Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title II Chapter 27
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 27, § 4 (2026)

Parole board; members; appointment and term; chairman; powers and duties; salaries

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 4. There shall be in the department, but not subject to its jurisdiction, a parole board, consisting of seven members, 1 of whom shall at all times have experience in forensic psychology, to be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the council, for terms of five years. The governor may, with the advice and consent of the council, remove members from the board for cause, upon a written certification of such cause; provided, that such member shall have the right to notice and the opportunity for a public hearing before the council relative to such removal.

Whenever a vacancy occurs in the membership of the board the governor may appoint a panel of 9 persons consisting of the administrative justice for the superior court department, the president of the state parole officers association, 1 person chosen from a list of 3 nominees submitted by the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association, 1 person chosen from a list of 3 nominees submitted by the committee for public counsel services, 1 person chosen from a list of 3 nominees submitted by the Prisoners' Legal Services and 1 member from local law enforcement, the chairman of the advisory committee on correction, the president of the Massachusetts bar association or his designee, and the secretary of the executive office of public safety who shall serve as chairman of said panel. Said panel shall submit to the governor, within sixty days of the establishment of said panel, a list of not less than six nor more than nine persons, or not more than twelve persons in the event there should be two or more vacancies to fill, who are qualified by knowledge, education or experience in the administration of criminal justice or in the behavioral sciences as hereinafter provided. Such persons shall be graduates of an accredited four-year college or university and shall have had at least five years of training and experience in one or more of the following fields:— parole, probation, corrections, law, law enforcement, psychology, psychiatry, sociology and social work; provided, however, that the panel may, by unanimous vote, submit the name of a person who has demonstrated exceptional qualifications and aptitude for carrying out the duties required of a parole board member, if such person substantially, although not precisely, meets the above qualifications. At least 1 person on said list shall be a professional with not less than 5 years of experience and training in adolescent development and psychology, and shall be selected from a list of proposed nominees provided by the following organizations: the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Inc.; the New England Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Inc.; the Massachusetts Psychological Association, Inc.; and the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, Inc. The list of names of such persons for each vacancy shall include one or more of the following, insofar as it is possible to select such persons who are willing and able to fill promptly the existing vacancy or vacancies:— an attorney admitted to practice in Massachusetts, a psychiatrist who is a member in good standing of the American Psychiatric Association, a victim witness advocate; provided, that such victim representative is otherwise qualified as provided for above, a psychologist certified by the Massachusetts Board of Certification in Psychology, Inc., and a member of the Massachusetts parole staff. If the governor does not appoint a panel as aforesaid any vacancy on said board shall be filled by the appointment of a member who possesses the qualifications as hereinbefore provided.

The governor shall designate one of the members as chairman, said member to serve as chairman at the will of the governor. The chairman shall be the executive and administrative head of said board, shall have the authority and responsibility of directing assignments of members of said board and shall be the appointing and removing authority for parole agents and other members of the parole staff. In the case of the absence or disability of the chairman, the governor may designate one of the members to act as chairman during such absence or disability.

The positions of chairman and each of the other members shall be classified in accordance with section forty-five of chapter thirty and the salaries shall be determined in accordance with section forty-six C of said chapter thirty. Members shall devote full time to their duties, and no member shall hold any other salaried public office or engage in any activity which is in violation of any law or which interferes or conflicts with his full time service as a member during his incumbency.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5 cases, 1998–2020 · leading case: Diatchenko v. Dist. Attorney for the Suffolk Dist. Commonwealth v. Roberio, 27 N.E.3d 349 (Mass. 2015).
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Diatchenko v. Dist. Attorney for the Suffolk Dist. Commonwealth v. Roberio, 27 N.E.3d 349 (Mass. 2015). · cites it 4× “Given this, it is difficult to accept the proposition that actions of the department are subject to judicial review to assure compliance with the Federal and State Constitutions, but that art. 30 prohibits any form of judicial review of decisions of the board.”
Commonwealth v. Cole, 10 N.E.3d 1081 (Mass. 2014). “Parole provides prisoners with the opportunity to serve the balance of their term of imprisonment outside a prison provided that they comply with the conditions established by the parole board, which, pursuant to G. L. c. 27, § 4, is a board in the Department of Correction,…”
Doe v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 697 N.E.2d 512 (Mass. 1998). “, G. L. c. 27, § 4 (parole board); G. L. c.”
Barriere v. Hubbard, 710 N.E.2d 1044 (Mass. App. Ct. 1999). “The Parole Board, established within the Department of Correction, but not subject to its jurisdiction, G. L. c. 27, § 4, is responsible, inter alia, for (a) “determining] which prisoners .”
Foster v. Comm'r of Corr. (No. 2) (Mass. 2020). “If, as the plaintiffs contend, the parole board has been deliberately indifferent in its exposure of the prisoners to "unreasonable risks from the COVID-19 pandemic," Foster (No. 1), 484 Mass. at , then the parole board's failure to act within, and to the extent of, its…”
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