Section 49. The commissioner of correction, or the administrator of a county correctional facility, subject to rules and regulations established in accordance with the provisions of this section, may permit an inmate who has served such a portion of his sentence or sentences that he would be eligible for parole within eighteen months to participate in education, training, or employment programs established under section forty-eight outside a correctional facility; provided that no committed offender who is serving a life sentence or a sentence in a state or county correctional facility for violation of section thirteen, 14, 15, 15A, 15B, 16, 17, 18, 18A, 19, 20, 21, 24B, 25, or section 26 of chapter 265, or section 17, 34, or 35, of chapter two hundred and seventy-two, or for an attempt to commit any crime referred to in said sections shall be eligible to participate in education, training or employment programs outside a correctional facility, as established under section forty-eight, except on the recommendation of the superintendent of the correctional facility or superintendent of a county correctional facility on behalf of a particular committed offender and upon the approval of the commissioner or the administrator of a county correctional facility. No sex offender in the custody of the department of correction shall be eligible to participate in any program outside a correctional facility established under section forty-eight unless he has completed the department's voluntary sex offender treatment program. The voluntary sex offender treatment program shall be administered pursuant to the rules and regulations of the department. No sex offender, or sexually dangerous person as defined in section 1 of chapter 123A, or any person who commits a sexual offense as defined in said section 1, or any person who violates section 24B of chapter 265 shall be eligible for any program outside a correctional facility authorized under section 48 or any other work release program authorized by law.
In the case of a committed offender who participates in any program outside a correctional facility established under section forty-eight, the time spent in such participation shall be credited toward the serving of his sentence in the same manner as though he had served such time within the facility. A committed offender enrolled in any such program shall remain subject to the rules and regulations of the correctional facility and shall be under the direction, control and supervision of the officers thereof during the period of his participation in the program. The commissioner or such administrator shall make and promulgate rules and regulations regarding programs established under section forty-eight outside correctional facilities. Such rules and regulations shall include provisions for reasonable periods of confinement to particular correctional facilities before a committed offender may be permitted to participate in such programs and provisions for feeding, housing and supervising participants in such programs in such manner as will be calculated to maintain morale and prevent the introduction of contraband to the facility.
If any inmate who participates in any program outside a correctional facility established under the provisions of section forty-eight leaves his place of employment, or having been ordered by the commissioner or such administrator to return to the correctional facility, neglects or refuses to do so, said inmate shall be held to have escaped from said prison or institution and shall, upon conviction of such escape, be sentenced, if the escape was from a state correctional facility, to a state correctional facility for a term of not less than three nor more than five years, and all deductions from the sentence or sentences he was serving at the time of such escape, authorized by section one hundred and twenty-nine, shall be forfeited, but said inmate shall be entitled to a deduction of sentence on any sentence imposed for said escape and if the escape was from a county correctional facility, to a county correctional facility for a term not to exceed one year or the term for which he was originally sentenced, whichever is the lesser.
Committed offenders who are gainfully employed outside a correctional facility may be so employed by an agency of the commonwealth other than the department of correction or by public or private employers. The rates of pay and other conditions of employment for a committed offender so employed shall be the same as those paid or required in the locality in which the work is performed provided that no committed offender employed by an agency of the commonwealth shall be subject to sections nine A or nine B of chapter thirty, or chapter thirty-one, and in no case shall such rates of pay be less than those paid by his employer to other employees doing similar work. No committed offender shall be so employed at a place where there exists any strike or work stoppage arising from a labor dispute of any kind.
Structure Massachusetts General Laws
Part I - Administration of the Government
Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons
Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons
Section 1a - County Correctional Facilities; Minimum Standards; Financial or Other Assistance
Section 2 - Duty of Superintendents to Keep Records
Section 5 - Calendar of Prisoners; Contents
Section 6 - Service of Process in Penal or Reformatory Institutions
Section 7 - Warrants, Mittimuses and Processes; Contents; Filing
Section 8 - Prison Books; Contents; Accessibility
Section 9 - Invoice Books; Contents
Section 10 - Annual Report to Commissioner of Correction
Section 12 - Removal of Unfaithful or Incompetent Officers or Employees
Section 13 - Removal of Incompetent Jailers or Keepers of Houses of Correction
Section 14 - Removal of Officers Using Intoxicating Liquor to Excess
Section 16a - Reimbursement of Medical Expenses by Persons Incarcerated in Pre-Release Facilities
Section 17 - Specifications Governing Physical Examinations; Records; Statements
Section 18 - Failure to Comply With Secs. 16 and 17; Penalty
Section 19 - Physical Training of Prisoners; Director
Section 20 - Reception Center; Classification of Prisoners; Approval
Section 20a - Prisoner Classification Board
Section 21 - Classification of Prisoners in Jails and Houses of Correction; Approval
Section 22 - Separation of Prisoners
Section 23 - Identification of Prisoners
Section 25 - Fugitives From Justice
Section 27 - District Attorney to Furnish Criminal History
Section 28 - Descriptions, Fingerprints and Criminal History; Records
Section 29 - Publication of Records; Exhibition of Records
Section 30 - Compensation to Officers; Reimbursement
Section 32 - Treatment of Prisoners
Section 33 - Maintenance of Order in Institutions; Enforcement of Obedience
Section 36 - Visits to Jails or Correctional Institutions; Permission
Section 36a - Conferences With Attorneys
Section 36b - Conferences With Clergy Members
Section 36c - In-Person Visitation of Inmates
Section 37 - Record of Visitors
Section 38a - Holding Officers and Employees as Hostages
Section 38b - Assaults Upon Guards; Bodily Substances; Penalty
Section 38c - Felonies in Correctional Institutions; Notice to District Attorney
Section 38e - Inmate Complaints; Grievance System; Grievance Resolution
Section 38h - Judicial Review of Final Decision on Grievance
Section 39b - Restrictive Housing; Placement Reviews
Section 39e - Restrictive Housing; Access to Vocational, Educational and Rehabilitative Programs
Section 39g - Restrictive Housing; Restrictive Housing Oversight Committee
Section 39h - Restrictive Housing; Promulgation of Regulations Implementing Secs. 39 to 39h
Section 48a - System of Compensation; Graduated Scale; Credits; Appropriations
Section 49 - Participation of Inmates in Education, Training and Employment Programs Outside Correctional Facilities; Eligibility; Sentence Credit; Rules and Regulations; Escape, Punishment; Public Employment; Labor Dispute Restriction
Section 52 - Supervisors and Instructors; Authority; Removal
Section 53 - Production of Articles by Prisoners
Section 55 - List of Styles, Designs and Qualities of Articles; Arbitration of Differences
Section 56 - Annual Estimates of Articles and Materials Needed in Public Offices
Section 58 - Prices of Prison-Made Articles
Section 60 - Noncompliance With Sections Relative to Purchase of Articles
Section 61 - Establishment of Industries
Section 66 - Purchase of Tools and Materials for Correctional Institutions; Approval
Section 66a - Purchase of Tools and Materials for Jails and Houses of Correction; Approval
Section 67 - Sale of Prison-Made Goods; Proceeds
Section 68 - Appointment of Selling Agents; Removal
Section 69 - Report Relative to Labor of Prisoners
Section 71 - Receipts From Sale of Products, Services, or Labor of Committed Offenders; Disposition
Section 72 - Payment of Salaries and Bills for Tools, Machinery and Materials; Schedules
Section 73 - Suits on Contracts by and Against Principal Officers; Arbitration
Section 83 - Outdoor Labor of Inmates
Section 83a - Establishment of Camp for Male Prisoners for Reforestation; Approval; Hearing.
Section 83b - Removal of Prisoners to Camp; Permit to Be at Liberty; Escape
Section 83c - Escapes From Prison Camp
Section 83d - Director of Prison Camps; Offices and Positions; Appointments; Duties
Section 84 - Purchases or Lease of Land for Improvement by Prison Labor; Payment to County
Section 86f - Work Release Programs
Section 86g - Work Release Programs; Suffolk County
Section 86h - Public Speaking Engagements; Inmates of State Correctional Facilities
Section 86i - Public Speaking Engagements; Inmates of County Correctional Facilities
Section 87 - Correspondence of Inmates
Section 88 - Religious Services
Section 89 - Maintenance of Sabbath Schools and Schools for Instruction
Section 90 - Appropriations for Religious Instruction and Services
Section 90a - Temporary Release of Committed Offenders
Section 92 - Instruction in Jails and Houses of Correction
Section 92a - General Education Development Tests; Age Requirement; No Fee
Section 93 - Appropriations for Moral and Religious Instruction in Jails and Houses of Correction
Section 94 - Light for Reading
Section 96a - Disposition of Unclaimed Money of Former Prisoners; Claim
Section 96b - Disposition of Unclaimed Property of Former Prisoners; Sale; Proceeds
Section 97 - Transfers From and to Correctional Institutions; Approval
Section 97a - Transfer of State Prisoners to Federal Institutions; Reciprocal Agreements
Section 97b - Treaties; Transfer of Prisoners to Other Countries
Section 111a - Removal of Defective Delinquents
Section 113 - Removal of Prisoners Convicted and Sentenced by United States Court
Section 115 - Removal of Prisoners From One Jail to Another by Sheriff
Section 116 - Application of Original Sentence of Prisoner Removed or Returned
Section 117a - Temporary Placement of Prisoners in Hospital or Medical Facility
Section 118 - Pregnant and Postpartum Inmates; Standards of Care; Use of Restraints
Section 119 - Hospital Confinement as Term of Sentence
Section 120 - Order of Removal; Transfer of Mittimuses and Processes With Prisoner
Section 121 - Execution of Order of Removal
Section 123 - Expense of Removal
Section 125 - Expense of Support of Prisoner Transferred From One County to Another
Section 127 - Special State Police Officers; Powers and Duties
Section 128 - Issuance of Parole Permits
Section 129b - Confinement While Awaiting Trial; Reduction of Sentence
Section 129c - Confinement in Prison Camp; Deduction of Sentence for Good Conduct
Section 130a - Issuance of Certificate of Termination of Sentence
Section 131 - Giving of Parolee Written Copy of Terms and Conditions of Parole
Section 131a - Notice to State and Local Police of Terms and Conditions of Parole Permits
Section 133 - Granting of Parole Permits by Board; Eligibility and Requisites
Section 133c - Representation of Deceased Victims at Hearing by Family Members
Section 133d - Community Parole Supervision for Life
Section 133d1/2 - Global Positioning System Device to Be Worn by Certain Sex Offender Parolees
Section 142 - Permits to Be at Liberty or Discharge of Pregnant Females
Section 143 - Discharge of Common Nightwalker From House of Correction
Section 144 - Discharge of Prisoner Committed for Non-Payment of Fine
Section 145 - Confinement of Persons for Non-Payment of Money Owed
Section 146 - Report of Confinement of Poor Prisoners; Discharge; Guardianship
Section 148 - Revocation of Permit to Be at Liberty
Section 149a - Temporary Custody of Parolees; Warrant
Section 150 - Expiration of Term on Saturday, Sunday or Legal Holiday
Section 151a - Compacts With Other States Relative to the Supervision of Adult Offenders; Purpose
Section 151e - Interstate Commission; Powers and Duties
Section 151g - Actions Taken by Interstate Commission; Meetings; Voting; Records
Section 151h - Rulemaking; Authority and Procedure
Section 151i - Enforcement; Dispute Resolution
Section 151j - Payment of Expenses; Annual Assessment
Section 151l - Withdrawal by Compacting State; Default on Obligation or Responsibility Under Compact
Section 151m - Severability; Construction
Section 153 - Notification to Attorney General of Petition for Pardon of State Prisoner
Section 154 - Parole Board as Advisory Board of Pardons; Powers and Duties
Section 155 - Violation of Pardon; Arrest; Notice
Section 156 - Confinement for Unexpired Term; Computation of Confinement; Discharge
Section 157 - Execution of Warrant of Pardon; Return
Section 158 - Parole Board Agents; Duties
Section 160 - Expenditures for Assistance of Released Prisoners
Section 161 - Account of Expenditures by Parole Board Agents
Section 162 - Expenditure of Institutional Funds for Welfare of Released Prisoners
Section 162a - Arsonists or Violators of Secs. 102 to 102c of Chapter 266; Notice of Release
Section 163 - Annual Report of Agents for Aiding Discharged Prisoners
Section 164 - County Commissioners; Aid to Prisoners
Section 165 - Expenditures by Superintendent or Keeper of Jail in Aid of Discharged Prisoners
Section 168 - Violation of Sec. 166 or 167
Section 169 - Copy of Secs. 166 to 169; Printing on Petition for Pardon Forms