Mass. Gen. Laws » Part III Title I Chapter 221
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 221, § 27A (2026)

Obsolete or useless papers; disposition, destruction or storage

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 27A. The supreme judicial court may by rule or order provide for the disposal by destruction or otherwise of obsolete and useless papers or records which have been filed or deposited in any court of the commonwealth or in the custody of any of the clerks of the courts acting in the capacity of clerk of the county commissioners and of obsolete and useless notes of testimony that have been preserved in any such court, but subject, except with respect to such notes, to the following requirements:—

(1) Any cause to which the papers relate, if they relate to a cause, shall have been finally disposed of for more than 10 years, and any criminal complaint which shall have been disposed of by being placed on file, as provided in section thirty-eight of chapter two hundred and eighteen, and shall have remained on file for more than 10 years. The supreme judicial court may by rule or order make exceptions to the 10-year retention requirement set forth in this subdivision for papers filed in or relating to matters involving alleged violations of laws, rules or regulations regarding motor vehicle civil infractions, motor vehicle parking, littering, bicycles, pedestrians, municipal dog control or non-criminal dispositions of municipal ordinance or by-law violations or other non-criminal regulatory offenses; provided, however, that such papers shall be retained for not less than 5 years following the final disposition of the matter.

(2) No original paper bearing date or known to have been filed earlier than the year eighteen hundred shall be destroyed.

(3) Reasonable notice to the public shall be given before any such disposal is made of any paper.

Any rule or order under authority of this section may provide for the method of proof in other causes of the contents of papers disposed of hereunder, and shall govern such proof, notwithstanding any statutory provision requiring any different method of proof.

The destruction of papers relating to matters heard before a trial justice or other magistrate, or old records of notaries public which are kept in any court in the commonwealth, is within the authority provided by this section.

In any rule or order of the supreme judicial court under this section for disposal or destruction of papers preserved in any particular court or clerk's office or storage place, the action so authorized shall be subject to the supervision of the court in which the papers are preserved and no papers shall be so disposed of or destroyed without an order of such court. Exceptions from any general description of papers to be destroyed may be made at any time. In the case of the disposal or destruction of records or papers of county commissioners in the custody of any of the clerks of the courts acting in the capacity of clerk of the county commissioners such disposal or destruction shall be subject to the joint supervision of the superior court and of the chairman of the county commissioners for the county.

Any papers or records which have been filed or deposited in any court of the commonwealth may be moved to places of storage approved by the supreme judicial court. Said court may by rule or order designate persons employed at such places to be authorized custodians of all papers and records so moved. All costs related to the moving and storage of such papers or records shall be borne by the commonwealth.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 8 cases, 1975–2017 · leading case: New Bedford Stand.-Times Publ'g Co. v. Clerk of the Third Dist. Court, 387 N.E.2d 110 (Mass. 1979).
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New Bedford Stand.-Times Publ'g Co. v. Clerk of the Third Dist. Court, 387 N.E.2d 110 (Mass. 1979). · cites it 2× “210, § 5C (sealing of adoption records); G.L.c. 221, § 27A (destruction of obsolete records); G.”
Commonwealth v. Lopez, 690 N.E.2d 809 (Mass. 1998). “See G. L. c. 221, § 27A, providing for the disposition of obsolete court papers or records as implemented in S.”
Commonwealth v. Duest, 524 N.E.2d 1368 (Mass. App. Ct. 1988). “8 This rule was adopted pursuant to G. L. c. 221, § 27A, as appearing in St. 1939, c.”
Commonwealth v. Simmons, 838 N.E.2d 1257 (Mass. App. Ct. 2005). “G. L. c. 221, § 27A. One statute, G. L. c.”
Goldstein v. Columbia Diamond Ring Co. Inc., 323 N.E.2d 344 (Mass. 1975). “705 amends G. L. c. 221, § 27A, by adding thereto a provision that “[a]ny papers or records which have been filed or deposited in any court of the commonwealth may be moved to places of storage approved by the supreme judicial court.”
Commonwealth v. Haskell, 921 N.E.2d 988 (Mass. App. Ct. 2010). ““See G. L. c. 221, § 27A, providing for the disposition of obsolete court papers or records as implemented in S.”
Commonwealth v. Callan, 95 N.E.3d 298 (Mass. App. Ct. 2017). “Due to the age of the case, the transcripts of the first trial and the plea colloquy were destroyed pursuant to G. L. c. 221, § 27A. The absence of a record and the inability to effectively reconstruct it may be directly attributed to the defendant's delay and may be said to be…”
Commonwealth v. Cresta, 361 N.E.2d 234 (Mass. App. Ct. 1977). “785 (1966), operated to deprive him of his rights to due process in that the unavailability of the District Court records and the transcript of proceedings in the Superior Court have deprived him of the opportunity to meet his burden of proof on his motion. We do not reach any…”
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