Section 16. A prisoner of any penal institution including a prisoner who is held in custody for a court appearance or a person committed under the provisions of section five or six of chapter one hundred and twenty-three A to a treatment center or branch thereof described in sections two and four of said chapter one hundred and twenty-three A, or a prisoner committed to any jail or correctional institution under a lawful order of a court, who escapes or attempts to escape from any such institution or from land appurtenant thereto, or from any courthouse or from land appurtenant thereto or from the custody of any officer thereof while being conveyed to or from said institution, center or branch, or who knowingly disables or attempts to disable or defeat electronic monitoring of the prisoner, or fails to return from any temporary release from said institution under the provisions of section ninety A of chapter one hundred and twenty-seven, or fails to return from any temporary release from said institution, center or branch, may be pursued and recaptured and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than ten years or by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than two and one-half years.
Structure Massachusetts General Laws
Part IV - Crimes, Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases
Title I - Crimes and Punishments
Chapter 268 - Crimes Against Public Justice
Section 2 - Subornation of Perjury
Section 3 - Attempt to Procure Another to Commit Perjury
Section 5 - Presumption of Perjury; Papers, Books and Documents Detained for Prosecution
Section 6a - False Written Reports by Public Officers or Employees
Section 6b - Process Servers; False Statements; Penalty
Section 8b - Compulsion or Coercion to Refuse Appointment or Promotion
Section 9a - Public Officers or Employees; Solicitations Regarding Testimonial Dinners
Section 13a - Picketing Court, Judge, Juror, Witness or Court Officer
Section 13c - Disruption of Court Proceedings
Section 13e - Tampering With Record, Document or Other Object for Use in an Official Proceeding
Section 14 - Receipt of Gift by Juror, Arbitrator, Umpire, Referee, Master or Auditor
Section 14a - Juror Discharged From Employment
Section 14b - Witnesses in Criminal Actions; Discharge, Etc. From Employment
Section 15 - Aiding Escape From a Correctional Institution or Jail; Rescue
Section 15a - Escapes From Jail
Section 16 - Escape or Attempt to Escape, or Failure to Return From Temporary Release or Furlough
Section 17 - Aiding Escape From Officer or Person Having Custody
Section 18 - Jailer or Officer Suffering Prisoner to Escape
Section 19 - Suffering or Consenting to an Escape From a Penal Institution
Section 20 - Negligently Suffering Prisoner to Escape; Refusal to Receive Prisoner
Section 21 - Suffering Convict to Be at Large, Visited, Relieved or Comforted
Section 22 - Delay of Service of Warrants
Section 23 - Refusal or Delay to Execute Process Resulting in Escape
Section 24 - Neglect or Refusal to Assist Officer or Watchman
Section 25 - Refusal or Neglect to Obey Order of Justice of the Peace to Apprehend Offender
Section 26 - Delivering Alcoholic Beverages to Prisoners; Possession
Section 27 - Delivering Alcoholic Beverages to Patients of Public Institutions; Possession
Section 31 - Delivery or Receipt of Articles to or From Inmates
Section 32a - Interference With Fire Fighting Operations
Section 32b - Resisting Arrest
Section 33 - Falsely Assuming to Be Justice of the Peace or Other Officers
Section 33a - Engaging in Lead Paint Inspection Without a License
Section 34 - Disguises to Obstruct Execution of Law, Performance of Duties, or Exercise of Rights
Section 35 - Unauthorized Use of Town Seal; Making or Possessing Badge of Town Officer
Section 36 - Compounding or Concealing Felonies
Section 39 - Perjury; Statements Alleging Motor Vehicle Theft; Penalty; Subsequent Offenses