The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Patricia D. Jehlen

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
                Court assembled:

                The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the passage of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to sending notice of criminal justice proceedings to victims .

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PETITION OF:

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. S00930 OF 2007-2008.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand and Nine

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An Act relative to sending notice of criminal justice proceedings to victims .

                Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Section 1.         Section 3 of Chapter 258B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following new subsection after subsection (b) and renumbering the remainder of the subsections: -

(c) for victims, to be notified by the prosecutor, in a timely manner, of all court proceedings related to the offense committed against the victim, by certified mail sent to the last known address of the victim as well as by a telephone call. In order to properly notify victims, a form shall be provided to them by the prosecutor for the purpose of maintaining a current telephone number and address. The victim or witness shall thereafter maintain with the prosecutor a current telephone number and address;