Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XIV Chapter 90C
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 90C, § 2 (2026)

Citations and citation books

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 2. Each police chief shall issue citation books to each permanent full-time police officer of his department whose duties may or will include traffic duty or traffic law enforcement, or directing or controlling traffic, and to such other officers as he at his discretion may determine. Each police chief shall obtain a receipt on a form approved by the registrar from such officer to whom a citation book has been issued. Each police chief shall also maintain citation books at police headquarters for the recording of automobile law violations by police officers to whom citation books have not been issued. The executive office of public safety and security shall promulgate rules and regulations establishing the standards required by this section for the issuance of electronic citations, including the proper equipment to be maintained by each department. In lieu of issuing citation books or in addition thereto, each police chief whose department issues citations electronically may grant authority to do so to each police officer of his or her department who has been trained pursuant to the regulations promulgated pursuant to this section.

Each police chief appointed by the trustees of the commonwealth's state universities and community colleges under section 22 of chapter 15A shall certify to the registrar, on or before January first of each year, that:

(1) the police officers appointed by the trustees at the state university or community college have been certified pursuant to chapter 6E;

(2) said officers have completed the annual in-service training required by the municipal police training committee established in section 116 of chapter 6;

(3) the state university or community college police department submits uniform crime reports to the Federal Bureau of Investigation;

(4) a memorandum of understanding has been entered into with the police chief of the municipality wherein the state university or community college is located outlining the policies and procedures for utilizing the municipality's booking and lock-up facilities, fingerprinting and breathalyzer equipment if the state university or community college police department does not provide booking and lock-up facilities, fingerprinting or breathalyzer equipment; and

(5) the state university or community college police department has policies and procedures in place for use of force, pursuit, arrest, search and seizure, racial profiling and motor vehicle law enforcement.

Nothing in this section, except the previous paragraph, shall limit the authority granted to the police chiefs and police officers at the state universities and community colleges under said section 22 of said chapter 15A or section 18 of chapter 73.

Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law, other than a provision of this chapter, to the contrary, any police officer assigned to traffic enforcement duty shall, whether or not the offense occurs within his presence, record the occurrence of automobile law violations upon a citation, filling out the citation and each copy thereof as soon as possible and as completely as possible and indicating thereon for each such violation whether the citation shall constitute a written warning and, if not, whether the violation is a criminal offense for which an application for a complaint as provided by subsection B of section three shall be made, whether the violation is a civil motor vehicle infraction which may be disposed of in accordance with subsection (A) of said section three, or whether the violator has been arrested in accordance with section twenty-one of chapter ninety. Said police officer shall inform the violator of the violation and shall give a copy of the citation to the violator. Such citation shall be signed, manually or electronically, by the police officer, and whenever a citation is given to the violator in person that fact shall be so certified by the police officer. If a written warning is indicated, no further action need be taken by the violator. No other form of notice, except as provided in this section, need be given to the violator.

A failure to give a copy of the citation to the violator at the time and place of the violation shall constitute a defense in any court proceeding for such violation, except where the violator could not have been stopped or where additional time was reasonably necessary to determine the nature of the violation or the identity of the violator, or where the court finds that a circumstance, not inconsistent with the purpose of this section to create a uniform, simplified and non-criminal method for disposing of automobile law violations, justifies the failure. In such case the violation shall be recorded upon a citation as soon as possible after such violation and the citation shall be delivered to the violator or mailed to him at his residential or mail address or to the address appearing on his license or registration as appearing in registry of motor vehicles records. The provisions of the first sentence of this paragraph shall not apply to any complaint or indictment charging a violation of section twenty-four, twenty-four G or twenty-four L of chapter ninety, providing such complaint or indictment relates to a violation of automobile law which resulted in one or more deaths.

At or before the completion of his tour of duty, a police officer to whom a citation book has been issued and who has recorded the occurrence of an automobile law violation upon a citation shall deliver to his police chief or to the person duly authorized by said chief all remaining copies of such citation, duly signed, except the police officer's copy which shall be retained by the police officer; provided, however, that if a citation has been issued electronically, an electronic record shall be made and delivered to the police chief. If the police officer has directed that a written warning be issued, the part of the citation designated as the registry of motor vehicles record shall be forwarded forthwith by the police chief or person authorized by him to the registrar and shall be kept by the registrar in his main office.

If the police officer has not directed that a written warning be issued and has not arrested the violator, the police chief or a person duly authorized by him shall retain the police department copy of each citation or, if issued electronically, shall retain the police department report of the issuance, and not later than the end of the sixth business day after the date of the violation:

(a) in the case of citations issued from a citation book alleging only one or more civil motor vehicle infractions, shall cause all remaining copies of such citations to be mailed or delivered to the registrar or, in the case of citations issued electronically alleging a civil motor vehicle infractions, shall ensure that such citations are electronically forwarded as required; or

(b) in the case of citations alleging one or more criminal automobile law violations, shall cause all remaining copies or electronic records of such citations to be delivered to the clerk-magistrate of the district court for the judicial district where the violation occurred. Failure to comply with the provisions of this paragraph shall not constitute a defense to any complaint or indictment charging a violation of section twenty-four, twenty-four G or twenty-four L of chapter ninety if such violation resulted in one or more deaths. Each clerk-magistrate shall maintain a record in the form prescribed by the chief justice of the district court department of such citations and shall notify the registrar of the disposition of such citations in accordance with the provisions of section twenty-seven of said chapter ninety.

If a citation issued from a citation book is spoiled, mutilated or voided, it shall be endorsed with a full explanation thereof by the police officer voiding such citation, and shall be returned to the registrar forthwith and shall be duly accounted for upon the audit sheet for the citation book from which said citation was removed. If any record of a citation issued electronically is spoiled, mutilated or voided, the record of such electronic citation, to the extent it can be recovered, shall be endorsed with a full explanation thereof by the police officer voiding such electronic citation and it shall be forwarded to the registrar in a manner approved by the registrar and the officer shall be prepared to account for the void in an electronic audit trail.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 77 cases (7 in the last 5 years), 1968–2026 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Rodriguez, 37 N.E.3d 611 (Mass. 2015).
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Commonwealth v. Rodriguez, 37 N.E.3d 611 (Mass. 2015). · cites it 10× “40, § 21D, which governs noncriminal disposition of certain municipal enactments12 -- and that this mechanism should be 10 The parties did not identify, nor did we find, any case that directly discusses whether G. L. c. 90C, §§ 2 and 3 (A), authorize police officers to stop…”
Commonwealth v. Burnham, 90 Mass. App. Ct. 483 (Mass. App. Ct. 2016). · cites it 10× “The defendant filed a motion to dismiss the charge, claiming that the citation for OUI was not issued in compliance with G. L. c. 90C, § 2. Following an evidentiary hearing, a Superior Court judge allowed the motion.”
Commonwealth v. Giannino, 358 N.E.2d 1008 (Mass. 1977). · cites it 12× “In a pre-trial motion heard in that session he asked that the charge against him be dismissed on the basis that in *701 issuing a citation to him the Commonwealth had failed to deliver the citation promptly as required by G. L. c. 90C, § 2. After hearing evidence on the motion…”
Commonwealth v. O'Leary, 101 N.E.3d 271 (Mass. 2018). · cites it 9× “**67 The defendant, Richard O'Leary, asks this court to determine whether the Commonwealth met its burden of proving compliance with the citation requirement of G. L. c. 90C, § 2, which mandates the issuance of a traffic citation "at the time and place of the violation," despite…”
Commonwealth v. Pappas, 425 N.E.2d 323 (Mass. 1981). · cites it 6× “The judge dismissed the complaints because he concluded that the failure of police officers to issue a citation at the time and place of the violation was contrary to G. L. c. 90C, § 2. The Commonwealth appealed *429 to the Appeals Court and we transferred the case to this court…”
Commonwealth v. Babb, 450 N.E.2d 155 (Mass. 1983). · cites it 5× “” He then orally argued that the judge was required to find the defendant not guilty on all seven complaints because of the Commonwealth’s failure to present evidence that it had complied with the provision of G. L. c. 90C, § 2, as amended through St.”
Commonwealth v. Cruz, 945 N.E.2d 899 (Mass. 2011). · cites it 2× “642, 644 (1980) (officer may validly stop a vehicle committing a traffic violation); G. L. c. 90C, § 2 (officer may approach parked car committing traffic violation and issue ticket).”
Commonwealth v. LeBlanc, 551 N.E.2d 906 (Mass. 1990). · cites it 4× “Section 2 provides, in part: “A failure to give a copy of the citation to the violator at the time and place of the violation shall constitute a defense in any court proceeding for such violation, except where the violator could not have been stopped or where additional time was…”
Irwin v. Town of Ware, 467 N.E.2d 1292 (Mass. 1984). · cites it 2× “whether or not such person is intoxicated, the police officer may request the person to submit to reasonable tests," G.L.c. 111B, § 8, as appearing in St. 1979, c.”
Commonwealth v. Kenney, 772 N.E.2d 53 (Mass. App. Ct. 2002). · cites it 5× “One issue presented by this appeal involves whether the failure to issue a traffic citation in accordance with G. L. c. 90C, § 2, requires dismissal of indictments charging certain *515 motor vehicle criminal offenses, 1 notwithstanding that the statutory purpose of providing…”
Commonwealth v. Gammon, 490 N.E.2d 1188 (Mass. App. Ct. 1986). · cites it 8× “After listening to the evidence produced at the hearing on the motion, the judge raised the question whether the police had issued a citation in a timely manner as required by G. L. c. 90C, § 2, on the operating under the influence indictment.”
Commonwealth v. Correia, 989 N.E.2d 921 (Mass. App. Ct. 2013). · cites it 6× “The governing statute, G. L. c. 90C, § 2, provides that, in most situations, citations should be delivered to the alleged offender at the time and place of the violation.”
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