Why attend?

Practice before the Sex Offender Registry Board has been a rapidly evolving area of law in the last ten years. The Board was created by the amended Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, passed in 1999, to provide every former offender the right to a classification hearing prior to dissemination of the person's registration information. Zealous advocacy at these administrative hearings can result in lower classification levels with enormous benefits to those whose employment, housing, and personal privacy may be compromised by public dissemination.

This training program familiarizes attorneys with the Sex Offender Registry Board's regulations, 803 CMR 1:00, and the Administrative Procedures Act, M.G.L. Chapter 30A. Using a combination of lecture and small group work, attorneys will learn to try cases before the Sex Offender Registry Board, file complaints for judicial review in Superior Court, and preserve the record for appeal. Attorneys also learn about current "hot topics" in the field, including issues pending before the Supreme Judicial Court.

This program is required by CPCS to accept Sex Offender Registry Board trial and appellate assignments. Those who have completed the program in the past are not required to take it again.

Agenda

Written Materials

Attendees receive comprehensive and newly revised materials as handouts and on CD format to use as resources in their practice, including: a summary of the sex offender registration law and a summary of the law as it applies to juveniles; sex offender registry board forms, model motions for SORB practice, model complaint and motions for Superior Court 30A review; decisions, statutes, regulations, rules, and standing orders; charts and checklists; and cites to relevant caselaw, articles on the science of recidivism and additional articles.

How to become certified as a CPCS bar advocate