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 things: 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. This post explains all three.

What a Show Cause Notice Actually Is

A show cause notice is a summons to appear for a clerk-magistrate hearing under M.G.L. c. 218, § 35A. It means that 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 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. 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 magistrate acts as a gatekeeper for the court system and can consider 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.

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 destroyed 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. The defense options available at arraignment and after are different from, and generally less favorable than, the options available at the clerk-magistrate stage.

What the Hearing Means for Licensed Professionals and Students

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 triggers mandatory self-reporting obligations to most Massachusetts licensing boards. Those obligations apply before any conviction and before the case is resolved. 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.

For college and university students, arraignment triggers reporting obligations to most 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 all of 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. See: Your Right to Remain Silent in Massachusetts.

What a Defense Attorney Does at a Clerk-Magistrate Hearing

Attorney Serpa prepares 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, Serpa Law Office has 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:

• 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, negligent operation, leaving the scene of property damage, uninsured operation. Note: the 4-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 and larceny under M.G.L. c. 266, § 30A, 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, you must sign and submit the citation to the District Court clerk within four days of the date of the alleged offense to preserve the right to a clerk-magistrate hearing. 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: 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.

Serpa Law Office represents defendants at clerk-magistrate hearings across the Massachusetts District Courts and Boston Municipal Court. Attorney Joseph Serpa is a Georgetown Law graduate with thirty years of Massachusetts criminal defense experience. Contact Serpa Law Office at 617.936.0201 for a confidential consultation. Boston office: 20 Park Plaza #400A. Quincy office: 500 Victory Rd., Suite 400A. 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: 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