Are Restraining Orders Public Record in Massachusetts?

Yes, restraining orders are public record in Massachusetts. Both Abuse Prevention Orders under Chapter 209A and Harassment Prevention Orders under Chapter 258E are presumptively open to public inspection, though sensitive details like the plaintiff’s home address are automatically kept confidential, cases involving minors are sealed, and getting the full file usually means going to the courthouse in person.¹

What Is Public and What Is Not

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court established the presumption of open access to judicial records in Boston Herald, Inc. v. Sharpe, and it applies to both 209A and 258E proceedings, including audio recordings of hearings.¹ Anyone can walk into the court where the order was filed and ask to see the case file.

What’s in that file: the names of both parties, the date the order was issued and the date it expires, the specific terms (no-contact provisions, stay-away distances), and the outcome of any hearings.

What’s not: the plaintiff’s home address, home phone number, and workplace information. The statute is explicit — “In no event shall the court disclose any such inaccessible address.”² The same withholding applies in 258E cases, covering the plaintiff’s residential address, phone number, and workplace details.¹ Victims of sexual assault or human trafficking get an additional layer of protection: their names must be withheld from public court records.

A plaintiff can also file a Motion for Impoundment to shield additional information, and a judge can impound or redact affidavits or identifying details on their own initiative.¹

One meaningful boundary: cases involving minors. When either the plaintiff or defendant in a 258E case is under eighteen, the records are withheld from public inspection unless a judge orders otherwise. Access is limited to the parties themselves, their attorneys, or a parent or guardian.¹

How to Actually Look One Up

There are two ways to find a restraining order record, and only one of them will get you the file.

The reliable route is the clerk’s office at the court that issued the order. You can request the official public record there and view hard copies of public case documents.³ That is the only way to see the full file, minus whatever has been impounded.

The online option is the state’s portal at masscourts.org, which lets users search case dockets by name and view case event summaries and dispositions.³ But restraining orders and harassment prevention orders are not among the case types listed as available through the public online portal.⁴ The same exclusion applies to public computer terminals inside courthouses — scanned documents for restraining orders and harassment prevention orders are specifically kept off those terminals.⁵

So if you’re hoping to search from a laptop and find a Massachusetts restraining order, you generally can’t. You need to go to the courthouse.

The Statewide Registry Is Separate

Every 209A order is entered into the Statewide Domestic Violence Record Keeping System, a registry maintained by the Office of the Commissioner of Probation that contains active, expired, and terminated orders.⁶ Judges are required to search it when a new 209A complaint is filed, so they can see whether the defendant has prior history.⁷

This registry is not open to the public. It is a law enforcement and judicial tool, which means the record of an expired or terminated order lives on inside the system even after the public court file has quieted down.

Will It Show Up on a Background Check

A restraining order is a civil matter, not a criminal charge, so it does not appear on a person’s Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI). That doesn’t mean it stays invisible. Comprehensive background checks that reach into civil court records can surface a restraining order, and for many people that is the real worry — not whether a neighbor could look up the case, but whether an employer or landlord will.

Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, consumer reporting agencies cannot include civil suits or civil judgments in a background report once seven years have passed from the date of entry. The seven-year limit does not apply when the report is for a job paying $75,000 or more per year, a credit transaction over $150,000, or a life insurance policy over $150,000.⁸

Violating the order is a different story. A violation is a criminal offense punishable by up to two and a half years in jail, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.⁷ That criminal charge will appear on the defendant’s CORI and follow them through any standard background check.

Removing a Restraining Order from Public View

Getting a restraining order out of public view in Massachusetts is difficult, and sealing and expungement are two different remedies with different standards.

Expungement permanently removes the record. Massachusetts courts have recognized a judge’s inherent power to expunge a 209A order from the Statewide Domestic Violence Registry, but only where the order was obtained through fraud on the court. The standard is clear and convincing evidence that someone deliberately abused the judicial process, and even then, the court must weigh whether the government’s interest in keeping the record outweighs the harm to the person named in it.

Sealing removes the record from public access but keeps it available to law enforcement and the court system. A defendant can petition to seal by arguing that the harm from continued public access outweighs the public’s right to court records. Judges are more receptive when the order has expired or been vacated and when both parties agree.

How the Process Works

You file a motion in the court that issued the original order, laying out the legal basis: fraud on the court for expungement, or a balancing-of-harms argument for sealing. The other party from the original case must be formally notified with a copy of the motion so they can respond. Skipping notice can sink the whole effort.

The court schedules a hearing where both sides present their case. The person requesting relief carries the burden of proof — clear and convincing evidence of fraud for expungement, or a persuasive showing that private harm outweighs public access for sealing. Showing up without documentation of how the record has affected employment, housing, or personal safety is where most of these motions fail.

1
Mass.gov. 258E Guideline 1:04: Public Access to c. 258E Case Files; Confidentiality of Records and Address Information
2
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 209A Section 3
3
Mass.gov. How to Search Court Dockets
4
Mass.gov. Types of Cases Available to the Public Online
5
Mass.gov. Types of Public Case Information Available at a Courthouse Public Terminal
6
Mass.gov. 209A Guideline 2:10: Check of Criminal History Information, Including the Statewide Registry of Civil Restraining Orders, and Other Probation Department Involvement
7
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 209A Section 7
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports