Middlesex County, MA Juvenile Court Complaints Records
| Submitted | Feb. 12, 2024 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Henry Price
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:
1. Number of juvenile complaints.
2. Number of complaints that DA requested an arraignment
3. Number of complaints that the DA requested diversion
4. Number of diverted complaints that resulted in a later arraignment.
5. Number of diverted complaints but later arraigned because the juvenile defendant received a subsequent complaint.
5. Number of diverted complaints but later arraigned because the juvenile defendant failed to complete diversion conditions.
6. Number of formal diversion.
7. Number of informal diversion.
I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, and is not made for commercial usage.
I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Henry Price
From: Middlesex County District Attorney's Office
Good Morning Mr. Price,
I am writing to confirm receipt of your below referenced records request of this Office on February 12, 2024, made pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, G.L. c. 66, s. 10 et seq., seeking various categories of information concerning juvenile complaints and diversion.
I am also writing to seek clarification on parts of your request so that we might better assist you and provide our response.
1. What is the timeframe for the information you are requesting? A specific timeframe (e.g., last calendar year, 2018-2020, etc.) would enable us to provide responsive information that we may have more efficiently.
2. For category 2 of your request, I would like to clarify that the District Attorney's Office does not "request" an arraignment of the court but simply arraigns a case where appropriate. Similarly, for category 3, the DA's office do not "request" diversion in a case (more on this below).
3. For the categories of your request concerning diversion, I would like to clarify that there are two broad types of diversion you may be inquiring about: (1) cases where a complaint has issued against a juvenile and, upon request of the child, the juvenile court decides on the eligibility of a child for diversion that is overseen by the court; and (2) cases where the DA's office makes its own decision to divert a case prior to arraignment under our own Juvenile and Young Adult Diversion Program. Links to the statute that governs these two types of diversion is below, as is a link to our website with information about our diversion programs. Could you please clarify which type of diversion your request concerns?
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXVII/Chapter119/Section54A
https://www.middlesexda.com/beyond-courtroom/pages/juvenile-and-young-adult-diversion-programs
4. Lastly, it is unclear what you mean by the distinction "formal/informal" diversion in categories 6 & 7 of your request. Our Office and the juvenile courts do not use this terminology. Could you please clarify the kind of information you are seeking for those categories?
Thank You,
Daniel
Daniel M. DeBlander
Assistant District Attorney, Appeals & Training Bureau
Middlesex District Attorney's Office
15 Commonwealth Avenue
Woburn, MA 01801
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From: Middlesex County District Attorney's Office
Good Morning Mr. Price,
I am writing to provide an update and partial response response the below referenced public records request.
Please be advised that our Office is working to compile data concerning our juvenile diversion programs that may be responsive to certain categories of your request, specifically categories 4 and the two categories numbered 5 concerning the disposition or outcome of certain cases of diversion. We will require further time to compile this data and are requesting an extension of time to do so.
1.
As concerns category one of your request, we do not have any records that reflect the total number of arraignments in juvenile court without time limit. A record holder’s duty to provide information extends only to that information or records which exist and are in its custody. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26) (defining “public records” as those non-exempt materials made or received by a public employee); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.03 (defining “custodian” as the public employee with routine access to or control of public records). What we can provide you with are spreadsheets containing data from our DAMION case management system that includes information for cases out of the various Juvenile Courts in Middlesex County. That information is available on our website here: https://www.middlesexda.com/public-information/pages/prosecution-data-and-statistics
2.
As explained below, our Office does not "request" arraignments or diversion. As such, we do not have any records that would be responsive to categories 2 and 3 of your request.
3.
As explained below, our Office and the Juvenile Courts do not use language distinguishing diversion as "formal" or "informal." As such, we do not have any information or records responsive to categories 6 and 7 of your request.
The law requires we advise that if you wish to challenge any aspect of this response, you may appeal to the Supervisor of Public Records following the procedure set forth in 950 C.M.R. 32.08, a copy of which can be found online at http://www.mass.gov/courts/case-legal-res/law-lib/laws-by-source/cmr/. You may also file a civil action in Superior Court in accordance with M.G.L. c. 66, § 10A.
I will follow up with any update or with a final response and formal letter once we are able to compile and provide data concerning our diversion programs.
Sincerely,
Daniel M. DeBlander
Assistant District Attorney, Appeals & Training Bureau
Middlesex District Attorney’s Office
15 Commonwealth Avenue
Woburn, MA 01801
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