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H1812 • 2025

An Act to promote timely access to parole hearings

An Act to promote timely access to parole hearings

Active

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

Sponsor
Mary S. Keefe
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 to promote timely access to parole hearings

An Act to promote timely access to parole hearings By Representative Keefe of Worcester, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.

What This Bill Does

  • An Act to promote timely access to parole hearings By Representative Keefe of Worcester, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
  • 1812) of Mary S.
  • Keefe and Carmine Lawrence Gentile relative to access to parole hearings.
  • 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. 2025-11-18 Joint

    Hearing rescheduled to 11/18/2025 from 01:00 PM-08:00 PM in A-1 and Virtual Hearing updated to New End Time

  3. 2025-11-07 Joint

    Hearing scheduled for 11/18/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-1

  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 to promote timely access to parole hearings
By Representative Keefe of Worcester, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1812) of Mary S. Keefe and Carmine Lawrence Gentile relative to access to parole hearings. The Judiciary.

Current Bill Text

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Bill H.1812

SECTION 1. Section 4 of chapter 27 of the General Laws, is hereby amended by striking the first sentence and inserting the following sentence:-

There shall be in the department, but not subject to its jurisdiction, a parole board, consisting of twelve members, to be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the council, for terms of five years.

SECTION 2. Section 4 of chapter 27 of the General Laws, is hereby amended by inserting after the last sentence in the third paragraph the following sentences:-

The chairperson shall designate 7 of the 12 members to preside over life sentence hearings and 5 of the 12 members to preside over regular order hearings. The chairperson shall consider regional appointments of board members for the purposes of covering regular order hearings. At least 1 of the 7 life sentence hearing board members shall have professional experience in forensic psychology and at least 2 of the 7 life sentence hearing board members shall have professional experience in social services or reentry coordination. At least 1 of the 5 regular order hearing board members shall have professional experience in forensic psychology and at least 2 of the 5 regular order hearing board members shall have professional experience in social services or reentry coordination. The chairperson shall designate board members to sit on a rotating basis for clemency and parole termination proceedings.

SECTION 3. Section 133A of chapter 127 of the General Laws, is hereby amended in the first sentence by striking the number “18” and inserting the number “21”.

SECTION 4. Section 133A of chapter 127 of the General Laws, is hereby amended by striking the second sentence and inserting the following sentence:-

The parole board shall, within 60 days before the expiration of such minimum term, conduct a public hearing before 5 out those 7 board members appointed to sit for life sentence hearings, as determined by the chairperson, unless a member of the board is determined to be unavailable as provided in this section.

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