If you’re charged with a crime in Massachusetts, you can often seal your criminal record after your case is resolved.
The statute allowing you to seal your criminal record is M.G.L. c. 276, Section 100C.
When records are sealed, both the clerks office and the probation department are barred from disclosing “records of the proceedings in their files.” See Gravito v. Commonwealth, 496 Mass. 756 (2025).
Nevertheless, records sealed under Section 100C “do not disappear; they continue to exist but become unavailable to the public.” Doe v. Board of Registration in Med., 485 Mass. 554, 565 (2020).
So who can access your record?
Under M.G.L. c. 276, Section 100D, the police and the courts can still view your sealed record:
criminal justice agencies…shall have immediate access to, and be permitted to use as necessary for the performance of their criminal justice duties, any sealed criminal offender record information…and any sealed information concerning criminal offenses or acts of delinquency committed by any person before he attained the age of 17.
You should also realize that documents associated with your arrest may still be publicly available.
Section 100C does not require the sealing of all records relating to or giving rise to the charges. Arrest records need not be sealed under § 100C, nor do records of a follow-up interview which references the alleged conduct and investigation.
See Commonwealth v. A.B., 25-P-906.