CORI is the shorthand nickname for "criminal offender record information," the body of Massachusetts criminal records information which is kept by the state in the Probation Central File, data from which is retrieved by a computer at the headquarters of, and presided over by, the Criminal History Systems Board (CHSB), 200 Arlington St., Suite 2200, Chelsea, MA 02150 (617-660-4600). There is also a web site from which people with computers having internet access can get information and download forms -- http://coriweb.chs.state.ma.us/cass/terms.html

CORI consists of information generated by the criminal justice system relating to one or more criminal charges (which are formal accusations) of crimes punishable by incarceration. CORI might best be described as "way station" information on the history of each criminal case, from arrest, through court proceedings and a non-guilty outcome or a guilty outcome, which might include a fine, probation, incarceration, discharge, parole and discharge from parole -- whatever happens to be applicable to each charge. That is how CORI is defined in the statute.^[2]

But, in actual practice, the only part of this information which is kept on the "CORI computer" at the CHSB headquarters in Chelsea is court-generated information, which means that CORI reports contain nothing about arrests or whether or when the person was released from jail or prison, paroled or discharged from parole.  

If a requester wants non-court-generated CORI, the requester must request that part of CORI from the criminal justice agency which created it, be it state or local police, county houses of correction, state prisons, or the Parole Board. There is no clear law, however, which compels those agencies to supply the information.

 [2] General Laws, Chapter 6, Section 167. (Further statutory references will be shown in an abbreviated way -- the citation just given is abbreviated as G.L. c. 6, § 167.)