Massachusetts General Laws
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 38, § 10 (2026)
Report of findings by court
✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 10. The court shall report in writing when, where, and by what means the person met his death, the person's name, if known, and all material circumstances attending the death, and the name, if known, of any person whose unlawful act or negligence appears to have contributed thereto. The court shall file its report and a transcript of the inquest proceedings in the superior court for the county in which the inquest is held. Said transcript shall be impounded until the district attorney files a certificate with the superior court indicating that he will not present the case to a grand jury, or files notice with the superior court that the grand jury has returned a true bill or a no bill after presentment by the district attorney.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5
cases, 1983–2019 · leading case: Globe Newspaper Co., 958 N.E.2d 822 (Mass. 2011).
Globe Newspaper Co., 958 N.E.2d 822 (Mass. 2011). “Kennedy), rather than by the terms of G. L. c. 38, § 10, the statute addressing inquest reports that was enacted after the Kennedy decision.”
Bos. Globe Media Partners, LLC v. Chief Just. of the Trial Court, 130 N.E.3d 742 (Mass. 2019). “" The Trial Court added, "While all courts use MassCourts to schedule a probable cause hearing, not all courts or court personnel .”
New England Internet Café, LLC v. Clerk of the Superior Court for Crim. Bus., 462 Mass. 76 (Mass. 2012). “113, 123 (2011) (imposing common-law rule that “inquest report shall be impounded until the transcript presumptively becomes a public document under G. L. c. 38, § 10”). This principle extends a presumptive right of access to all of society, not merely members of the press, 13…”
Commonwealth v. Town of Mattapoisett, 1983 Mass. App. Div. 131 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div. 1983). “The Administrative Procedures Act, G.L. c.38, §10, allows persons who feel that they may be substantially and specially affected by a departmental proceeding to intervene.”
In re Inquest into the Death of Walton, 4 Mass. L. Rptr. 653 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1995). “The Commonwealth, pursuant to G.L.c. 38, §10, then certified that it did not contemplate any prosecution in connection with the girl’s death and moved for an order that the report and the transcription from the inquest “be opened for examination.”
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