Mass. Gen. Laws » Part IV Title II Chapter 277
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 277, § 70C (2026)

Treatment of violation of ordinance, by-law or misdemeanor offense as a civil infraction

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 70C. Upon oral motion by the commonwealth or the defendant at arraignment or pretrial conference, or upon the court's own motion at any time, the court may, unless the commonwealth objects, in writing, stating the reasons for such objection, treat a violation of a municipal ordinance, or by-law or a misdemeanor offense as a civil infraction. This section shall not apply to the offenses in sections 22F, 24, 24D, 24G, 24L and 24N of chapter 90, sections 8, 8A and 8B of chapter 90B, sections 34, 36, 39, 51A, 51E, 51F, 55, 63 and 63A of chapter 119, chapter 119A, chapter 209, chapter 209A, chapter 265, section 25 of chapter 266, sections 1, 2, 3, 6, 6A, 6B, 8B, 13, 13A, 13B, 13C, 14, 14B, 15, 15A, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 28, 31 and 36 of chapter 268, chapter 268A, sections 10, 10A, 10C, 10D, 10E, 11B, 11C, 11E, 12, 12A, 12B, 12D and 12E of chapter 269 and sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 4A, 4B, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 16, 28, 29A and 29B of chapter 272. If a motion to proceed civilly is allowed, the court shall not appoint counsel. If counsel has already been appointed, the court shall revoke the appointment. A person complained of for such civil infraction shall be adjudicated responsible upon such finding by the court and shall not be sentenced to any term of incarceration. The commonwealth shall maintain a copy of all objections filed under this section and shall report the number of such objections, delineated by divisions of the district court, every 6 months to the house and senate committees on ways and means.

When the court has treated a violation of a municipal ordinance or by-law or a misdemeanor offense as a civil infraction under this section and the ordinance, by-law or misdemeanor in question does not set forth a civil fine as a possible penalty, the court may impose a fine of not more than $5,000. An adjudication of responsibility shall neither be used in the calculation of second and subsequent offenses under any chapter, nor as the basis for the revocation of parole or of a probation surrender. An adjudication of responsibility under this section may include an order of restitution.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases, 1998–2020 · leading case: Lavallee v. Justices in the Hampden Superior Court, 442 Mass. 228 (Mass. 2004).
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Lavallee v. Justices in the Hampden Superior Court, 442 Mass. 228 (Mass. 2004). “21 ID, § 2A (counsel need not be appointed where defendant charged with misdemeanor if judge announces at arraignment that defendant will not be sentenced to period of incarceration), and the authority of district attorneys under G. L. c. 277, § 70C (certain minor offenses may…”
Commonwealth v. Franck, 1998 Mass. App. Div. 125 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div. 1998). · cites it 5× “The Commonwealth orally moved that the above-mentioned misdemeanors be treated as civil infractions in accordance with G.Lc. 277, §70C. The appellant did not object and the court allowed the motion.”
Commonwealth v. Bones, 106 N.E.3d 1135 (Mass. App. Ct. 2018). “A municipal ordinance or bylaw that provides a criminal penalty for a violation by, for example, setting forth a schedule of fines, may also provide for a noncriminal, civil disposition of the violation.”
Commonwealth v. Drury, 950 N.E.2d 899 (Mass. App. Ct. 2011). · cites it 8× “The primary issue presented is the appropriate appellate forum to review a District Court case that was converted from a criminal complaint to a civil infraction pursuant to G. L. c. 277, § 70C. This appeal is before us after the entry of an order by a single justice of the…”
Vieira v. Moniz (D. Mass. 2020). · cites it 2× “This statement may refer to incidents in which Petitioner was found “Responsible” under Mass. Gen. Laws c.277 § 70C for unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle or an Inspection/Sticker offense.”
Commonwealth v. Drury, 2014 Mass. App. Div. 121 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div. 2014). “Both complaints were originally charged as criminal offenses, but were converted to civil infractions upon the allowance of the Commonwealth’s G.L.c. 277, §70C motion. The record discloses that the following evidence was presented in the trial court.”
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.