reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 46 § 20 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 46 - Return and Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths|Section 20 - Births and Deaths in Tewksbury Hospital; Records

Section 20. Records of birth and death previously held by the superintendent of Tewksbury Hospital shall be transferred to the town clerk of Tewksbury. No certified copies of these records shall be issued by the superintendent of Tewksbury Hospital.
MA Gen L ch 46 § 22 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 46 - Return and Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths|Section 22 - Registrars of Vital Statistics

Section 22. Any city, except Boston, and any town containing more than ten thousand inhabitants, may provide for the appointment of a person other than the clerk to be registrar. Such registrars, and in Boston the city registrar, shall be sworn and the provisions of this chapter relative to clerks shall apply to them.
MA Gen L ch 46 § 23 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 46 - Return and Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths|Section 23 - Prosecution of Persons Failing to File Required Reports

Section 23. The town clerk shall give written notice of the requirements of this chapter to any person neglecting to comply therewith, and upon the continuance of such neglect for one month shall notify the agent or attorney duly appointed by the town to sue in its corporate capacity, or, if there is no such agent or attorney, the district attorney of the district, who shall cause a prosecution for the penalty or forfeiture therefor to be instituted.
MA Gen L ch 46 § 24 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 46 - Return and Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths|Section 24 - Statements of Births and Deaths; Penalty

Section 24. In any statement of births or deaths printed by a town the name of a child born out of wedlock or of its parents shall not be printed, but the words ''child born out of wedlock'' shall be used in place thereof. A town violating this section shall forfeit to the mother of such child not more than one hundred dollars.
MA Gen L ch 46 § 25 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 46 - Return and Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths|Section 25 - Disposition of Fines and Forfeitures

Section 25. All fines and forfeitures recovered under this chapter shall, except as provided in sections twenty-four and twenty-seven, accrue to the benefit of the town where the required return should have been made.
MA Gen L ch 46 § 26 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 46 - Return and Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths|Section 26 - Fees

Section 26. The town clerk shall receive the following fees from the town upon presenting to the town treasurer a certificate of the receipt of the prescribed copies by the commissioner of public health: For each birth, marriage or death, one dollar. He shall also receive from the town the following fees: For each certificate transmitted under section twelve, fifty cents; for receiving and recording an affidavit and forwarding a copy thereof under section thirteen, one dollar; for sending the notice required by section twenty-three, fifty cents; for each oath administered in his capacity as clerk, twenty-five cents. A town may limit the aggregate compensation allowed to its clerk.
MA Gen L ch 46 § 27 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 46 - Return and Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths|Section 27 - Clerks; Penalty for Neglecting Required Duties

Section 27. A city or town clerk or registrar refusing or neglecting to perform any duty required of him under this chapter shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty nor more than one hundred dollars. Fines recovered for violation of section eighteen shall be to the use of the commonwealth.
MA Gen L ch 46 § 28 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 46 - Return and Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths|Section 28 - Administration of Oaths

Section 28. An oath required by this chapter may be administered by the clerk, assistant clerk or registrar of a town.
MA Gen L ch 46 § 29 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 46 - Return and Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths|Section 29 - Attestation of Certificates

Section 29. Town clerks or registrars shall attest their copies of the record of births, marriages or deaths with the official seal of the town.
MA Gen L ch 46 § 30 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 46 - Return and Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths|Section 30 - Alteration, Forgery or Counterfeiting; Penalty

Section 30. Whoever falsely makes, alters, forges or counterfeits, or procures or assists another to falsely make, forge or counterfeit, a copy of a record of birth, marriage or death, or whoever forges or without authority uses the signature, facsimile of the signature, or validating signature stamp of a city or town clerk, or the state registrar upon a genuine or falsely made, altered, forged or counterfeited copy of such a record, or whoever utters, publishes as true or in any way makes use of a falsely made, altered, forged or counterfeited copy of such a record, or whoever uses, attempts to use, with intent to defraud or deceive, a copy of a record of the birth or marriage of a person other than himself, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six months in a house of correction.
MA Gen L ch 46 § 31 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 46 - Return and Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths|Section 31 - Adoption Contact Information Registry

Section 31. The registry of vital records and statistics, subject to appropriation, shall establish and maintain an adoption contact information registry for the purpose of connecting parents listed on the initial birth certificate to any of their children who were adopted by others. The adoption contact registry shall, at minimum, be capable of recording updated address and other information supplied by parents and adoptees needed for one to contact the other.  Registration shall be entirely voluntary and participation may at any time be terminated through proper notification to the registry.  The commonwealth shall make reasonable efforts to inform the public about the existence of this registry.
MA Gen L ch 46 § 32 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 46 - Return and Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths|Section 32 - Reasonable Cause to Believe There Has Been Misconduct Regarding Vital Records; Actions by Clerk and State Registrar

Section 32. When a clerk at the registry or a town clerk has reasonable cause to believe that a vital record may have been falsely made, altered, forged, counterfeited or procured through fraud or misrepresentation or improper use of the signature or facsimile of the signature or signature stamp of a town clerk or the state registrar, the clerk of the registry shall not issue a certified copy of the record or make the record available for examination but shall retain the record and related evidence and notify the state registrar.  When the state registrar has reasonable cause to believe that a vital record may have been falsely made, altered, forged, counterfeited or procured through fraud or misrepresentation or improper use of the signature or facsimile of the signature or signature stamp of a town clerk or the state registrar, the state registrar shall: (i) take reasonable administrative action to prevent and control fraud or improper use of the record, including instructions to all vital records clerks who have custody of the record to limit, restrict or stop issuing certified copies or making the record available for examination notwithstanding any general or special laws to the contrary; and (ii) notify appropriate law enforcement authorities.
MA Gen L ch 46 § 33 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 46 - Return and Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths|Section 33 - Centralized, Automated Database for Vital Records and Statistics; Certified Copies Issued From Database; Capacity Requirements of Database; Maintenance and Preservation of Original Paper Records

Section 33. The state registrar shall establish, maintain and operate a centralized, automated database for the system of vital records and statistics, subject to appropriation. The state registrar shall make such automated database available to town clerks who shall use it to (i) record all births and deaths by city or town of occurrence and all marriages by city or town that issued the license; and (ii) issue certified copies of vital records.  All certified copies issued from the database shall be identical in size and format and shall have security features that deter alteration, counterfeiting, duplication or simulation of vital records and shall meet applicable federal and state standards established for this purpose. When issuing certified copies, the state registrar and town clerks shall comply with all applicable restrictions of state and federal law. The fee for a certified copy of a vital record issued by a town clerk from the database shall be uniform throughout the commonwealth, irrespective of where the record was originally recorded.  The database shall have the capacity for authorized users to enter information required for: (i) standard certificates of live birth and as required by the commissioner for administrative, research and statistical purposes under section 24B of chapter 111; (ii) acknowledgments of paternity; (iii) standard certificates of death; and (iv) fetal death reports. The database shall have the capacity for the chief medical examiner to enter information required for a medical examiner's certificate of death and for licensed health professionals and licensed funeral directors to enter information required for standard certificates of death. The database shall also have the capacity for courts in the commonwealth to enter information required for amendment of birth records following adjudications of paternity under chapter 209C and adoptions under chapter 210. The database shall have the capacity to enter, verify and hold electronic signatures.  Town clerks shall be responsible for the maintenance and preservation of original paper records until such time as originals are transferred to the state registrar. The state registrar shall be responsible for maintenance and preservation of original paper records until such time as bound volumes of original birth, marriage and death records are transferred to the state archivist.
MA Gen L ch 46 § 34 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 46 - Return and Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths|Section 34 - Agreements to Verify Existence of Birth, Marriage or Death Records

Section 34. The state registrar may enter into agreements with state and federal agencies administering public health and welfare programs, registrars of motor vehicles, passport agencies or the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems to verify the existence of a Massachusetts birth, marriage or death record as an alternative to issuance of a certified copy of the record either to streamline administration of programs and services or to minimize the potential for identity theft and fraud associated with birth and marriage records, drivers' licenses, state identification cards and passports.
MA Gen L ch 47 § 1 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 47 - Infirmaries|Section 1 - Authorization

Section 1. Any town may erect or provide and maintain an infirmary for persons in need. No town shall erect or maintain an infirmary wholly or in part within the limits of any other town without its consent.
MA Gen L ch 47 § 2 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 47 - Infirmaries|Section 2 - Management

Section 2. Any town which has an infirmary may annually choose three, five, seven or more directors to have the management thereof, who may appoint a superintendent and assistants. If such directors are not chosen, the selectmen shall be the directors.
MA Gen L ch 47 § 3 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 47 - Infirmaries|Section 3 - Meetings of Directors; Promulgation of Rules and Regulations

Section 3. The directors shall at least monthly hold general meetings at which they may make orders and regulations for the infirmary, to be binding until the next meeting of the town or of the city council, when the same shall be submitted to such meeting, and if approved shall remain in force until revoked by the town or by the city council.
MA Gen L ch 47 § 4 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 47 - Infirmaries|Section 4 - Joint Infirmaries

Section 4. Any number of towns may, at their joint charge and for their common use, erect or provide an infirmary and purchase land for the use thereof.
MA Gen L ch 47 § 5 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 47 - Infirmaries|Section 5 - Joint Management

Section 5. The management and repair of such infirmary shall be vested in a joint board of directors, who shall be chosen annually by the several towns interested.
MA Gen L ch 47 § 6 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 47 - Infirmaries|Section 6 - Membership of Joint Board; Vacancies

Section 6. Unless all the towns interested in such infirmary agree to choose a different number, each of them shall choose three members of the joint board; and upon the death of a director, or his removal from the place for which he was chosen, the vacancy may be filled by such town. If a town neglects to choose directors, those chosen by the other towns shall have charge of the infirmary.
MA Gen L ch 47 § 7 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 47 - Infirmaries|Section 7 - Expenses, Payment

Section 7. The expense of maintaining the infirmary shall be paid by the several towns interested, in proportion to their share of the state tax at the time when the expense was incurred, unless they agree to a different proportion.
MA Gen L ch 47 § 8 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 47 - Infirmaries|Section 8 - Records of Admissions

Section 8. Each infirmary shall keep records of all persons admitted to it, which records shall be in the form prescribed by the department of public welfare.
MA Gen L ch 47 § 9 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 47 - Infirmaries|Section 9 - Discontinuance

Section 9. An infirmary may be discontinued or appropriated to any other use if the towns interested so determine.
MA Gen L ch 47 § 10 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 47 - Infirmaries|Section 10 - Rates for Non-Indigent Persons

Section 10. Persons able to pay for infirmary care may be received and cared for in an infirmary at a rate fixed by the board of directors thereof.
MA Gen L ch 47 § 11 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 47 - Infirmaries|Section 11 - Detention of Children; Conditions

Section 11. No child shall be detained in an infirmary for more than sixty days unless his physical condition is such as to make such action necessary or desirable or unless he is under three years of age and his mother is a suitable person to aid in taking care of him and is an inmate of the same infirmary.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 1 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 1 - Appointment of Fire Wards; Penalty for Failure to Give Notice of Acceptance

Section 1. Selectmen may annually, in March or April, appoint firewards, and shall forthwith give them notice thereof. Whoever neglects, within seven days after such notice, to file with the town clerk his acceptance or refusal of the office shall, unless excused by the selectmen, forfeit ten dollars.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 2 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 2 - Duties; Badge of Office

Section 2. If a fire breaks out, the firewards shall immediately repair thereto, and shall wear a suitable badge of office.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 3 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 3 - Demolition of Buildings

Section 3. Three or more firewards present at a place which is in immediate danger from fire, or if there are not three of them present the selectmen or the mayor and the aldermen present, or in their absence two or more of the civil officers present, or in their absence two or more of the chief military officers of the place present may direct any building to be demolished if they deem it necessary to prevent the spread of the fire.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 4 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 4 - Powers of Fire Officials; Demolition of Buildings

Section 4. If a city by its city council or a town accepts this section or has accepted corresponding provisions of earlier laws, the official of a fire department in command at a fire shall have exclusively the power conferred by the preceding section.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 5 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 5 - Indemnification for Demolition

Section 5. If such demolition of a building is the means of stopping the fire or if the fire stops before it comes to it, the owner shall be entitled to recover reasonable compensation from the town unless it was the building in which the fire started. Such compensation shall be determined and recovered under chapter seventy-nine, as if the building demolished were taken by eminent domain.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 6 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 6 - Powers and Duties; Commanding Assistance

Section 6. Such firewards or other officers may require assistance for extinguishing a fire and for removing furniture, goods or merchandise from a building on fire or in danger of fire. They may appoint guards to secure the same, may require assistance for demolishing a building, and suppress tumults and disorders at fires.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 7 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 7 - Powers and Duties; Direction of Fire Fighting Operations; Penalty for Noncompliance

Section 7. They may direct the stations and operations of the enginemen with their engines and of all other persons, for the purpose of extinguishing the fire. Whoever refuses or neglects to obey such orders shall be punished by a fine of not more than ten dollars.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 8 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 8 - Appointment of Forest Wardens; Tenure

Section 8. The mayor in cities, subject to charter provisions, and, except as provided in section forty-three, the selectmen in towns, shall annually, in June, appoint a forest warden, and forthwith give notice thereof to the commissioner of environmental management, in this chapter called the forester. The same person may hold the offices of tree warden, selectman, chief of the fire department and forest warden. The forest warden so appointed shall hold office for one year and until his successor is appointed and qualified. Upon the failure of the mayor of a city or the selectmen of a town to make such appointment in the month of June or within thirty days after the office becomes vacant through any cause, the forester shall notify the mayor or selectmen so to do, and if the mayor or selectmen fail to comply within fourteen days after receipt of such notice, the forester may appoint as forest warden in such city or town a suitable person, who shall be a resident thereof.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 9 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 9 - Duties; Fire Prevention

Section 9. If a fire occurs in woodland, the forest warden of the town, or his designee or of a town containing woodland endangered by such fire, at a place in immediate danger therefrom, may set back fires and take necessary precautions to prevent its spread.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 10 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 10 - Powers; Appointment of Assistants; Commandeering of People and Property

Section 10. The forest warden may appoint deputies to assist him in his duties and may discharge them; and he or his deputies may, if in their judgment there is danger from a forest fire, employ assistance or require any person in their town between the ages of eighteen and fifty to aid in its extinguishment or prevention, and may require the use of horses, wagons, equipment and other property adapted therefor, and shall keep an account of the time of all persons assisting them and a schedule of all property so used.
MA Gen L ch 48 § 11 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts|Section 11 - Penalty for Refusal of Aid

Section 11. Whoever, without sufficient cause, wilfully refuses or neglects to assist or to allow the use of his property as required by the preceding section, shall be punished by a fine of not less than five nor more than one hundred dollars and may also be imprisoned for not more than two months.