Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title II Chapter 6
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 6, § 167 (2026)

Definitions applicable to Secs. 167 and 168 to 178L

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 167. The following words shall, whenever used in this section or in sections 168 to 178L, inclusive, have the following meanings unless the context otherwise requires:

''All available criminal offender record information'', adult and youthful offender convictions, non-convictions, previous and pending hearings conducted pursuant to section 58A of chapter 276, including requests of such hearings, transfers by the court, disposition of such requests, findings and orders, regardless of the determination, and pending criminal court appearances, but excluding criminal records sealed under section 34 of chapter 94C or sections 100A to 100C, inclusive, of chapter 276 or the existence of such records.

''Board'', the criminal record review board established under section 168.

''Commissioner'', the commissioner of criminal justice information services under section 167A.

''Criminal justice agencies'', those agencies at all levels of government which perform as their principal function, activities relating to (a) crime prevention, including research or the sponsorship of research; (b) the apprehension, prosecution, adjudication, incarceration, or rehabilitation of criminal offenders; or (c) the collection, storage, dissemination or usage of criminal offender record information.

''Criminal offender record information'', records and data in any communicable form compiled by a Massachusetts criminal justice agency which concern an identifiable individual and relate to the nature or disposition of a criminal charge, an arrest, a pre-trial proceeding, other judicial proceedings, previous hearings conducted pursuant to section 58A of chapter 276 where the defendant was detained prior to trial or released with conditions under subsection (2) of section 58A of chapter 276, sentencing, incarceration, rehabilitation, or release. Such information shall be restricted to information recorded in criminal proceedings that are not dismissed before arraignment. Criminal offender record information shall not include evaluative information, statistical and analytical reports and files in which individuals are not directly or indirectly identifiable, or intelligence information. Criminal offender record information shall be limited to information concerning persons who have attained the age of 18 and shall not include any information concerning criminal offenses or acts of delinquency committed by any person before he attained the age of 18; provided, however, that if a person under the age of 18 was adjudicated as an adult in superior court or adjudicated as an adult after transfer of a case from a juvenile session to another trial court department, information relating to such criminal offense shall be criminal offender record information. Criminal offender record information shall not include information concerning any offenses which are not punishable by incarceration.

''Department'', the department of criminal justice information services established pursuant to section 167A.

''Evaluative information'', records, data, or reports concerning individuals charged with crime and compiled by criminal justice agencies which appraise mental condition, physical condition, extent of social adjustment, rehabilitative progress and the like, and which are primarily used in connection with bail, pre-trial or post-trial release proceedings, sentencing, correctional and rehabilitative planning, probation or parole.

''Executive office'', the executive office of public safety and security.

''Intelligence information'', records and data compiled by a criminal justice agency for the purpose of criminal investigation, including reports of informants, investigators or other persons, or from any type of surveillance associated with an identifiable individual. Intelligence information shall also include records and data compiled by a criminal justice agency for the purpose of investigating a substantial threat of harm to an individual, or to the order or security of a correctional facility.

''Interstate systems'', all agreements, arrangements and systems for the interstate transmission and exchange of criminal offender record information. Such systems shall not include recordkeeping systems in the commonwealth maintained or controlled by any state or local agency, or group of such agencies, even if such agencies receive or have received information through, or otherwise participated or have participated in, systems for the interstate exchange of criminal record information.

''Person'', a natural person, corporation, association, partnership or other legal entity acting as a decision maker on an application or interacting directly with a subject.

''Purge'', remove from the criminal offender record information system such that there is no trace of information removed and no indication that said information was removed.

''Requestor'', a person, other than a criminal justice agency, submitting a request for criminal offender record information to the department.

''Secretary'', the secretary of public safety and security.

''Self-audit'', an inquiry made by a subject or his legally authorized designee to obtain a log of all queries to the department by any individual or entity, other than a criminal justice agency, for the subject's criminal offender record information, but excluding any information relative to any query conducted by a criminal justice agency.

''Subject'', an individual for whom a request for criminal offender record information is submitted.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 42 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1978–2025 · leading case: New Bedford Stand.-Times Publ'g Co. v. Clerk of the Third Dist. Court, 387 N.E.2d 110 (Mass. 1979).
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New Bedford Stand.-Times Publ'g Co. v. Clerk of the Third Dist. Court, 387 N.E.2d 110 (Mass. 1979). · cites it 6× “The controversy was affected by the amendments of G.L.c. 6, §§ 167 and 172, by St. 1977, c.”
Commonwealth v. Cruz, 945 N.E.2d 899 (Mass. 2011). · cites it 2× “Information concerning the offense of possession of one ounce or less of marihuana shall not be deemed `criminal offender record information,' `evaluative information,' or `intelligence information' as those terms are defined in [G. L. c. 6, § 167], and shall not be recorded in…”
Globe Newspaper Co. v. Dist. Attorney for the Middle Dist., 788 N.E.2d 513 (Mass. 2003). · cites it 5× “66, § 10 (public records statute), and that such disclosure is not prohibited by the Criminal Offender Record Information statute, G. L. c. 6, §§ 167 et seq. (CORI statute).”
Commonwealth v. Pon, 14 N.E.3d 182 (Mass. 2014). · cites it 2× “” G. L. c. 6, § 167. 14 The reforms offer protection from negligent hiring claims based on failure to check other sources of criminal history, and from claims stemming from adverse employment decisions based on erroneous CORI.”
Rzeznik v. Chief of Police of Southampton, 373 N.E.2d 1128 (Mass. 1978). · cites it 3× “G. L. c. 6, § 167. Second, as was shown above, the defendant chief of police, as a member of a law enforcement agency, is “authorized access to such records by” G.”
Commonwealth v. Cousin, 873 N.E.2d 742 (Mass. 2007). · cites it 2× “See G. L. c. 6, § 167. 11 The only limitation the statute places on criminal justice agencies’ access to CORI is that it be “limited to that [extent] necessary for the actual performance of the criminal justice duties of criminal justice agencies.”
King Cnty. v. Sheehan, 31 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 2486 (Wash. Ct. App. 2002). “Other jurisdictions and courts have narrowly defined “intelligence information” in a manner that would clearly not include a general list of officers’ names.”
King Cnty. v. Sheehan, 57 P.3d 307 (Wash. Ct. App. 2002). “Other jurisdictions and courts have narrowly defined "intelligence information" in a manner that would clearly not include a general list of officers' names.”
Bellin v. Kelley, 755 N.E.2d 1274 (Mass. 2001). · cites it 3× “” G. L. c. 6, § 167. Bellin also contends that Minichielli wrongfully threatened to disclose his prior record in order to coerce him into taking a polygraph examination.”
Reinstein v. Police Comm'r of Boston, 391 N.E.2d 881 (Mass. 1979). · cites it 2× “438, § 2), 8 but, after in camera inspection by members of his staff, the Supervisor replied by letter that the records were exempt from disclosure because they contained criminal offender record information (CORI) as defined in G. L. c. 6, § 167 (and see § 172), and so were…”
Roe v. Attorney Gen., 434 Mass. 418 (Mass. 2001). “” G. L. c. 6, § 167. Thus, the information to which the police have access goes far beyond the offender’s record of convictions.”
Police Comm'r v. Mun. Court of Dorchester Dist., 374 N.E.2d 272 (Mass. 1978). “The salient fact about this entire scheme however is that in restricting its applicability to “criminal offender record information,” the statute excluded noncriminal proceedings such as those involving juveniles, see G. L. c. 6, § 167, as amended through St.”
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