Petitions for Medical Parole for Prisoners Committed to the Custody of a County Correctional

Facility (1) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a prisoner committed to the custody of a county correctional facility may be eligible for medical parole due to a terminal illness or permanent incapacitation. (2) The Sheriff with authority over the county correctional facility shall consider a prisoner for medical parole upon receipt of a written petition submitted by: (a) the prisoner; (b) the prisoner's attorney; (c) the prisoner's next of kin; (d) a medical provider of the correctional facility; (e) a member of the Sheriff’s staff; or (f) an individual, designated by the prisoner to act on their behalf, but said designated individual shall not be a Department or county prisoner. (3) The petition for medical parole shall be in writing. The Sheriff may develop a petition form to be made available to the prisoner and/or the petitioner. A failure to submit the petition on the Sheriff’s form shall not delay or change the processing of the petition. (4) In the event the petition is not accompanied by release forms signed by the prisoner, the Sheriff shall provide the prisoner, or the petitioner if the prisoner is not the petitioner, with said release forms. (5) A proposed medical parole plan may be submitted along with the petition and may be submitted by the petitioner for review by the Sheriff, or, where not submitted by the petitioner, said plan shall be developed by the Sheriff prior to transmitting the petition to the Commissioner pursuant to M.G.L. c. 127, § 119A. (6) Petitions must be submitted to the Sheriff responsible for the facility where the prisoner is currently incarcerated, unless the prisoner is housed at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, in which case the petition should be submitted to the superintendent of Lemuel Shattuck Hospital for forwarding as appropriate to the Sheriff responsible for the facility to which the prisoner is classified. A petition submitted to any other County employee shall be forwarded to the appropriate Sheriff without delay for review and processing. (7) Upon request, and to the extent permitted under State or Federal medical privacy laws, victims/victims' family members registered under M.G.L. c. 258B, will be provided with a copy of the petition and the most recent clinical assessment of the prisoner prepared by the correctional facility’s medical provider. (8) Whether or not the Sheriff recommends in favor of medical parole, the Sheriff shall, not more than 21 days after receipt of the petition, transmit their recommendation to the Commissioner with the petition and all supporting documentation. The Commissioner shall allow or deny the petition for medical parole within 45 days of receiving the Sheriff’s recommendation.