Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XX Chapter 147
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 147, § 20 (2026)

Removal of women to nearest station with matron; jurisdiction

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 20. If a female is arrested and taken to a police station to which a matron is attached or, if not under arrest, is detained or lodged therein, the police officer there in command shall cause the matron to be summoned forthwith; and if in a city in which a police matron has been appointed, or in Boston, a female is arrested and taken to a station to which no matron is attached, or is received therein for the purpose of detention or lodging, such officer shall cause her to be removed as soon as possible to the nearest station to which a matron is attached, or in Boston, to the house of detention, and the city treasurer shall pay the reasonable expense of such removal upon the requisition of the head of the police department. Such removal of a female shall not deprive any court of any jurisdiction which it would otherwise have had.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 1 case, 2017–2017 · leading case: Jane J. v. Commonwealth (Mass. App. Ct. 2017).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Jane J. v. Commonwealth (Mass. App. Ct. 2017). · cites it 2× “and to secure the separation of male and female prisoners" [emphasis added]); G. L. c. 147, § 20 (if a female is arrested and detained at a police station, commanding officer must summon matron attached to station or, if no matron is so attached, remove the female prisoner 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.