Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 268, § 16 (2026)

Escape or attempt to escape, or failure to return from temporary release or furlough

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 16. A prisoner of any penal institution including a prisoner who is held in custody for a court appearance or a person committed under the provisions of section five or six of chapter one hundred and twenty-three A to a treatment center or branch thereof described in sections two and four of said chapter one hundred and twenty-three A, or a prisoner committed to any jail or correctional institution under a lawful order of a court, who escapes or attempts to escape from any such institution or from land appurtenant thereto, or from any courthouse or from land appurtenant thereto or from the custody of any officer thereof while being conveyed to or from said institution, center or branch, or who knowingly disables or attempts to disable or defeat electronic monitoring of the prisoner, or fails to return from any temporary release from said institution under the provisions of section ninety A of chapter one hundred and twenty-seven, or fails to return from any temporary release from said institution, center or branch, may be pursued and recaptured and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than ten years or by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than two and one-half years.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 37 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1928–2021 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Hughes, 305 N.E.2d 117 (Mass. 1973).

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Commonwealth v. Hughes, 305 N.E.2d 117 (Mass. 1973). · cites it 24× “Did the defendant commit the crime of escape as defined and made punishable by G.L.c. 268, § 16? The Middlesex County grand jury indicted the defendant, using the following language: "That Steven Leroy Hughes .”

Comm'r of Corr. v. McCabe, 576 N.E.2d 654 (Mass. 1991). · cites it 4× “The commissioner sought a declaration that: (1) On conviction of escape under G. L. c. 268, § 16 (1990 ed.), a treatment center inmate may be sentenced to and immediately incarcerated at a State correctional facility; and (2) once captured, a committed treatment center inmate…”

Commonwealth v. Best, 407 N.E.2d 1214 (Mass. 1980). · cites it 9× “On May 1, 1979, the defendant, Charles Best, was indicted for escaping from the Hampden County house of correction, “or from the custody or officer thereof,” in violation of G. L. c. 268, § 16. Best pleaded not guilty and was tried jury waived in the Superior Court in Hampden…”

Commonwealth v. Boone, 477 N.E.2d 1026 (Mass. 1985). · cites it 7× “The defendant was convicted of escape from a penal institution under an indictment that charged him with a violation of G. L. c. 268, § 16. He appeals, claiming that the indictment did not charge a crime of escape under G.”

Commonwealth v. Sneed, 322 N.E.2d 435 (Mass. App. Ct. 1975). · cites it 3× “Hughes, 364 Mass. 426, 430 (1973), which decided that a prisoner who fails to return from furlough may be held to have escaped from a “penal institution” within the meaning of G.”

Commonwealth v. Morasse, 842 N.E.2d 909 (Mass. 2006). “G. L. c. 268, § 16. Thus, by common usage and understanding, probation conditions that restrict a probationer’s freedom of movement are not *117 considered a form of “custody,” and the Legislature’s use of the term “held in custody” does not suggest any intent to extend sentence…”

Cepulonis v. Commonwealth, 689 N.E.2d 798 (Mass. 1998). · cites it 2× “The petitioner, having been indicted on a charge of escape from a correctional institution under G. L. c. 268, § 16, moved to dismiss the indictment, claiming a violation of double jeopardy principles because he had already been fined by the Department of Correction (department)…”

Commonwealth v. Thurber, 418 N.E.2d 1253 (Mass. 1981). “G. L. c. 268, § 16. A single justice of this court allowed a motion for the late filing of an appeal, and the defendant appealed to the Appeals Court.”

Commonwealth v. Marrero, 471 N.E.2d 1356 (Mass. App. Ct. 1984). “Upon conviction by a jury in the Superior Court of charges of attempted escape (G. L. c. 268, § 16) and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon (G.”

Commonwealth v. Faulkner, 396 N.E.2d 1024 (Mass. App. Ct. 1979). · cites it 4× “278, §§ 33A-33G) from his conviction after a jury-waived trial of violating G. L. c. 268, § 16, as appearing in St. 1973, c.”

Commonwealth v. Antonelli, 188 N.E.2d 478 (Mass. 1963). · cites it 4× “126, § 16, authorizes the jailer, master or keeper of a house of correction (which may be the sheriff or his deputy) to ‘ ‘ appoint subordinate assistants, employees and officers.”

Coffin v. Superintendent, Massachusetts Treatment Ctr., 936 N.E.2d 418 (Mass. 2010). “, G. L. c. 268, § 16 (escape); G. L. c. 266, § 130 (injury to public property).”

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