Definitions

Actual Release from Sentence Date. The date on which an Offender is released from the custody of the Department of Correction or House of Correction, (a) having completed the Offender's entire sentence, including any parole supervision, based upon an initial calculation of the Offender's Release Date minus any sentence deductions such as Earned Time; or (b) having been released from the Offender's sentence by post-sentencing action of a court (e.g., revise and revoke, sentence or conviction vacated, conviction overturned by appellate court with no retrial, reduction in sentence terms by Appellate Division or new trial). Actual Release from Sentence Date shall not apply to pre-trial detainees. Age of Offender at Time of Offense. Determined by the difference between the date of the offense and the Offender's date of birth. Age of Offender Entering Custody. Computed at the Date Entering Custody of the Department of Correction or House of Correction, as defined in Date Entering Custody; it is determined by the difference between that date and the Offender's date of birth. Age of Offender Exiting Custody. Computed at the Date Exiting Custody of the Department of Correction or House of Correction, as defined in Date Exiting Custody; it is determined by the difference between that date and the Offender's date of birth. Assigned Sex. The biological sex that was assigned to a person at the time of the Offender's birth. Bail Amount or Reason if No Bail Set. An order to release an accused person from custody after payment of a set monetary amount or receipt of adequate surety to ensure that person's appearance at trial pursuant to M.G.L. c. 276, §§ 57 and 58. An accused person may be held without bail following a hearing as outlined in M.G.L. c. 276, § 58A. An Offender released from custody having given personal recognizance to appear before court is not considered released on bail. Case. A charge or series of criminal charges that are arraigned under a single docket number. Case Disposition. Refers to the end result of a criminal case through a conviction, acquittal, plea or admission, dismissal, nolle prosequi or other final resolution as entered by the Trial Court. Criminal Justice Agency. Consistent with the definition in M.G.L. c. 6, § 167, "those agencies at all level of government which perform as their principal function, activities relating to: (a) crime prevention, including research or the sponsorship of research; (b) the apprehension, prosecution, adjudication, incarceration, or rehabilitation of criminal Offenders; or (c) the collection, storage, dissemination or usage of criminal Offender record information". Custody. When an Offender is formally under the physical control of the Department of Correction or House of Correction. Custody specifically excludes voluntary or involuntary commitments for substance abuse or mental health evaluation or treatment. Data Warehouse. A data management system managed and maintained by EOPSS, or agent thereof, in consultation with EOTSS, where data collected from Criminal Justice Agencies and the Trial Court is stored, integrated, and processed for internal and public reporting. Date Entering Custody. The date an Offender is admitted to the custody of the Department of Correction or House of Correction. An Offender may be admitted to custody pursuant to a court order, as a transfer from another facility, pursuant to the execution of a parole violation warrant, or pursuant to the execution of an escape warrant, or other means. Date Exiting Custody. The date an Offender is released from the custody of the Department of Correction or House of Correction whether by expiration of sentence, parole, release to another jurisdiction, court release, or other legal release from the custody of such a facility. Date of Arrest. The date the Offender is arrested for the offenses for which the Offender is charged. Date of Offense. The date that the offense was committed or, for serial offenses, the first date of the date range within which the serial offenses occurred. Earned Time. In accordance with M.G.L. c. 127, § 129D, the time earned by Offenders to shorten their time in custody by earning deductions in time for good conduct or earn credits toward the completion of their custodial sentence through programing. Ethnicity of Offender. Determined with reference to the ethnicity categories used by Federal Bureau of Investigation's Criminal Justice Information Services, Division Uniform Crime Reporting Program, National Incident - Based Reporting System User Manual which are currently as follows: (a) H - Hispanic or Latino; (b) N - Non-Hispanic or Not Latino. Gender Identity. A person's gender-related identity, appearance or behavior, whether or not that gender-related identity, appearance or behavior is different from that traditionally associated with the person's physiology or assigned sex at birth. Gender identity refers to a person's internal sense of their own gender and shall be self-reported by each individual. Governing Offense. As determined by the Department of Correction or House of Correction, is the offense for which an Offender is committed to the Department of Correction or a House of Correction and which controls the overall sentence structure. Jail Credit from Pretrial Incarceration. Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 279, § 33A, a Jail Credit from Pretrial Incarceration shall be equal to the number of days spent by the Offender in custody prior to being sentenced awaiting and during trial. Jail credits are applied to an Offender's court imposed sentence and the Offender is are deemed to have served the portion of the sentence equal to the jail credits. Location(s) of Offense. The municipality, state, and zip code where the offense or offenses occurred. Massachusetts State Police State Identification Section (SIS). The SIS is a unit within the Department of State Police responsible for managing and maintaining fingerprint records within the Commonwealth. The Department of State Police establishes the policies and procedures for properly collecting fingerprint records. Pursuant to the provisions of M.G.L. c. 6A, § 18¾, c. 94C, § 45, c. 119, § 54, c. 126, § 40, c. 127, § 23, c. 211B, § 22, c. 212, § 7, and c. 263, § 1A, Criminal Justice Agencies are required to collect and submit fingerprints to the SIS for felony criminal offenses, and may also submit fingerprints for misdemeanor arrests. Offender. Any person charged with a criminal offense. Offender’s Address. The municipality, state, and zip code where the offender resides. Offender Status. The status of the Offender within the Criminal Justice Agency with regard to the offense. Offender statuses include, but are not limited to, the following: held pending arraignment-bail, held pre-trial, released on bail, committed, released to probation supervision, released from custody, released to parole supervision, released on personal recognizance, and violation found and returned to custody. Offenders found to have violated the terms of their sentence by committing a new criminal offense and returned to custody have undergone rearraignment, as defined in Rearraignment. Offenders convicted of a new offense while serving either a commitment or term of probation or parole on the Governing Offense have undergone reconviction, as defined in Reconviction. Offense. A crime or crimes for which a person is charged. Offense Based Tracking Number (OBTN). A unique identifier for a specific fingerprint/arrest/custody event, and links the Individual to the fingerprints taken. This 13 character alphanumeric identifier is unique to the fingerprint/arrest/custody event. The first character is predetermined by the SIS, followed by the three character CJIS Agency code. The remaining nine character suffix is designated by the agency. Prefix assignments: T (denotes arrest), J (denotes county jail booking), H (denotes house of correction booking), D (denotes state department of correction). An Offender will have multiple OBTNs on file when they have multiple events. Pronouns. The set of pronouns that a person uses in order to reflect that person's gender identity. Pre-trial Detainees. Offenders who are held in custody in a jail, house of correction, or prison prior to trial. Primary Caretaker of a Child. A parent or legal guardian with whom a child has a primary residence. Probation Central File Number (PCF Number). A number assigned for identification purposes to an individual by the Massachusetts Probation Service. The PCF Number is not supported by fingerprint-based identification. Race of Offender. Determined with reference to the race categories used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Criminal Justice Information Services Division, Uniform Crime Reporting Program, National Incident - Based Reporting System User Manual, which are currently as follows: (a) A - Asian or Pacific Islander; (b) B - Black or African-American; (c) I - American Indian or Alaska Native; (d) W - White; (e) U - Unknown. Rearraignment. Occurs on date when an Offender is arraigned for an offense within one, two or three years of their Release Date. Recidivism. Occurs on date when an Offender is rearraigned, reconvicted or reincarcerated within one, two or three years of their Release Date. Reconviction. Occurs on date when an Offender is convicted of an offense within one, two or three years of their Release Date. Reincarceration. Occurs on date when an Offender is recommitted to custody within one, two or three years of their Release Date. Release Date. The calculated date on which an Offender will be released from the Offender's sentence, based on calculations of a sentence's terms without accounting for sentence deductions that an Offender may earn while serving the Offender's sentence. This date forms the basis for calculating the Offender's "Actual Release Date". Risk and Needs Assessment Outcome. The score an Offender receives on any risk and needs assessment conducted by a Criminal Justice Agency. Each Criminal Justice Agency will submit its scores consistent with the tool and the cross-tracking system will assign a designation for the purpose of meeting the reporting requirements of state law. State Identification Number (SID). A unique ten-character alphanumerical identifier supported by fingerprint identification assigned to an individual by the Department of State Police through the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). The SID is created upon the fingerprinting of a person by a Criminal Justice Agency pursuant to M.G.L. c. 6A, § 18¾, c. 94C, § 45, c. 119, § 54, c. 126, § 40, c. 127, § 23, c. 211B. § 22, c. 212, § 7, and c. 263, § 1A. Status of Offender's Reproductive Health Needs. Whether the Offender has requested enhanced medical care for reproductive health needs for pre-natal and/or post-natal care. Time of Offense. The time that the offense occurred. Type of Admission. The reason an Offender is admitted into custody. Type of admission includes, but is not limited to, the following: arrest, summons arraignment, commitment, held for another department, probation violation, parole violation, held pending arraignment-bail, held pre-trial. Type of Release. The reason an Offender is released from custody. Type of release includes, but is not limited to, the following: released without supervision, released on bail, released on personal recognizance, released to parole supervision, released to probation with or without supervision, released to home confinement, or released to another Criminal Justice Agency. Whether the Offender Has Participated in and Completed Evidence-based Programs. Whether or not the Offender has: (a) participated in; and (b) completed any educational or rehabilitative programs while in the custody of a Criminal Justice Agency. Criminal Justice Agencies shall indicate the name, type, and the outcome of participation in the program.