Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 279, § 27 (2026)

Immediate execution of sentence to state prison of convict sentenced to jail or house of correction

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 27. If a convict serving a sentence of imprisonment in a jail or house of correction is convicted of a felony, the court may impose sentence of imprisonment in the state prison and order it to take effect forthwith, notwithstanding the former sentence. The convict shall thereupon be removed to the reception center established under section twenty of chapter one hundred and twenty-seven, and shall be discharged at the expiration of his sentence thereto.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 7 cases, 1977–2017 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Kelleher, 482 N.E.2d 804 (Mass. 1985).

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Commonwealth v. Kelleher, 482 N.E.2d 804 (Mass. 1985). · cites it 2× “See G.L.c. 279, § 27. A pro se motion for claim of appeal and a motion for appointment of counsel were filed in 1973.”

Commonwealth v. Armstrong, 88 Mass. App. Ct. 756 (Mass. App. Ct. 2015). “G. L. c. 279, § 27. The judge imposed State prison sentences of from four to five years with respect to two of the convictions associated with the 2006 armed home invasion (assault by means of a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm without a license), these sentences to…”

Kinney, 363 N.E.2d 1337 (Mass. App. Ct. 1977). “But G. L. c. 279, § 27, does not operate so as to allow a District Court judge (or a Superior Court judge) to impose a sentence to a jail or house of correction on a convict serving time in a State prison that will have the effect of wiping out the State prison sentence.”

Dale v. Comm'r of Corr., 457 N.E.2d 652 (Mass. App. Ct. 1983). · cites it 3× “By the terms of G. L. c. 279, § 27, as amended by St. 1955, c.”

Commonwealth v. Lydon, 75 N.E.3d 1116 (Mass. 2017). “Pursuant to G. L. c. 279, § 27, the effect of such a sentence is that “the sentence then being served in the jail or house of correction is terminated and the prisoner is ‘discharged at the expiration of his [State prison] sentence.”

Abrahams v. Comm'r of Corr., 786 N.E.2d 1249 (Mass. App. Ct. 2003). · cites it 3× “The commissioner argues that the question presented in this case is whether the imposition of a “forthwith” State prison sentence while the defendant was serving a Federal sentence caused the State prison sentence to begin when it was imposed, by operation of G. L. c. 279, § 27,…”

Commonwealth v. Cinelli, 13 Mass. L. Rptr. 151 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2001). “In Dale , the Appeals Court expressly compared G.L.c. 279, §27 and G.L.c. 279, §28, and concluded that because §28 did not have language stating that a prisoner is to be “discharged at the expiration of the new sentence,” a sentence of Imprisonment in a house of correction…”

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