# Court Officers and POST certification



## AS4 (Apr 5, 2014)

Very random, but...

are there any court officers that are POST certified? I know before all the craziness they had police powers...any idea if they are on the endless list of places that got fucked by the commonwealth?


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## EJS12213 (Jul 13, 2008)

AS4 said:


> Very random, but...
> 
> are there any court officers that are POST certified? I know before all the craziness they had police powers...any idea if they are on the endless list of places that got fucked by the commonwealth?


Court Officers get their authority from the Judicial Branch and are not subject to POST.


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## EUPD377 (Jan 30, 2020)

Wait so do MA court officers have police powers then? I wasn’t aware when I lived up there, but didn’t have much interaction with them. It’s kind of a foreign concept to me since down south we have all deputies working the courts.


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## AS4 (Apr 5, 2014)

EJS12213 said:


> Court Officers get their authority from the Judicial Branch and are not subject to POST.


so do they have police powers? Was under the impression that anybody with police powers from the state (no matter the branch) has to be POST certified.


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## EJS12213 (Jul 13, 2008)

AS4 said:


> so do they have police powers? Was under the impression that anybody with police powers from the state (no matter the branch) has to be POST certified.


They have police powers under MGL CH 221 Section 70A. Also they are mentioned in the list of positions that are not considered law enforcement officers and not subject to POST.


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## AS4 (Apr 5, 2014)

EJS12213 said:


> They have police powers under MGL CH 221 Section 70A. Also they are mentioned in the list of positions that are not considered law enforcement officers and not subject to POST.
> View attachment 10936


So therefore they wouldn’t have arrest powers anymore is my understanding. Not trying to split hairs, and I know that they were covered by the 221-70A statute in the past—but I was under the impression POST rewrote all of that.

The reason I ask is a couple of the court officers I have spoken to seem to also be under the impression that they have no police powers anymore


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## mpd61 (Aug 7, 2002)

AS4 said:


> So therefore they wouldn’t have arrest powers anymore is my understanding. Not trying to split hairs, and I know that they were covered by the 221-70A statute in the past—but I was under the impression POST rewrote all of that.
> 
> The reason I ask is a couple of the court officers I have spoken to seem to also be under the impression that they have no police powers anymore


Well good for them. Who gives a fuck!?! LOL!!!!!!


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## Foxy85 (Mar 29, 2006)

There’s been no change in status or powers of Court Officers. It would have come down from AOTC long ago after all of this reform went in to effect.


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## Roy Fehler (Jun 15, 2010)

Regardless of what happened with POST, remember that a judge can authorize any person to make an arrest. I can’t ever recall a court officer making an arrest unless it was under the direction of a judge, anyway.

If someone gets sentenced and sent away, or a causes a disturbance in the courtroom, and a judge says “Officers, take that man/woman into custody”, that’s all the authority they need. It’s not like court officers were actively patrolling the grounds of the courthouse looking for crimes.

This also highlights how stupid, poorly-planned, and poorly executed this law is. If legislators and the governor did their jobs, actually read the bill and listened to those who knew the ramifications, there wouldn’t be this mess.

Even now, they could easily make things right by passing an addendum to the law, “The provisions of this section do not apply to; 1. Trial Court Officers in the performance of their duties, 2. Deputy Sheriffs and Constables while serving and executing civil process”.

BOOM, done. That protects court officers, and deadbeat dads/tenants no longer get a free pass. But, no, any proposed changes will be “sent to committee for further study” to die a slow death. 😠


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## Foxy85 (Mar 29, 2006)

If a Court Officer is arresting you, you really had to put some serious effort in and earn it. Usually just boot someone from the building or refer complaints that require any form of investigation to whatever local police department is in the jurisdiction.


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## Macop2020 (Sep 29, 2020)

Court Officers absolutely have arrest powers in and outside on the courthouse grounds and where I work they mix it up from time to time.


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## Roy Fehler (Jun 15, 2010)

Macop2020 said:


> Court Officers absolutely have arrest powers in and outside on the courthouse grounds and where I work they mix it up from time to time.


What do you mean “mix it up”?

Every courthouse I’ve been to, the court officers are beyond busy with courtroom security & prisoner watch/transport to “mix it up”, at least according to my definition.


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## CCCSD (Jul 30, 2017)

Roy Fehler said:


> What do you mean “mix it up”?
> 
> Every courthouse I’ve been to, the court officers are beyond busy with courtroom security & prisoner watch/transport to “mix it up”, at least according to my definition.


I think he’s talking about Stewie’s crayons.


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