New Daily DOC Reporting
On November 9, in response to multiple new outbreaks, the
Department of Correction agreed to return to daily reporting from its facilities.
(Recall that counties and the DOC have been reporting weekly since an
SJC order
on June 23.)
As such, starting November 11, DOC data on this site will be updated on a
daily rather than weekly basis (excluding weekends and holidays). County
data will still update weekly, published by Thursday mornings.
Explore Massachusetts Prisons and Jails' Response to COVID-19
View plots in the different tabs to track testing, positive
cases, and releases in prisons and jail during the COVID-19
pandemic, as documented in reports made by Massachusetts
prisons and jails to the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC).
About the Data
The data displayed here are compiled from information supplied by
county sheriffs and the Massachusetts Department of Correction (DOC) in
Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) v. Chief Justice of the Trial Court, SJC-12926,
a case brought by the Committee for Public Counsel Services
(the Massachusetts public defenders), the Massachusetts
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the ACLU of
Massachusetts. This case seeks releases of incarcerated people
to protect them, correctional staffs, and the public from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following an
opinion
by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in this case on
April 3, 2020, sheriffs and the DOC have been required to
provide daily reports that shed light on the COVID-19 situation
inside Massachusetts prisons, jails, and houses of correction.
Learn more about the history, details, and outcomes of the
case at the ACLU of Massachusetts website:
Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) v. Chief Justice of the Trial Court.
The data sourced for all visualizations on this site are available for download
here.
Source Code
Interested programmers can view the source code for this app, written in R, on
GitHub.
Disclaimer
All data and analysis presented here is subject to change
based on updates and amendments received from the counties
and the state. For more resources on dealing with inconsistencies
in these data, visit our page on
external resources.
Dates & Locations of COVID Deaths
Though the June 23 amendment requires reporting of deaths going forward,
it did not require retroactive reporting of the time and place of COVID-19
related deaths of incarcerated folks in Massachusetts. The below list reflects
the ACLU-MA's best recreation of when and where these deaths occurred, as
reported in the media.
-
April 2, 2020 - DOC - Massachusetts Treatment Center (MTC)
-
April 3, 2020 - DOC - Massachusetts Treatment Center (MTC)
-
April 4, 2020 - DOC - Massachusetts Treatment Center (MTC)
-
April ~13, 2020 - DOC - Massachusetts Treatment Center (MTC)
-
April 16, 2020 - DOC - MCI – Shirley
- April ~22, 2020 - DOC - Massachusetts Treatment Center (MTC)
-
April 22, 2020 - DOC - MCI – Shirley
-
April 30, 2020 - Essex County - Middleton House of Correction (HOC)
-
May 15, 2020 - DOC - MCI – Shirley
-
July 2, 2020 - Norfolk County Jail
Please note that potentially COVID-19-related
deaths of previous inmates
which occurred outside of a correctional facility are not reported here.
Inconsistencies in Reporting
This site exists as a resource to document data which Massachusets
prisons, jails, and houses of corrections report to the SJC
amidst the COVID-19 crisis.
However, it became evident in the first few days of reports that
there were inconsistencies in data collection from the various
institutions.
Recommended Resources
To gain additional perspectives on how the COVID-19 crisis is
affecting incarcerated people in Massachusetts, we recommend
the following resources:
Select population to plot.
Select up to three locations to plot versus time.
While DOC provides
total
population counts by facility, its reported numbers of pretrial, sentenced, and other populations are not broken down by facility. As a result, the pretrial, sentenced and other breakdowns under the "All" and "DOC Aggregate" selections below include DOC data in aggregate for all DOC facilities, but this information is not available for each individual DOC facility.
Only the following entities report "other" populations:
- DOC (in aggregate, not by individual facility): civil commitments
- Bristol: ICE detainees on-site
- Hampden: Section 35 civil commitments
- Plymouth: USMS, ICE, WMS, parole detainer, civil contempt
Select population to plot.
Select location to plot versus time.*
*The DOC only began reporting facility-level prisoner positives on April 13,
facility-level staff positives on April 15, and facility-level testing data on April 25.
County "staff" includes correctional officers, contractors, and other staff. DOC "staff" includes both DOC correctional officers and other non-DOC staff.
Please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Reports of COVID-19 prisoner deaths pursuant to SJC 12926
Dates & Locations of COVID-19 Deaths
- Before June 23: 10 deaths:
- [DOC] MTC - 5 deaths
- [DOC] MCI-Shirley - 3 deaths
- Essex - 1 deaths
- Norfolk - 1 deaths
For information regarding the dates and locations of deaths before
June 23, please visit our
external resources page.
Reports of COVID-19 prisoner deaths in DOC facilities pursuant to SJC 12926
Dates & Locations of DOC COVID-19 Deaths
- Before June 23: 8 deaths:
- MTC - 5 deaths
- MCI-Shirley - 3 deaths
For information regarding the dates and locations of deaths before
June 23, please visit our
external resources page.
Select kind of prisoner:
Exact number of releases per county annotated in
"Pre-Trial", "Sentenced", "Home Confinements", and "Total" plots.
Prisoners released pursuant to SJC 12926
Please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Select up to three locations to plot versus time.
Please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Select kind of individual:
Exact number of tests per county annotated in "Prisoners",
"Staff", and "Total" plots.
County "staff" includes correctional officers, contractors, and other staff. DOC "staff" testing data includes only DOC correctional officers, not other non-DOC staff.
Reports of
tested for COVID-19 pursuant to SJC 12926
Please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Select population to plot.
Select up to three locations to plot versus time.
County "staff" includes correctional officers, contractors, and other staff. DOC "staff" testing data includes only DOC correctional officers, not other non-DOC staff.
Please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Select kind of individual:
Exact number of positive tests per county annotated in
"Prisoners", "Staff", and "Total" plots.
County "staff" includes correctional officers, contractors, and other staff. DOC "staff" includes both DOC correctional officers and other non-DOC staff.
Reports of
tested
positive
for COVID-19 pursuant to SJC 12926
Please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Select population to plot.
Select up to three locations to plot versus time.
County "staff" includes correctional officers, contractors, and other staff. DOC "staff" includes both DOC correctional officers and other non-DOC staff.
Please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Select kind of individual:
Exact number of tests per county annotated in "Prisoners",
"Staff", and "Total" plots. Note that the DOC is not
reporting active staff cases. County "staff" includes correctional officers, contractors, and other staff.
Reports of
currently infected with COVID-19, pursuant to SJC 12926
Showing active cases as reported on
(DOC),
(counties)
Select population to plot.
Select up to three locations to plot versus time.
Note that the DOC is not reporting active staff cases. County "staff" includes correctional officers, contractors, and other staff.
Reports of prisoners released at individual DOC facilities pursuant to SJC 12926
*The DOC only began reporting facility-level releases on April 29.
See the Counties + DOC: Total Releases page for longer-term totals.
Please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Select up to three facilities to plot versus time.*
*The DOC only began reporting facility-level releases on April 29.
See the Counties + DOC: Releases Over Time page for longer-term totals.
**DOC Total reflects the cumulative count of prisoner releases submitted in DOC-wide
reports going back to March 27.
Please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Select kind of individual:
Exact number of tests per facility annotated in
"Prisoners", "Staff", and "Total" plots.
DOC "staff" testing data includes only DOC correctional officers, not other non-DOC staff.
Reports of
tested for COVID-19 at individual DOC facilities pursuant to SJC 12926
*The DOC only began reporting facility-level testing data for prisoners and
DOC staff on April 25. Reports include only tests of DOC correctional officers, not for other staff.
See the Total Tests page for longer-term totals.
Please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Select population to plot.
Select up to three facilities to plot versus time.*
*The DOC only began reporting facility-level testing data for prisoners and
DOC staff on April 25. Reports include only tests of DOC
correctional officers, not for other staff.
See the Counties + DOC Tests Over Time page for longer-term DOC tracking
**DOC Total reflects DOC-wide reports, and might undercount
cases as compared to the facility total due to the DOC-wide data reporting
active, rather than total, cases.
DOC "staff" testing data includes only DOC correctional officers, not other non-DOC staff.
Please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Select kind of individual:
Exact number of positive tests per facility annotated in
"Prisoners", "Staff", and "Total" plots.
DOC "staff" includes both DOC correctional officers and other non-DOC staff.
Reports of
tested
positive
for COVID-19 at individual DOC facilities pursuant to SJC 12926
*The DOC only began reporting facility-level prisoner data on April 13,
facility-level DOC staff data on April 15, and facility-level
non-DOC "other" staff data on November 11.
See the Total Positive Tests page for longer-term totals.
Please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Select population to plot.
Select up to three facilities to plot versus time.*
*The DOC only began reporting facility-level prisoner data on April 13,
facility-level DOC staff data on April 15, and facility-level non-DOC staff data on November 11.
See the Counties + DOC Positive Tests Over Time page for longer-term DOC tracking
**DOC Total reflects DOC-wide reports, and might undercount
cases as compared to the facility total due to the DOC-wide data reporting
active, rather than total, cases.
DOC "staff" includes both DOC correctional officers and other non-DOC staff.
Please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Reports of DOC prisoners currently infected with COVID-19, pursuant to SJC 12926
Showing active DOC cases as reported on
The DOC does not report active staff cases.
Select up to three locations to plot versus time.
The DOC does not report active staff cases.
Select kind of individual:
Exact number of tests per facility annotated in
"Prisoners", "Staff", and "Total" plots.
County "staff" includes correctional officers, contractors, and other staff.
Reports of
tested for COVID-19 at individual county facilities pursuant to SJC 12926
*Only some counties began reporting facility-level testing data on May 8.
See the Counties + DOC Aggregates: Total Tests page for longer-term totals.
Please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Select population to plot.
Select up to three facilities to plot versus time.*
*Only some counties began reporting facility-level testing data on May 8.
See the Counties + DOC Aggregates: Total Tests page for longer-term totals.
County "staff" includes correctional officers, contractors, and other staff.
Please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Select kind of individual:
Exact number of positive tests per facility annotated in
"Prisoners", "Staff", and "Total" plots.
County "staff" includes correctional officers, contractors, and other staff.
Reports of
tested
positive
for COVID-19 at individual county facilities pursuant to SJC 12926
*Only some counties began reporting facility-level positive data on May 8.
See the Counties + DOC Aggregates: Total Positive Tests page for longer-term totals.
Please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Select population to plot.
Select up to three facilities to plot versus time.*
*Only some counties began reporting facility-level positive data on May 8.
See the Counties + DOC Aggregates: Total Positive Tests page for longer-term totals.
County "staff" includes correctional officers, contractors, and other staff.
Please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Select kind of individual:
Exact number of tests per facility annotated in
"Prisoner", "Staff", and "Total" plots. Essex County
does not report staff positives by facility.
County "staff" includes correctional officers, contractors, and other staff.
Showing active cases as reported on
Select population to plot.
Select up to three locations to plot versus time.
Essex County does not report staff positives by facility.
County "staff" includes correctional officers, contractors, and other staff.
All maps reflect data from county jails and HOCs alone,
as the Massachusutts DOC has only been reporting
facility-level data since April 25th.
Maps of tests and positive cases include both prisoner and staff data.
Please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Please be aware that the data below is entered in a
non-cumulative manner. Values in each row reflect not updated tallies of
cases, tests, or releases on the noted day, but rather the number of
new
cases, tests, or releases in a 24-hour period.
Note: Empty cells denote that the given county
did not report that value, while cells with value 0 mean 0 was reported.
Additionally, please note that prisoner deaths due to COVID-19 are not included in these data.
Data analysts at the ACLU of Massachusetts compile the daily
reports recieved from the counties and DOC into a single
spreadsheet. This spreadsheet is what we source for all
visualizations on this site.
Current file size:
entries
The accumulated database is available for download here:
Download XLSX