Criminal Records reform effective May 4th, 2012

The CORI reform legislation from 2010 has another key deadline next week. Major changes go into effect that will affect people with criminal records, and most importantly, employers. Jackson Lewis has written a 15 page summary that focuses on the changing requirements for employers. The requirements include written policies, when and how you can use a CORI record in hiring, obligations to job applicants and recordkeeping, dissemination and destruction requirements. Another review of the changes in a table form has been compiled by the ACLU of Massachusetts. After the changes go into effect, people with CORI records will no longer have to request their records be sealed. The law will now prohibit the dissemination for convictions after a specific waiting period. The department that oversees the criminal records is now called the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS). Their website has links for Implementing CORI Reform, proposed regulations, and forms, applications and model policies. The new system of criminal records, iCORI, won't be available until after May 7th, according to the department. All requests will be managed online. For more information about criminal records, don't forget our Law About Criminal Records page.