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CORI LAW

The Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (“DCJIS”) is the state agency that maintains criminal records.  In Massachusetts, that record is commonly referred to as a “CORI,” which is the acronym for Criminal Offender Record Information.  For the statutory definition, click here.

If your CORI report has mistakes, the DCJIS cannot make the corrections.  This is because the DCJIS is only responsible for maintaining and disseminating CORI reports.  The information in the CORI database, however, is actually created by the Office of the Commissioner of Probation (“OCP”).  The OCP creates this information as part of its Criminal Activity Record Information (“CARI”) database.  CARI is the Probation Central File (“PCF”).  The PCF contains all CORI, youthful offender information, juvenile records, and civil restraining order information.  So if you find mistakes on your CORI report, you must contact the OCP directly in order to correct those mistakes.

What will my employer see on my background check?

Employers do not have access to CARI reports.  With authorization,  an employer can obtain your CORI report.  The information contained in your CORI report will depend on the identity of the requester.  There are three general categories of CORI access.  They are “Open,” “Standard,” and “Required.”  There are four separate and distinct categories of access within the Required category.  The sub-categories are “Required 1,” “Required 2,” “Required 3,” and “Required 4.”

If there is a law that requires an employer to obtain a CORI report for all prospective employees, then that employer will fall in the Required category.  This means it would be against the law for that employer to ire someone without doing a CORI check.  Employers with Required 4 access receive the greatest amount of information.

What information is available in each category?

OPEN

(1) Convictions for murder, manslaughter, or sex offenses, regardless of the age of the offense.  

(2) Misdemeanor convictions when the disposition/incarceration release date occurred less than one year prior to the CORI request date.  

(3) Felony convictions when the disposition/incarceration release date occurred less than two years prior to the CORI request date.  

(4) Felony convictions that are punishable by five or more years in state prison (but only available for 10 years following the disposition/incarceration release date, whichever is later).

STANDARD

(1) Convictions for murder, manslaughter, or sex offenses, regardless of the age of the offense.  

(2) Misdemeanor convictions when the disposition/incarceration release date occurred less than one year prior to the CORI request date.  

(3) Felony convictions when the disposition/incarceration release date occurred less than two years prior to the CORI request date.  

(4) Felony convictions that are punishable by five or more years in state prison (but only available for 10 years following the disposition/incarceration release date, whichever is later).  Availability of felony conviction during this time period will trigger the release of all convictions.  

(5) All pending criminal offenses.

REQUIRED 1

(1) All adult convictions.  

(2) All pending offenses.

REQUIRED 2

(1) All adult convictions.  

(2) All pending offenses.  

(3) All adult non-convictions.

REQUIRED 3

(1) All adult convictions.  

(2) All pending offenses.  

(3) All adult non-convictions.  

(4) All juvenile offender convictions.  

(5) All juvenile offender non-convictions.

REQUIRED 4

(1) All adult convictions.  

(2) All pending offenses.  

(3) All adult non-convictions.  

(4) All juvenile offender convictions.  

(5) All juvenile offender non-convictions.  

(6) All sealed-case indicators.

Getting your CORI

If you want to obtain your CORI report, then you must fill out an “Adult Personal Criminal Record Request Form.”  You can click here to get this form from the Commonwealth’s website.  Getting your CORI report requires filing the of this form, along with a $25.00 fee.  If you cannot afford the fee, you can submit an “Affidavit of Indigency” with your request.  That form can also be found at the link above.

You can also request your CORI report online, using the iCORI service provided by the DCJIS.  The iCORI service provides for the convenient submission of CORI requests.  Same-day turnaround is fairly normal.  Click here to set up your iCORI account and submit your CORI request today.

 

Source text:

Massachusetts Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) Law (MCLE, Inc. 2012)