Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 803 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION SERVICES › Title 803 CMR 1.00 - Sex Offender Registry Board, Registration, Classification and Dissemination › Section 1.03 - Definitions

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
All words and phrases not defined in
				803 CMR 1.00 shall be defined
				by M.G.L. c. 6, § 178C. Unless otherwise indicated in a specific factor
				enumerated in
				803 CMR 1.33, the
				use of the male gender in
				803 CMR 1.00 shall be deemed
				to include the female or neutral gender. The use of the singular includes the
				plural and
vice versa
where the context so permits.
As used in
				803 CMR 1.00, the following
				words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
Authorized Representative
. An
				appointed or privately retained attorney, legal guardian or any other person
				authorized by the sex offender to represent him or her during the hearing
				process. For appointment of counsel,
see
803 CMR
				1.09. If the authorized representative is not
				an attorney, he or she shall submit to the Board a written authorization signed
				and dated by the sex offender at least ten business days prior to the scheduled
				hearing date. The written authorization shall state the relationship between
				the authorized representative and the sex offender.
Classification File
. The part of the
				sex offender's file maintained by the Board that contains the documentary
				evidence compiled by the Board to complete the recommendation process.
Classification Worksheet
. A form
				developed and approved by the Board that reflects the recommendation process,
				shows the foundation for and indicates the Board's recommended registration and
				classification determination for each offender. The worksheet shall include a
				review of the factors enumerated in M.G.L. c. 6, § 178K(1)(a) through (l)
				and explained further in
				803 CMR 1.33. The
				Board shall make a blank copy of the Classification Worksheet and related
				policies, procedures, protocols, and objective standards generally available
				and available upon request. The Hearing Examiner presiding over a
				classification hearing is not bound by the recommended classification or the
				means by which it was adduced.
Clear and Convincing Evidence
. The
				standard applied at administrative hearings where the Hearing Examiner
				determines, based upon all of the evidence, there is a high degree of
				probability that the sex offender meets the standards specified for the duty to
				register and to be classified at a designated level. The Board shall bear the
				burden of proof at such hearings.
Documentary Evidence
. Clear and
				legible records, data, reports, or letters submitted to the Board by the sex
				offender or on behalf of the sex offender relative to his or her risk of
				reoffense and the degree of dangerousness he or she poses to the public and his
				or her duty to register.
Employment
. Any work that is full-time
				or part-time for a period of time exceeding 14 days or for an aggregate period
				of time exceeding 30 days during any calendar year, whether compensated or
				uncompensated, self-employed or working for an entity. To "work" shall mean to
				perform employment or work defined in
				803 CMR 1.00.
Expert Witness
. A licensed medical
				doctor or mental health professional, excluding employees of the Sex Offender
				Registry Board, whose testimony and report offering an opinion as to a sex
				offender's risk of reoffense and degree of dangerousness were prepared
				expressly for reliance by a Party at a hearing conducted pursuant to
				803 CMR
				1.10 through
				1.20.
				Reports prepared by licensed mental health professionals that contain an
				opinion as to a sex offender's risk of reoffense and degree of dangerousness
				that were prepared for any other purpose will not qualify as Expert Witness
				opinions for a hearing conducted pursuant to
				803 CMR
				1.10 through
				1.20.
Factor(s)
. The descriptions and
				definitions as well as the principles and authorities enumerated in
				803 CMR 1.33 which
				the Board uses in its registration and classification determinations.
Final Classification
. A sex offender
				shall be deemed finally classified when the presiding Hearing Examiner
				determines that he or she is a Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3 Offender, except
				where a sex offender has declined to request a hearing, in which case the
				recommended classification accomplished pursuant to
				803 CMR
				1.06 will become the Final
				Classification.
Full Board
. At least four members of
				the Sex Offender Registry Board. The full board may establish policies and
				procedures to implement the provisions of M.G.L. c. 6, §§ 178C
				through 178Q and
				803 CMR 1.00.
Hearing Examiner
. An individual
				employed by the Sex Offender Registry Board, a single member of the Sex
				Offender Registry Board, or a hearing panel, or the Chair's designee to conduct
				administrative hearings to determine by clear and convincing evidence a sex
				offender's duty to register and final classification level.
Jurisdiction
. The Board has
				jurisdiction over a person who resides, has secondary addresses, works or
				attends an institution of higher learning in the Commonwealth and who has been
				convicted of a sex offense or who has been adjudicated as a youthful offender
				or as a delinquent juvenile by reason of a sex offense or a person released
				from incarceration or parole or probation supervision or custody with the
				department of youth services for such a conviction or adjudication or a person
				who has been adjudicated a sexually dangerous person under M.G.L. c. 123A,
				§ 14 as in force at the time of adjudication, or a person released from
				civil commitment pursuant to M.G.L. c, 123A, § 9, whichever last occurs,
				on or after August 1, 1981.
Juvenile
. An individual younger than
				18 years old at the time of committing a sex offense. If the sex offender is a
				juvenile, all written notifications from the Board shall also be mailed to:
(a) his or her legal guardian;
(b) the Department of Children and Families or the Department
				of Youth Services if the Juvenile is receiving services from, or subject to
				proceedings initiated by, one or more of these agencies; and
(c) his or her most recent attorney of record.
Level 1 Offender
. The designation
				given to a sex offender when it has been determined his or her risk of
				reoffense is low and the degree of dangerousness posed to the public is not
				such that a public safety interest is served by public access to information
				pertaining to the offender.
Level 2 Offender
. The designation
				given to a sex offender when it has been determined his or her risk of
				reoffense is moderate and the degree of dangerousness posed to the public is
				such that a public safety interest is served by public access to sex offender
				registry information.
Level 3 Offender
. The designation
				given to a sex offender when it has been determined his or her risk of
				reoffense is high and the degree of dangerousness posed to the public is such
				that a substantial public safety interest is served by active dissemination
				(community notification) of sex offender registry information.
Party
. The sex offender and the Sex
				Offender Registry Board. At the hearing, the sex offender may represent himself
				or herself or have an authorized representative. For representation at hearing
see
803 CMR
				1.09. The Board may have a representative
				responsible for presenting evidence and argument regarding the offender at any
				hearing held under
				803 CMR 1.00. The Sex Offender
				Registry Board shall be identified by its name and not by its individual
				representatives' names.
Receipt
. The delivery of mail. There
				shall be a rebuttable presumption that any notice or letter mailed by the Sex
				Offender Registry Board to the offender at the address(es) at which he or she
				is currently registered was received by the offender within three days of
				mailing.
Recommendation
. The Board's
				recommended classification, also referred to as preliminary classification
				level, made pursuant to the policies, procedures, protocols, and objective
				standards set forth in M.G.L. c. 6, § 178K(1)(a) through (l) and explained
				in
				803 CMR 1.33 to base
				its recommended classifications. The Board shall make its policies, procedures,
				protocols, and objective standards for the recommendation process generally
				available and available upon request.
School
. Any public or private
				educational institution, including any secondary school, trade, vocational or
				professional institution, or a post-secondary institution of higher
				learning.
Second and Subsequent Adjudication or Conviction
				for Open and Gross Lewdness and Lascivious Behavior
. The later of
				two or more separate convictions pursuant to M.G.L. c. 272, § 16. Multiple
				convictions resulting from a single act shall be treated as a single
				conviction, but arraignments occurring on the same date and resulting in
				multiple convictions shall be presumed to be the result of separate acts and
				treated as separate convictions.
Sex Offender Number (SON)
. The unique
				identification number assigned to every sex offender by the Sex Offender
				Registry Board. The offender must include his or her SON on all written
				communications with the Sex Offender Registry Board.
Sex Offender Registry
. The central
				computerized database of all sex offenders required to register pursuant to
				M.G.L. c. 6, §§ 178C through 178Q.
Sex Offender Registry Board (Board or
				SORB)
. The administrative agency of the Commonwealth consisting of
				the members, as set forth in M.G.L. c. 6, § 178K, and its staff.
Student
. Any person who is enrolled on
				a full-time or part-time basis, in any school.