d 399 (Mass. 1994).

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McNeil v. Comm'r of Corr., 633 N.E.2d 399 (Mass. 1994). “As the plaintiff acknowledges, G. L. c. 126, § 4 (1992 ed.), provides that jails are used both “for the detention of persons charged with crime and committed for trial,” and for those “committed pursuant to a sentence upon conviction of crime.”

Souza v. Sheriff of Bristol Cnty., 455 Mass. 573 (Mass. 2010). “” G. L. c. 126, § 4. Criminal defendants who are sentenced to a term of two and one-half years or less serve that sentence in a “jail” or “house of correction,” and criminal defendants who are sentenced to a term of two and one-half years or more serve that sentence in a State…”

Platt v. Commonwealth, 152 N.E. 914 (Mass. 1926). “…specified, *542 doubtless could have been executed, if the court had so ordered, in the jail or house of correction, G. L. c. 126, §§ 4, 8; c. 279, §§ 5, 19, 20, and, if that had been done, could not have exceeded the term of three months. The penalty-prescribed by said § 18…”

Foley v. Commonwealth, 709 N.E.2d 794 (Mass. 1999). “We also do not decide whether notice of the proceedings at the facility, including notice of the time at which the sessions are held, was constitutionally adequate.”

Garvey v. MacDonald, 665 F. Supp. 2d 47 (D. Mass. 2009). · cites it 2× “) In addition, Defendants state that the FCJ was used by most of the police departments in rural Franklin County to hold pre-arraignment detainees pursuant to Mass. Gen. L. ch. 126, § 4 (“section 4”), as most local departments had no specific holding facilities of their own.”

Kelley v. Hodgson, 9 Mass. L. Rptr. 164 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1998). “See G.L.c. 126, §4 (“Jails may be used for the detention of persons arrested without a warrant and not admitted to bail .”

Nearis v. Essex Cnty. Newspapers, Inc., 310 N.E.2d 923 (Mass. App. Ct. 1974). “126, § 8, which provides for the establishment of houses of correction, with G. L. c. 126, § 4, which defines the purposes for which jails may be used) and do not believe that the error alleged could have discredited the plaintiff "in the minds of any considerable and…”

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