The bill amends Massachusetts General Laws, specifically Chapter 126, Section 40, to enhance the reporting requirements for the population of jails and houses of correction. It introduces a new overview section for the Quarterly Population Report for individual Massachusetts Sheriffs' Offices, which mandates the collection and reporting of specific data points for each person committed to a jail or house of correction. These data points include probation central file number, state identification number, race and ethnicity, offense-based tracking number, type of release, type of admission, length of sentence, jail credit from pretrial incarceration, earned time, program participation and outcome, case disposition, and bail amount or reason if no bail is set. The reports must be aggregated quarterly and submitted to various public safety officials without identifying information about individual inmates.

Additionally, the bill includes a disclaimer regarding the limitations of the data collected, noting that certain required data points, such as case disposition and bail information, are not owned by the Sheriffs' Offices and originate from the Trial Court. The Massachusetts Sheriffs Association is working with the Trial Court and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to refine these metrics for future reporting. The bill aims to improve transparency and accountability in the reporting of jail populations and their characteristics.