A letter arrives from a Massachusetts district court. It says an application for a criminal complaint has been filed against you, and it orders you to appear before a clerk magistrate to “show cause” why the complaint should not issue. For most people who receive one, it is the first contact they have ever had with the criminal system, and the notice itself explains almost nothing. Here is what that piece of paper actually means, what happens at the hearing, and why this stage matters more than most people realize.
What the Notice Means Right Now
The notice means someone, usually a police officer but sometimes a private citizen, has asked the court to charge you with a crime. It does not mean you have been charged. No complaint exists yet, no arraignment has been scheduled, and nothing has been entered on your criminal record. The court is required to give you a chance to be heard before the charge becomes real.
That requirement comes from General Laws chapter 218, section 35A. The statute says that a person accused of a misdemeanor who has not been arrested for it must be given “an opportunity to be heard personally or by counsel in opposition to the issuance of any process.” In plain terms: if the police did not arrest you at the scene, they generally cannot summons you straight to arraignment on a misdemeanor. A clerk magistrate has to look at the application first, and you get to appear and respond.
The same door opens in traffic cases. Under chapter 90C, section 3, a driver cited for a criminal motor vehicle offense, such as operating with a suspended license or leaving the scene of property damage, can request a clerk magistrate hearing before a complaint issues. The catch is the deadline: the written request must reach the clerk of the district court within four days of the citation, and weekends count. Miss the window and the court can issue the complaint without a hearing.
Felony applications work differently. When police apply for a felony complaint, the clerk can issue it without any hearing at all. When a private citizen applies for a felony complaint, a hearing is common but discretionary. Most show cause notices, though, involve misdemeanors: shoplifting, minor assault and battery, threats, malicious destruction of property, and the criminal traffic offenses.
What a Show Cause Hearing Is, and What It Is Not
A show cause hearing, often called a clerk’s hearing or magistrate’s hearing, is a screening step. The clerk magistrate answers one legal question: is there probable cause to believe you committed the offense described in the application? Probable cause is a low bar. The magistrate is not deciding guilt or innocence, and the rules of evidence do not apply. Hearsay is fine; in many hearings the entire case for the complaint is a police report read aloud by an officer who was not even at the scene.
It is worth being clear about what the hearing is not:
- There is no judge. A clerk magistrate, a court official who is often but not always a lawyer, presides. The hearing usually takes place in an office or small hearing room, not a courtroom.
- It is not public. Show cause hearings are presumptively closed. The general public cannot walk in and watch, and the session is far less formal than anything you have seen on television.
- It is not yet a criminal case. Until a complaint issues and you are arraigned, there is no docket entry in your criminal offender record information, known as CORI. A hearing that ends without a complaint leaves no criminal record at all.
- It is not a trial. Witnesses may or may not testify. You will not be cross-examining anyone in any formal sense, and the magistrate controls how much back and forth occurs.
The private nature of these hearings drew statewide attention after a 2018 Boston Globe Spotlight series described them as “secret courts” and documented inconsistent outcomes from courthouse to courthouse. The Globe then sued for access to hearing records. In Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC v. Chief Justice of the Trial Court, 483 Mass. 80 (2019), the Supreme Judicial Court held that records of show cause hearings that end without a complaint are not presumptively public, preserving the privacy of accused people who were never charged. At the same time, the court ordered that every show cause hearing be electronically recorded, and it confirmed that anyone may ask a clerk magistrate or judge to release the records of a particular hearing when the interests of justice require it. So the hearings remain private, but they are no longer unrecorded.
How the Hearing Runs, Step by Step
- Check-in. You arrive at the district court listed on the notice, pass through security, and check in with the clerk’s office. Hearings are often scheduled in blocks, so expect to wait.
- The application is presented. The complainant goes first. In police-initiated cases, that is usually a court prosecution officer summarizing the police report. In citizen-initiated cases, the private complainant tells their version.
- You respond, if you choose to. You may speak, stay silent, or let a lawyer speak for you. Anything you say can be used against you later, which is one reason many people bring counsel. You can also present documents, photographs, receipts, or witnesses of your own.
- The magistrate asks questions. Clerk magistrates vary in style. Some probe the facts closely; some focus on whether the dispute can be resolved without a charge.
- The decision. The magistrate rules, sometimes on the spot and sometimes by mail afterward.
The whole process can take fifteen minutes. There is no right to a court-appointed lawyer at this stage because you are not yet a defendant, but you are fully entitled to hire one and have that lawyer appear and argue for you. The statute says so expressly.
The Possible Outcomes
Four things can happen, and only one of them is bad.
The application is denied. If the magistrate finds no probable cause, or exercises discretion to decline the complaint even where probable cause technically exists, the matter ends. No charge, no arraignment, no CORI entry. Under the SJC’s ruling, the records of that hearing are not presumptively public.
The matter is held open. Magistrates frequently continue an application for a period of months, commonly three to six, on conditions: stay out of trouble, complete a class, pay restitution, stay away from the complainant. If you hold up your end, the application is dismissed at the end of the period and nothing ever issues. Practitioners sometimes call this a general continuance, and it functions like an informal, pre-charge version of probation.
The dispute is resolved informally. In cases between private parties, the magistrate may broker a resolution outright. Where the alleged offense caused a monetary loss, Massachusetts law recognizes accord and satisfaction under chapter 276, section 55: for certain misdemeanors with a civil remedy, a complainant who acknowledges in writing that they have been made whole can ask that the accused be discharged. Paying a disputed debt or covering repair costs at this stage can end the entire matter.
The complaint issues. If the magistrate finds probable cause and decides to issue process, the application becomes a criminal complaint and the case is scheduled for arraignment before a judge.
Why This Hearing Is a Real Opportunity
Because probable cause is such a low standard, some people assume the hearing is a rubber stamp. The numbers say otherwise. The Globe’s reporting found that Massachusetts clerk magistrates decline a substantial share of the tens of thousands of applications they screen each year, and magistrates themselves describe the hearing as a chance to separate cases that belong in criminal court from disputes that do not. Magistrates have discretion to decline a complaint even when probable cause exists, and they use it, particularly for first-time accusations, neighbor and family disputes, and matters where restitution solves the real problem.
The hearing is the only point in a Massachusetts criminal case where the accusation can die quietly. After arraignment, even a dismissal or a not guilty verdict leaves a CORI entry that sits there until it is sealed or expunged. Before arraignment, there is nothing to seal. That asymmetry is why defense lawyers treat show cause hearings seriously and why skipping the hearing, or walking in unprepared, wastes the best leverage you will ever have in the case.
The Record Question: CORI Starts at Arraignment
Massachusetts criminal records are built from court activity, and the entry is created at arraignment. A show cause hearing that ends in a denial, a successful continuance, or an accord and satisfaction produces no CORI entry, which means standard employer background checks that pull CORI will show nothing from the episode. The hearing is recorded, and internal court records of the application exist, but under the 2019 SJC decision those records are not presumptively open to the public when no complaint issued.
One caution: none of this erases the underlying police report, and it does not bind private parties who already know about the dispute. Privacy at this stage is substantial, not absolute.
If the Complaint Issues
An issued complaint is the beginning of a criminal case, not the end of the road. You will receive a summons to arraignment in the district court, where the charge is formally read, counsel is appointed if you qualify, and conditions of release are set. The arraignment is the moment the charge enters your CORI. From there the case proceeds through pretrial hearings and, if necessary, trial, and every defense remains available. A probable cause finding at a clerk’s hearing carries no weight on the question of guilt; the Commonwealth still has to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
And a warning about the other direction: do not ignore the notice. If you fail to appear, the hearing can go forward without you, the magistrate hears only the complainant’s side, and the complaint almost always issues. There is no penalty for skipping the hearing in the sense of a new charge, but you forfeit the one stage of the process designed to work in your favor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a lawyer for a clerk magistrate hearing?
You are not required to have one, and the court will not appoint one because you are not yet charged. But section 35A expressly allows you to appear “personally or by counsel,” and a lawyer who knows the local clerk’s office can argue against probable cause, negotiate a continuance or accord and satisfaction, and keep you from making statements that hurt you later. Given that the entire case can end at this stage, many people find the hearing is the most cost-effective point to hire counsel.
Will the hearing show up on a background check?
Not on a CORI check, so long as no complaint issues. CORI entries are created at arraignment. If the application is denied or resolved before a complaint issues, there is no arraignment and nothing appears. If the complaint issues and you are arraigned, the charge appears on your CORI regardless of how the case ultimately ends.
Is a show cause hearing open to the public?
No. The hearings are presumptively private, and the SJC confirmed in 2019 that records of hearings ending without a complaint are not presumptively public. All hearings must now be electronically recorded, and a magistrate or judge can release records of a particular hearing when the interests of justice require it, but there is no general public right of access.
What happens if I do not show up?
The magistrate can hold the hearing without you and will hear only the applicant’s version of events. In practice the complaint almost always issues, and you will be summonsed to arraignment, where the charge goes on your record. Appearing costs you nothing; failing to appear costs you the best chance to stop the case.
Can I bring witnesses or evidence?
Yes. The formal rules of evidence do not apply, which cuts both ways: the complainant can rely on a police report, and you can bring documents, photographs, text messages, receipts, and people who saw what happened. Whether and how much the magistrate hears from your witnesses is within the magistrate’s discretion.
I got a criminal citation after a traffic stop. Is that the same thing?
Close to it. A criminal application arising from a motor vehicle citation is governed by chapter 90C, section 3, and you must request the hearing in writing within four days of the citation. Calendar days, not business days. If you request it in time, the process at the hearing looks essentially the same as a section 35A hearing.
A show cause hearing is the rare moment in the criminal process when the system is structured to let a case end before it starts. An attorney can appear at these hearings on your behalf, and in courthouse after courthouse, that presence often changes the outcome.