Massachusetts § 6 Costs as penalty for crime; expenses of prosecution

Massachusetts Statutes

§ 6 — Costs as penalty for crime; expenses of prosecution

Massachusetts § 6

Part IVCRIMES, PUNISHMENTS AND PROCEEDINGS IN CRIMINAL CASES

Title IIPROCEEDINGS IN CRIMINAL CASES

Ch. 280FINES AND FORFEITURES

This text of Massachusetts § 6 (Costs as penalty for crime; expenses of prosecution) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 280, § 6 (2026).

Text

Section 6. Costs shall not be imposed by a justice as a penalty for a crime.  A justice may, as a condition of the dismissal or placing on file of a complaint or indictment, or as a term of probation, order the defendant to pay the reasonable and actual expenses of the prosecution. A justice may impose reasonable costs as a result of a default by a criminal defendant that was intentional or negligent and without good cause.

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Section 6. Costs shall not be imposed by a justice as a penalty for a crime. A justice may, as a condition of the dismissal or placing on file of a complaint or indictment, or as a term of probation, order the defendant to pay the reasonable and actual expenses of the prosecution. A justice may impose reasonable costs as a result of a default by a criminal defendant that was intentional or negligent and without good cause.

Nearby Sections

4

§ 6

Costs as penalty for crime; expenses of prosecution

§ 6A

Special cost assessments; exemption

§ 6B

Criminal assessments

§ 6C

Assessment proceeds

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Bluebook (online)

Massachusetts § 6, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/statute/ma/280/6.