I Received a Show Cause Notice in Massachusetts. What Do I Do?

By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | 30 Years Massachusetts Criminal Defense

A notice to appear for a clerk-magistrate hearing in Massachusetts arrives by mail. It is not an arrest. It is not a conviction. It is not yet a formal criminal charge. It is something more useful than any of those. It is an opportunity to stop a criminal case before it ever becomes public. Most people who receive one do not understand what it is, what it means, or what they need to do. I explain all three below.

A dismissal is often the goal in a case like this, and it helps to understand who can order one. See how criminal cases get dismissed in the Massachusetts district and municipal courts.

What a Show Cause Notice Is

A show cause notice is a summons to appear for a clerk-magistrate hearing under M.G.L. c. 218, § 35A. That statute gives a person who has not been arrested the right to notice and an opportunity to be heard, in person or by counsel, before a criminal complaint issues. It means a police officer has filed an application for a criminal complaint with the District Court or Boston Municipal Court and the court has scheduled a hearing to determine whether a formal complaint should issue. The hearing occurs before arraignment. It is private. If the complaint does not issue, there is no arraignment, no public criminal record, and no CORI entry. The Supreme Judicial Court restated the governing rule in Cabrera v. Commonwealth (2025): the § 35A right is a creation of statute, not the State or Federal Constitution, and even a demonstrated violation carries no lasting prejudice because the complaint process can be commenced again. A complaint issued without the required hearing is dismissed without prejudice, and the Commonwealth may reapply with proper notice. It most often does not.

The notice is not an arrest warrant. It does not mean you have been charged with a crime. It means a police officer believes a crime occurred and has asked the court to formally charge you. The clerk-magistrate decides whether that happens. You have the right to appear, present evidence, and be represented by counsel before that decision is made.

What Happens If You Ignore It

Do not ignore a show cause notice. If you fail to appear at the scheduled hearing, the clerk-magistrate will typically issue the criminal complaint in your absence and the court will mail you a summons for arraignment. At arraignment, a permanent entry is created on your Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI). That entry is visible to most employers, licensing boards, and background check services immediately, even before the case is resolved. The opportunity to stop the case privately is gone once the complaint issues.

What the Hearing Is and What the Clerk-Magistrate Decides

The hearing is a private proceeding, typically held in a conference room or small courtroom at the District Court or Boston Municipal Court. These sessions run in courts across the state, from high-volume dockets like those in the Quincy District Court to smaller suburban divisions. A police officer, acting as police prosecutor, presents the evidence, usually the written police report. The clerk-magistrate reviews the evidence and determines whether there is probable cause to believe a crime occurred and that you committed it.

Probable cause is a low standard. The more important question is what the clerk-magistrate does with it. Even when probable cause is established, the clerk-magistrate has discretion to decline to issue the complaint. The Supreme Judicial Court confirmed this authority in Victory Distributors, Inc. v. Ayer Division of the District Court, 435 Mass. 136 (2001), which held that a magistrate may decline to issue a complaint even where probable cause exists, because the statute says the magistrate may authorize the charge rather than that the magistrate must. The magistrate acts as a gatekeeper for the court system and can weigh your background, your history, the nature of the alleged offense, and the position of the complainant in deciding whether the case should proceed publicly. This discretionary authority is the core of what makes a clerk-magistrate hearing valuable, and it is what a skilled defense attorney works at this stage.

For a full analysis of the statute, the probable cause standard, and the magistrate’s discretionary authority, see The Law of Clerk-Magistrate Hearings in Massachusetts and our practitioner’s guide to Massachusetts clerk-magistrate hearings.

Why a Show Cause Hearing Stays Private

The privacy of a show cause hearing is not an informal courtesy. It is settled Massachusetts law. In Eagle-Tribune Publishing Co. v. Clerk-Magistrate of the Lawrence Division of the District Court Department, 448 Mass. 647 (2007), the Supreme Judicial Court held that the public and the press have no First Amendment right of access to show cause hearings, which are presumptively private and exist to screen complaints before any prosecution begins. The Court reaffirmed that principle in Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC v. Chief Justice of the Trial Court, 483 Mass. 80 (2019), holding that there is no presumptive common-law or constitutional right of public access to the records of a show cause hearing that ends in a probable cause finding but no complaint. A clerk-magistrate keeps discretion to open a hearing of special public significance, yet the default is privacy. That is why a case resolved at this stage leaves no public footprint.

Possible Outcomes

No probable cause found. The application is dismissed immediately. No complaint issues. No arraignment. No CORI entry. The matter is over.

Probable cause found, complaint held in abeyance. The magistrate finds probable cause but declines to issue the complaint immediately. Instead, the application is held privately for a specified period, typically six months to a year, on the condition that you have no further criminal involvement. At the end of the period, the application is closed and no complaint ever issues. This is a common and favorable outcome in cases involving defendants with no prior record.

Complaint issues. The magistrate finds probable cause and issues the criminal complaint. You receive a second notice for arraignment. From that point, the case is public and a CORI entry is created. Even then the defense is not over. A defendant can move to dismiss the complaint for lack of probable cause, and under Commonwealth v. DiBennadetto, 436 Mass. 310 (2002), the judge decides that motion on the four corners of the complaint application, without hearing new evidence. Winning that motion is harder than preventing the complaint in the first place, which is one reason the defense options at and after arraignment are generally less favorable than the options available at the clerk-magistrate stage.

What the Hearing Means for Licensed Professionals and Students

If you hold a professional license or a CDL, the stakes of this notice are higher than the charge suggests, because a denied complaint is the only outcome that stays neutral for every license. See Criminal Charges and Professional Licenses in Massachusetts.

For licensed professionals, physicians, nurses, attorneys, engineers, accountants, financial advisors, and tradespeople holding state licenses, the clerk-magistrate hearing is the most important stage of the entire case. Arraignment can trigger self-reporting obligations to many Massachusetts licensing boards, and some of those duties arise as soon as charges issue rather than on conviction. A CWOF, a guilty finding, or even a case that is ultimately dismissed after arraignment can initiate a licensing board investigation that runs on a separate track from the criminal proceedings. Board rules vary, so the specific reporting duty should be checked before arraignment.

For college and university students, arraignment can trigger reporting obligations to many university student conduct offices and can initiate a separate disciplinary proceeding that runs alongside the criminal case. Many universities treat a criminal arraignment as an independent basis for academic discipline regardless of the eventual criminal outcome. Stopping the case at the clerk-magistrate stage eliminates these downstream consequences.

For non-citizens, a criminal arraignment creates a CORI entry that can affect visa status, work authorization renewals, and pending immigration applications before any conviction. See Immigration Consequences of Massachusetts Criminal Charges.

The Self-Incrimination Problem

You have the right to speak at a clerk-magistrate hearing. You also have the right to remain silent. Statements you make at a clerk-magistrate hearing can be used against you if the complaint issues and the case proceeds to arraignment and trial. Defendants who appear without counsel and speak freely at clerk-magistrate hearings frequently create evidentiary problems for their own defense that did not exist before the hearing began.

The right approach is to have defense counsel present information about your background, your record, and the mitigating circumstances of the alleged offense through counsel, without making statements that could constitute admissions or be used at trial. This is one of several reasons defendants ask whether they need a lawyer for a Massachusetts clerk-magistrate hearing. See Your Right to Remain Silent in Massachusetts.

What a Defense Attorney Does at a Clerk-Magistrate Hearing

I prepare for clerk-magistrate hearings by reviewing the application and police report before the hearing date, identifying weaknesses in the probable cause showing, gathering documentary evidence of the defendant’s background, employment, professional standing, educational history, and community ties, and contacting the complainant or the applying officer when appropriate to understand the full picture of the alleged offense.

At the hearing itself, defense counsel presents the background evidence, addresses the specific facts of the alleged offense, and argues for a denial of the application or a holding in abeyance. In thirty years of Massachusetts criminal defense, I have had hundreds of cases resolved at the clerk-magistrate stage without a complaint issuing and without any public record being generated.

Common Charges That Begin with a Show Cause Notice

Most misdemeanor offenses where police did not observe the alleged conduct at the scene and did not make a warrantless arrest begin with a clerk-magistrate hearing. Common charges include the following.

• Assault and battery (M.G.L. c. 265, § 13A), when no arrest was made at the scene.
• Assault and battery on a family or household member (M.G.L. c. 265, § 13M), in cases where police responded after the fact.
• Motor vehicle offenses such as negligent operation, leaving the scene of property damage, and uninsured operation, where the four-day citation submission deadline applies. See The Criminal Uniform Traffic Citation.
• Misuse of an RMV document (fake ID) under M.G.L. c. 90, § 24B, common in university student cases.
• Shoplifting under M.G.L. c. 266, § 30A, and related larceny charges under M.G.L. c. 266, § 30, when no arrest was made at the scene.
• Trespassing under M.G.L. c. 266, § 120.
• Malicious destruction of property under M.G.L. c. 266, § 127.
• Criminal harassment under M.G.L. c. 265, § 43A, in cases arising from 258E harassment prevention order applications.

The Four-Day Deadline for Motor Vehicle Citations

If your show cause notice arises from a motor vehicle offense where you were issued a Massachusetts Uniform Motor Vehicle Citation rather than being arrested, M.G.L. c. 90C, § 3(B)(2) requires you to request a clerk-magistrate hearing in writing within four days of the violation to preserve that right. In practice you do this by signing and submitting the hearing request portion of the citation to the District Court clerk. Missing this deadline results in a criminal complaint issuing directly without a hearing. Attempting to pay the citation online or by mail as though it were a civil infraction does not stop the criminal process. See The Criminal Uniform Traffic Citation and the Right to a Massachusetts Clerk Magistrate Hearing.

Key Takeaways

• A show cause notice is not a criminal charge. It is a summons to a private pre-arraignment hearing under M.G.L. c. 218, § 35A.
• Do not ignore the notice. Failure to appear results in a complaint issuing and an arraignment summons.
• If the complaint does not issue, there is no arraignment, no public record, and no CORI entry.
• For licensed professionals, students, and non-citizens, stopping the case at this stage eliminates downstream licensing, disciplinary, and immigration consequences that arraignment triggers.
• Statements made at a clerk-magistrate hearing can be used against you. See Your Right to Remain Silent in Massachusetts.
• For motor vehicle citations, the four-day submission deadline is strict. Missing it forfeits the right to the hearing. See The Criminal Uniform Traffic Citation.
• The clerk-magistrate has discretion to decline to issue a complaint even when probable cause exists. Background evidence, mitigating circumstances, and the position of the complainant all factor into that decision. For more common questions, see the Greater Boston clerk-magistrate hearing FAQs.

I represent defendants at clerk-magistrate hearings across the Massachusetts District Courts and Boston Municipal Court. I am a Georgetown Law graduate with thirty years of Massachusetts criminal defense experience. Contact me at 617.936.0201 for a confidential consultation. My Boston office is at 20 Park Plaza #400A and my Quincy office is at 500 Victory Rd., Suite 400A. I am available 24 hours a day.

Related Resources

• Clerk-Magistrate Hearings in Massachusetts, Practice Area Page
• The Law of Clerk-Magistrate Hearings in Massachusetts, Your Rights, the Statutes, and Case Law
• The Criminal Uniform Traffic Citation and the Right to a Massachusetts Clerk Magistrate Hearing
• Massachusetts Clerk-Magistrate Hearing FAQs
• Arraignment in the Massachusetts Trial Court
• Arrests, Arraignments and Clerk’s Hearings in Massachusetts
• Your Right to Remain Silent in Massachusetts
• Massachusetts CORI Sealing and Expungement
• Criminal Defense for Licensed Professionals in Massachusetts
• College and University Student Criminal Defense
• Immigration Consequences of Massachusetts Criminal Charges
• Fake ID Defense in Massachusetts
• Massachusetts Motor Vehicle Crimes
• Boston Domestic Violence Defense Lawyer
• Assault and Battery on a Family or Household Member (M.G.L. c. 265, § 13M)
• What to Do in the First 24 Hours After an Arrest in Massachusetts
• Representative Trial Results