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

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 6, § 178D (2026)

Sex offender registry

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 178D. The sex offender registry board, known as the board, in cooperation with the department, shall establish and maintain a central computerized registry of all sex offenders required to register pursuant to sections 178C to 178P, inclusive, known as the sex offender registry. The sex offender registry shall be updated based on information made available to the board, including information acquired pursuant to the registration provisions of said sections 178C to 178P, inclusive. The file on each sex offender required to register pursuant to said sections 178C to 178P, inclusive, shall include the following information, hereinafter referred to as registration data:

(a) the sex offender's name, aliases used, date and place of birth, sex, race, height, weight, eye and hair color, social security number, home address, any secondary addresses and work address and, if the sex offender works at or attends an institution of higher learning, the name and address of the institution;

(b) a photograph and set of fingerprints;

(c) a description of the offense for which the sex offender was convicted or adjudicated, the city or town where the offense occurred, the date of conviction or adjudication and the sentence imposed;

(d) any other information which may be useful in assessing the risk of the sex offender to reoffend; and

(e) any other information which may be useful in identifying the sex offender.

Notwithstanding sections 178C to 178P, inclusive, or any other general or special law to the contrary and in addition to any responsibility otherwise imposed upon the board, the board shall make the sex offender information contained in the sex offender registry, delineated below in subsections (i) to (viii), inclusive, available for inspection by the general public in the form of a comprehensive database published on the internet, known as the ''sex offender internet database''; provided, however, that no registration data relating to a sex offender given a level 1 designation by the board under section 178K shall be published in the sex offender internet database but may be disseminated by the board as otherwise permitted by said sections 178C to 178P, inclusive; and provided further, that the board shall keep confidential and shall not publish in the sex offender internet database any information relating to requests for registration data under sections 178I and 178J:

(i) the name of the sex offender;

(ii) the offender's home address and any secondary addresses;

(iii) the offender's work address;

(iv) the offense for which the offender was convicted or adjudicated and the date of the conviction or adjudication;

(v) the sex offender's age, sex, race, height, weight, eye and hair color;

(vi) a photograph of the sex offender, if available;

(vii) whether the sex offender has been designated a sexually violent predator; and

(viii) whether the offender is in compliance with the registration obligations of sections 178C to 178P, inclusive.

All information provided to the general public through the sex offender internet database shall include a warning regarding the criminal penalties for use of sex offender registry information to commit a crime or to engage in illegal discrimination or harassment of an offender and the punishment for threatening to commit a crime under section 4 of chapter 275. The sex offender internet database shall be updated regularly, based on information available to the board and shall be open to searches by the public at any time without charge or subscription. The board shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement, update and maintain such a sex offender internet database, to ensure the accuracy, integrity and security of information contained therein, to ensure the prompt and complete removal of registration data for persons whose duty to register has terminated or expired under section 178G, 178L or 178M or any other law and to protect against the inaccurate, improper or inadvertent publication of registration data on the internet.

The board shall develop standardized registration and verification forms, which shall include registration data as required pursuant to sections 178C to 178P. The board shall make blank copies of such forms available to all agencies having custody of sex offenders and all city and town police departments; provided, however, that the board shall determine the format for the collection and dissemination of registration data, which may include the electronic transmission of data. Records maintained in the sex offender registry shall be open to any law enforcement agency in the commonwealth, the United States or any other state. The board shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of sections 178C to 178P, inclusive. Such rules and regulations shall include provisions which may permit police departments located in a city or town that is divided into more than one zip code to disseminate information pursuant to the provisions of section 178J categorized by zip code and to disseminate such information limited to one or more zip codes if the request for such dissemination is so qualified; provided, however, that for the city of Boston dissemination of information may be limited to one or more police districts.

The board may promulgate regulations further defining in a manner consistent with maintaining or establishing eligibility for federal funding pursuant to the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, 42 U.S.C. section 14071, the eligibility of sex offenders to be relieved of the obligation to register, including but not limited to, regulations limiting motions under subsection (e) of section 178E, section 178G and relief from registration pursuant to paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section 178K.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 39 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1996–2026 · leading case: John Doe v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 126 N.E.3d 939 (Mass. 2019).
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John Doe v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 126 N.E.3d 939 (Mass. 2019). · cites it 9× “See G. L. c. 6, §§ 178D, 178K (2) ( b ). Third, he contends that there was not substantial evidence to support his level two classification.”
Moe v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 467 Mass. 598 (Mass. 2014). · cites it 8× “Internet publication of registry information was first required through an amendment to G. L. c. 6, § 178D, in 2003, St. 2003, c.”
Roe v. Attorney Gen., 434 Mass. 418 (Mass. 2001). · cites it 4× “G. L. c. 6, § 178D. The file on each offender contains the offender’s registration data.”
Commonwealth v. Feliz, 119 N.E.3d 700 (Mass. 2019). · cites it 2× “Like all convicted sex offenders, the defendant was required to register with the Sex Offender Registry Board, G. L. c. 6, § 178D, and to provide it with personal identifying information, including, among other things, his "name[s], aliases used, date and place of birth, sex,…”
Doe, Sex Offender Registry Bd. No. 1211 v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 857 N.E.2d 473 (Mass. 2006). · cites it 2× “G. L. c. 6, § 178D. The file on each offender contains the offender’s registration data.”
Doe v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 971 N.E.2d 800 (Mass. App. Ct. 2012). · cites it 4× “See G. L. c. 6, §§ 178D, 178K. In addition to those specific duties, the board is authorized to ‘promulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of’ the statute.”
Doe v. Attorney Gen., 425 Mass. 210 (Mass. 1997). · cites it 2× “G. L. c. 6, § 178D. The plaintiff is a sex offender, which by definition includes one who committed the offense for which the plaintiff was adjudged delinquent.”
Doe, Sex Offender Registry Bd. No. 68549 v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 470 Mass. 102 (Mass. 2014). “G. L. c. 6, § 178D. See Moe v. Sex Offender Registry Bd.”
Commonwealth v. Maker, 944 N.E.2d 110 (Mass. 2011). · cites it 4× “See G. L. c. 6, §§ 178D, 178K. In addition to those specific duties, the board is authorized to “promulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of” the statute.”
Doe, SORB No. 380316 v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 473 Mass. 297 (Mass. 2015). “18 These consequences persist despite the sex offender registry law’s prohibition on the use of information published about sex offenders to discriminate against or harass them.”
Doe v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 951 N.E.2d 344 (Mass. 2011). · cites it 2× “The board claims that this regulation is a valid exercise of its rule making authority pursuant to G. L. c. 6, § 178D, which provides that “[t]he board shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of sections 178C to 178P, inclusive.”
Doe, SORB No. 474362 v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 112 N.E.3d 276 (Mass. App. Ct. 2018). “See G. L. c. 6, § 178D. Level two and three sex offenders, by contrast, have their information published in an online database available to the public.”
Show all 39 citing cases →
— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 6, § 178D(e) — 1 case
Doe v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 32 Mass. L. Rptr. 631 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2015).
— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 6, § 178D(e)(i) — 1 case
Doe v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 32 Mass. L. Rptr. 631 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2015).
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