In Massachusetts, the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) regulations are complicated and cumbersome. The Department of Criminal Justice Information Service solicited comments on proposed amendments to the CORI rules.  Yet, the attempts to reform the rules have failed in the proposed rules.

The CORI revisions were driven by Executive Order 562 which, by its very title, is intended to “reduce unnecessary regulatory burden[s].” Yet, in several key areas, like those noted in CDIA’s comment to the Department, the Department has not made enough changes to CORI rules that would meet the Executive Order’s obligations. The Executive Order requires, among other things, that “the costs of the regulation do not exceed the benefits that would result from the regulation”, that “the regulation does not exceed federal…”, that “less restrictive and intrusive alternatives have been considered and found less desirable based on a sound evaluation of the alternatives”, and that “the regulation does not unduly and adversely affect Massachusetts citizens and customers of the Commonwealth, or the competitive environment in Massachusetts”. The proposed change to CORI do meet these key markers laid out by the Executive Order.