Massachusetts
Every law and rule change USCLI tracks for Massachusetts, across the professions, on one page. Each entry links to its full write-up and official sources.
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Licensing Law Tracker
Massachusetts licenses private detective businesses through the Colonel of the State Police under General Laws chapter 147, sections 22 to 30, which were not amended from 2023 through October 2026. A 2024 law added technological monitoring to the definition of abuse in family protective orders, and a Data Privacy Act that would ban selling precise geolocation data is in conference committee.
Full Massachusetts page: every change, its sources, and what has not changed (1 entry).
Technological monitoring of a family member can be abuse
Adds “coercive control” to the definition of abuse in G.L. c.209A, s.1, which governs protective orders between family or household members. It includes a pattern of behavior intended to threaten, intimidate, harass, isolate, control, coerce, or compel…
Officer Certification Tracker
Massachusetts’ Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission certifies all law enforcement officers for 3-year terms, must revoke certification on 16 grounds, publishes decertifications, and reports them to the National Decertification Index. Chapter 6E has not been amended since 2023. The changes since then are a public officer database rule, a civil service hiring route with a police cadet program, and a 2026 law creating a state civil-rights action against anyone acting under color of law.
Full Massachusetts page: every change, its sources, and what has not changed (3 entries).
State civil-rights action against anyone acting under color of law; limits on civil immigration enforcement
Section 2 adds M.G.L. c.12 s.11I 5/6: a state-law action for damages and equitable relief against “every person” who, under color of any state or federal law, deprives someone of federal constitutional rights. Any defense available under 42 U.S.C. 1983,…
Civil service: local hiring registers for police and firefighters, and a police cadet program
Under new c.31 s.59A, the civil service administrator “may” let an appointing authority keep its own register of entry-level police and firefighter candidates. The authority must agree to merit principles and diverse recruiting and adopt anti-nepotism and…
Public officer database rule, including disciplinary summaries
Section 8.06 says POST “shall establish, by a date adopted by a vote of the Commissioners,” a searchable public database of everyone who has served as an officer or been certified since July 1, 2021. It is to show name, certification status, employment…
Forensic Science Tracker
Massachusetts has a Forensic Science Oversight Board inside the executive branch that must make sure forensic labs are accredited, and a statewide law limiting police facial recognition searches. It has no analyst license. Since 2023 the State has required cartridge casings from traced crime guns to go into the national ballistics network, required sexual assault kits to be kept for 15 years, and lifted the time limit for rape charges when DNA identifies the suspect late.
Full Massachusetts page: every change, its sources, and what has not changed (4 entries).
No time limit for rape charges when DNA identifies the suspect late
A new paragraph in G.L. c. 277, sec. 63 says an indictment or complaint for an offense under sections 22 to 23B of chapter 265 “may be found and filed at any time” if the person was identified after the limitation period and the identity “has been…
Sexual assault kits kept for at least 15 years
The act rewrote G.L. c. 41, sec. 97B½. Two things are new: all sexual assault evidence kits “shall be retained for at least 15 years,” and labs must test kits within 30 days “notwithstanding the statute of limitations on the underlying offense.” The 30-day…
One-year budget floor for genetic genealogy at the State Police lab
The fiscal 2026 crime lab item required that “not less than $250,000 shall be expended for costs associated with forensic genetic genealogy DNA” to help solve violent crimes, identify unidentified remains, process sexual assault kits, and support cold…
Casings from traced crime guns go into the national ballistics network
The act rewrote G.L. c. 140, sec. 131Q. New subsection (c) says “A cartridge casing associated with a firearm reported for tracing under subsection (a) shall be submitted for inclusion in the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network.” Section 159…
Last updated October 19, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & Investigation