In Massachusetts, a “criminal record” is not one document. Court cases are recorded by the Commissioner of Probation, a separate state agency maintains the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) database, and the law limits who can see which parts, and for how long.
This guide follows a record in that order: how it is created, what it contains, who can see it, how long entries show, what sealing and expungement do, and how to get a copy of your own.
First, the Basics: What Counts as CORI
CORI is the state’s legal term for criminal record information about an identifiable adult, and the definition leaves some things out.
Under G.L. c. 6, § 167, criminal offender record information means records and data compiled by a Massachusetts criminal justice agency that concern an identifiable person and relate to the nature or disposition of a criminal charge, an arrest, pretrial proceedings, other court proceedings, dangerousness hearings under c. 276, § 58A, sentencing, incarceration, rehabilitation, or release.
A criminal justice agency is a government agency whose main function involves crime prevention; catching, prosecuting, judging, jailing, or rehabilitating offenders; or handling CORI.
The same section sets important limits. CORI:
- Starts at arraignment. It is restricted to information from criminal proceedings that are not dismissed before arraignment, the defendant’s first court appearance on the charge.
- Covers adult offenses. It excludes offenses committed before age 18, unless the person was adjudicated as an adult.
- Covers jailable offenses. It does not include offenses that are not punishable by incarceration.
- Excludes investigative files. It does not include evaluative information (such as mental-health or rehabilitation assessments), intelligence information gathered for criminal investigations, or statistical reports that do not identify individuals.
For how a case can end before arraignment, see Understanding Criminal Dispositions in Massachusetts State Courts.
Step 1: The Court Case Creates a Probation Record
Criminal cases are recorded by the courts and the Commissioner of Probation, and the CORI law treats them as the place where entries are made and corrected.
Under G.L. c. 276, § 100, probation officers in each court report to the Commissioner of Probation, who keeps a record of cases for the information of judges and probation officers. The Probation Service calls a person’s court record their Court Activity Record Information (CARI).
Section 100 says this information is not a public record. It is accessible to judges, probation officers, police chiefs, and government departments the Commissioner designates, and, for a fee, to certain federal departments and institutions.
The Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS), created by c. 6, § 167A, runs the statewide CORI database (c. 6, § 172). DCJIS states that it disseminates CORI but is not responsible for its content, and § 172(e) refers to information “entered by the court or the office of the commissioner of probation.” When the courts or the Commissioner correct a record, § 175 requires the correction to be sent to DCJIS so the database reflects it.
Some information is public regardless of CORI rules. Section 172(m) makes police daily logs, arrest registers, chronologically maintained court records of public proceedings, and published records of public court proceedings public records. For what happens before a case reaches court, see What Happens When You’re Arrested in Massachusetts.
Step 2: What the CORI Database Contains
The full CORI database holds convictions, non-convictions, and pending cases, but not sealed records.
Section 167 defines all available CORI as adult and youthful offender convictions, non-convictions, pending criminal court appearances, and § 58A dangerousness hearings, including requests for them and the resulting findings and orders.
It excludes records sealed under c. 94C, § 34 or c. 276, §§ 100A–100C, and even the existence of those records.
A non-conviction is a case that ended without a conviction, such as a dismissal, a not guilty verdict, or a nolle prosequi (a prosecutor’s decision to drop the case). For Standard Access, a continuance without a finding (CWOF) counts as a pending charge until it is dismissed (§ 172(a)(3)). Our post What Is a CWOF in Massachusetts Criminal Cases? explains CWOFs.
Step 3: Who Can See Which Level of CORI
How much of your CORI someone can see depends on who they are and why they are asking.
Section 172(a) sets out the categories. The DCJIS regulations (803 CMR 2.05) label the main levels Required, Standard, and Open Access:
- Criminal justice agencies: all CORI, including sealed records, for their criminal justice duties. Firearms licensing authorities and the Criminal Record Review Board may also obtain sealed records for their duties (§ 172(a)(1)).
- Required Access: requesters authorized or required by a statute, regulation, or accreditation requirement to get more, to the extent that rule allows (§ 172(a)(2)). The regulations divide this into four tiers; the broadest can include non-convictions, juvenile offenses, and sealed records.
- Standard Access: employers, landlords, volunteer organizations, and state or municipal licensing bodies. They see felony convictions for 10 years and misdemeanor convictions for 5 years after disposition or release, plus pending charges, including CWOFs until dismissed (§ 172(a)(3)).
- Open Access: any member of the public, on written request. They see a narrower set: convictions for felonies punishable by 5 or more years for 10 years, other felony convictions for 2 years, misdemeanor convictions for 1 year, and current custody status (§ 172(a)(4)).
- You: a person may obtain all CORI about themselves (§ 172(a)(5)).
Who sees what, by requester. Beyond these general levels, specific laws set what particular requesters may see:
- Employers and volunteer organizations receive Standard Access unless a law gives them more (§ 172(a)(2)–(3)); see What Can My Employer See?.
- Landlords. A landlord, property manager, or real estate agent may obtain Standard Access on a market-rate housing applicant, only as the final step in the application, and not on other household members (803 CMR 5.04). Public housing authorities may obtain conviction and pending-case CORI (§ 172(a)(7)), and Required Access for subsidized housing (803 CMR 5.05).
- Banks and insurers. Section 172 does not list banks or insurers as a group; they receive more than Standard Access only where a law authorizes it (§ 172(a)(2)). The Commissioner of Banks may obtain all available CORI on applicants for licensure under c. 255F (§ 172J), and motor vehicle insurers may receive automobile law convictions and OUI charges that result in assignment to a driver alcohol program under c. 90, § 24D, for insurance purposes only (§ 172(h)).
- Schools. Public and private school officials must obtain all available CORI at least every 3 years on current and prospective employees and volunteers who may have direct and unmonitored contact with children, plus fingerprint-based checks on those employees (c. 71, § 38R).
- Children’s programs and camps. An organization primarily engaged in providing activities or programs to children 18 or younger must obtain all available CORI before accepting anyone as an employee, volunteer, vendor, or contractor (§ 172H). Children’s camps must obtain all available CORI, plus juvenile data from the court activity record, on employees and volunteers before they start (§ 172G).
- Child care, foster care, and adoption. The Department of Early Education and Care, and the adoption and foster placement agencies it licenses, may obtain conviction, arrest, sealed record, and juvenile data, including on foster and adoptive household members 15 or older (§ 172F).
- Elder and disability care. Long-term care facilities, assisted living residences, and continuing care facilities must obtain all available CORI on applicants under final consideration and staff who serve or have contact with elderly or disabled people (§ 172E), and home and community-based service agencies must do the same before hiring, accepting, or referring workers (§ 172C). An elderly or disabled person screening in-home help receives Required 2 Access (803 CMR 2.09).
- The public. Beyond Open Access, anyone may request information on a person’s custody status and placement in the correction system, with limits on other personal information (§ 172(i)).
Other provisions of § 172(a)(7)–(33) cover further groups, such as crime victims. No level of access includes information expunged by court order (803 CMR 2.05(6)).
Rules for requesters. A Standard or Required requester must certify its purpose and have the subject’s signed acknowledgment (§ 172(c)). A person holding an applicant’s CORI must give the applicant a copy before asking about it and before making an adverse decision based on it (§ 171A). It is unlawful to request or require a person to provide a copy of their own CORI, except as § 172 allows, and violations are punishable under § 178. What Can My Employer See? covers these rules and CORI complaints.
Step 4: How Long Entries Remain Visible
The time limits in § 172 control how long outsiders can see an entry, not how long it exists.
The Standard and Open Access windows run from the disposition, including any period of incarceration or custody. Three rules extend them:
- Older convictions ride along. For Standard Access, prior convictions remain available for as long as the person’s most recent conviction is available (§ 172(a)(3)); the regulations say the same (803 CMR 2.05(4)(b)).
- Order violations count as felonies. A violation of an abuse prevention order (c. 209A, § 7) or harassment prevention order (c. 258E, § 9) is treated as a felony for Standard Access.
- Some convictions are permanent. Convictions for murder, voluntary or involuntary manslaughter, and sex offenses under c. 6, § 178C that are punishable by state prison stay in the database permanently and are available to criminal justice agencies and Required and Standard requesters, unless sealed under c. 276, § 100A (§ 172(b)).
Criminal justice agencies, and the person, can see all of the person’s CORI regardless of these windows (§ 172(a)(1), (5)). Separately, a requester may not keep a copy of CORI obtained from DCJIS for more than 7 years after its final decision or the end of the person’s employment, volunteer service, or residency, unless law or court order provides otherwise (§ 172(f)).
Step 5: What Sealed and Expunged Records Mean
A sealed record is hidden from most requesters but still exists; an expunged record is destroyed.
Sealed. Sealed records are excluded from “all available CORI” (§ 167). When most outside requesters ask, the Commissioner of Probation reports that no record exists (c. 276, § 100A). But criminal justice agencies can still access sealed records (c. 276, § 100D), and so can firearms licensing authorities (c. 6, § 172(a)(1)).
Expunged. To expunge means to permanently erase or destroy the record (c. 276, § 100E). After an expungement order, agencies must tell anyone who asks, including criminal justice agencies, that no record exists (§ 100L).
For who qualifies and how each process works, see Expunging a Criminal Record in Massachusetts.
Step 6: How to Request Your Own Record
You have a legal right to see your own CORI, and DCJIS provides it for a fee through an online system or by mail.
Section 175 gives every person the right to inspect, and if practicable get a copy of, all CORI about them held by DCJIS. It also requires the Commissioner of Criminal Justice Information Services to publish guidelines on correcting inaccurate or incomplete information.
According to DCJIS, a personal (“Personal Self”) CORI request requires a fee. Online requests through the iCORI system require a valid Massachusetts driver’s license or ID card. Without one, the request is made on a paper Personal Request Form sent by mail. An affidavit of indigency can waive the fee, and processing can take up to 10 business days.
Under § 172(g), you may also request a self-audit, a log of who has requested your CORI, free once every 90 days. DCJIS states that self-audits list requests by non-law enforcement requesters only.
Juvenile offenses are not CORI unless the person was adjudicated as an adult (§ 167). The Probation Service publishes a separate form for requesting your own juvenile CARI.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an employer make me hand over a copy of my CORI?
No. Under c. 6, § 172(d), it is unlawful to request or require a person to provide a copy of their own CORI, except as § 172 authorizes. An employer requesting your CORI from DCJIS for screening must have your signed acknowledgment (§ 172(c)).
Will a dismissed case show up on an employer’s background check?
Not on a Standard Access check, which shows convictions within the time windows and pending charges. It remains visible to criminal justice agencies and to Required Access requesters whose tier includes non-convictions; sealing narrows that further, and expungement removes it (see Step 5). A case dismissed before arraignment is not CORI at all (§ 167).
Questions About What Is on Your Record? Talk to a Lawyer
What appears on a Massachusetts record, and who can see it, often turns on the exact charges and dispositions. The Law Office of William J. Barabino in Medford has over 23 years of experience in Massachusetts criminal defense and represents clients throughout Greater Boston.
Call 781-393-5900 for a confidential consultation.
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Disclaimer
This article is for general educational purposes only and is not legal advice. Criminal record law depends heavily on the specific record, and statutes, regulations, and court decisions change. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you have questions about your Massachusetts criminal record, consult a licensed Massachusetts criminal defense attorney about your situation.
