Dear Friends,

As many of you know, Governor Patrick convened a working group in September to study possible changes to the Commonwealth's current Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) system. The group consisted of cabinet secretaries, legislators and others who heard from a number of stakeholders through a public hearing and roundtable discussions (in which CJPC was a participant). The group has reported its findings to the governor and Gov. Patrick is now finalizing a plan for changes to the CORI system which will be released early next week. I wanted to let you know some of the key elements of the governor's plan.

As anticipated, a number of administrative changes will be made, which do not involve legislation. The governor's plan will incorporate a finger print-based system to address problems of efficiency and accuracy within the CORI system itself, and will also respond to the need for expanded training of both Criminal History Systems Board employees as well as employees of companies that review CORI records.

The governor's administrative changes will also address current restrictions within the Executive Office of Health and Human Services which create barriers for individuals with CORIs who seek health and human services jobs--and in some cases, bar them from working within those fields.

Along with his administrative changes, Gov. Patrick will submit accompanying legislation that would change the time period when a CORI record can be sealed from 10 years for a misdemeanor and 15 years for a felony (following court oversight) to 5 years for a misdemeanor and 10 years for a felony (also following court oversight).

We will provide details of the governor's plan, including proposed legislation and administrative changes, when they become available, along with our evaluation, insight and action steps.

I wish you all happy holidays and look forward to working with you on this and other issues in the new year!

Sarah

Sarah Compton
Executive Director
Criminal Justice Policy Coalition