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H1779 • 2025

An Act relative to school bus stop safety

An Act relative to school bus stop safety

Education
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Bradley H. Jones, Jr.
Last action
2026-03-26
Official status
Accompanied a study order, see H5281 (under House Rule 27)
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act relative to school bus stop safety

An Act relative to school bus stop safety By Representative Jones of North Reading, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.

What This Bill Does

  • An Act relative to school bus stop safety By Representative Jones of North Reading, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
  • 1779) of Bradley H.
  • Jones, Jr., and others for legislation to prohibit certain sex offenders from loitering within 500 feet of school bus stops.
  • The Judiciary.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-26 House

    Accompanied a study order, see H5281 (under House Rule 27)

  2. 2025-10-20 Joint

    Hearing scheduled for 06/17/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-2

  3. 2025-06-11 Joint

    Hearing scheduled for 06/17/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-2

  4. 2025-02-27 House

    Referred to the committee on The Judiciary

  5. 2025-02-27 Senate

    Senate concurred

  6. House

    Reported by committee to Clerk’s Office for processing, will accompany a study order

Official Summary Text

An Act relative to school bus stop safety
By Representative Jones of North Reading, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1779) of Bradley H. Jones, Jr., and others for legislation to prohibit certain sex offenders from loitering within 500 feet of school bus stops. The Judiciary.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
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Bill H.1779

Chapter 265 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 47, the following new section:

“Section 47A. A sex offender who has been finally classified as a level 2 or level 3 sex offender, and for as long as the sex offender is obligated to register, shall be prohibited from loitering within 500 feet of a school bus stop which has been designated as such by any city, town, or school district.

For the purposes of this section, loitering shall mean remaining in the prohibited location for more than 15 minutes. A sex offender who is the parent or legal guardian of a child scheduled to depart from or arrive at a school bus stop, may remain at the prohibited location more than 15 minutes, but only until such time as the child has departed or arrived.

A sex offender who violates this section shall be punished by a fine of $500 for a first offense; for a second offense by a fine of $1,000, or by imprisonment in a house of correction for not more than 3 months, or by both such fine and imprisonment; and for a third or subsequent offense by a fine of $1,500 and not less than 3 months nor more than 2 ½ years in a house of correction. Written notification shall be made to the sex offender registry board of any such violation.”

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