By Bob Katzen

Another bill before the Judiciary Committee would give local law enforcement agencies the authority to obtain criminal offender record information (CORI), including sealed records, for people who volunteer at an organization primarily engaged in providing activities or programs to children 18 years of age or younger.

“Massachusetts General Law requires all organizations serving children under age 18 to obtain criminal offender record information before accepting any person as a volunteer,” said sponsor Rep. David Linsky (D-Natick). “However, many youth athletic leagues operate on limited budgets and struggle to meet the expenses associated with individually CORI checking every prospective volunteer. This legislation would allow local police departments to help ease the financial burden many organizations face when conducting these costly background checks. [This] is a common-sense bill that upholds the public interest of protecting children from dangerous criminals at no additional expense to taxpayers.”