reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 41 § 23 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 23 - Rescission of Vote by Selectmen; Election of Other Officers; Tenure

Section 23. A town may, after a vote under section twenty-one has been in effect therein for a period of not less than three years, by a vote at a meeting held at least sixty days before the annual town election, rescind such action in whole or in part and thereupon such town shall, at the next town election, nominate and elect such officers as are necessary to carry out the duties exercised in accordance with section twenty-one by the board of selectmen or officers appointed by them. Such officers, when to be elected for three year terms, if members of a board of three or more, shall be nominated and elected for one, two or three years respectively, and thereafter for the term of three years, and upon their election and qualification shall have all the duties and obligations imposed upon them by law.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 23a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 23a - Executive Secretary or Town Administrator; Appointment; Tenure

Section 23A. A town may by vote or by-law authorize and empower the selectmen to appoint an executive secretary or town administrator who may be appointed by them for a term of one or three years and to remove him at their discretion. An executive secretary or town administrator appointed under the provisions of this section shall be sworn to the faithful performance of his duties. During the time that he holds office he shall hold no elective town office, but he may be appointed by the selectmen or, with their approval, by any other town officer, board, committee or commission, to any other town office or position consistent with his office. He shall receive such aggregate compensation, not exceeding the amount appropriated therefor, as the selectmen may determine. He shall act by and for the selectmen in any matter which they may assign to him relating to the administration of the affairs of the town or of any town office or department under their supervision and control, or, with the approval of the selectmen, may perform such other duties as may be requested of him by any other town officer, board, committee or commission.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 23b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 23b - Town Departments; Investigations and Reports

Section 23B. The selectmen of any town may make an investigation into the conduct and operation of any town department. Upon completion of such investigation a report shall be submitted to the town clerk and such report shall be printed in the annual town report.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 23c (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 23c - Persons Acting on Behalf of Selectmen; Appointment and Removal

Section 23C. No person shall be authorized by vote of a town to act on behalf of the board of selectmen unless the vote provides that such person shall be appointed and may be removed by said board.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 23d (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 23d - Municipal Data Processing Centers

Section 23D. A city by ordinance and a town by by-law may provide for the establishment of a municipal data processing center for the use of any department, office, board, committee or agency of the city or town, including the school committee and any public authority or special district within the town and for the appointment of a data processing coordinator.  The data processing center shall be under the supervision and control of the coordinator and shall provide programs or systems for the collection, processing, storage and retrieval of information, and the preparation of reports.  Such ordinance or by-law may provide for the establishment and duties of an advisory board to assist the coordinator in planning and scheduling the use of the data processing center.  The coordinator may also serve in any other public office or position in the city or town, notwithstanding any provision of any general or special law to the contrary. The office or position of coordinator shall not be subject to the provisions of chapter thirty-one.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 24 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 24 - Assessors; Number; Method of Selection; Tenure

Section 24. There shall be one, three, five, seven or nine assessors in every city and one, three or five assessors in every town. The assessors in every city and town shall be elected or appointed as otherwise provided by law; but as nearly one third of their number as may be shall be elected or appointed annually, each to hold office for three years and thereafter until his successor is duly elected or appointed. As soon as may be after such annual election or appointment, the assessors of every city and town shall organize by choosing one of their number as chairman and another as secretary or clerk of their board. None of the foregoing provisions shall apply to the city of Boston. In no city or town, including Boston, shall an assessor hold the office of collector of taxes or deputy collector of taxes, whether said deputy is appointed under the provisions of section thirty-seven of this chapter or section ninety-two of chapter sixty.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 25 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 25 - Appointment by Selectmen; Tenure of Office

Section 25. In towns which accept this section or have accepted corresponding provisions of earlier laws, the selectmen shall appoint suitable citizens of the town assessors for a term of not more than three years, and may remove them at any time for cause after a hearing. Upon the qualification of persons so appointed the term of existing assessors of such town shall terminate.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 25a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 25a - Assistant Assessors; Appointment by Assessors; Duties; Compensation; Tenure

Section 25A. The assessors may appoint as assistant assessors such number of suitable citizens as they deem necessary, and may remove them. Such assistant assessors shall perform such duties as the assessors may require for such time as they may determine and shall receive compensation only for duties performed as so required. Every such assistant assessor shall hold office for the period of one year from the date of his appointment, unless sooner removed; provided, that, in the case the assessors fail to appoint a successor to any such assistant assessor during the month preceding the expiration of his term, he shall continue to serve during the following period of one year, unless sooner removed. This section shall apply in all cities and towns, except Boston, notwithstanding any provision of special law.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 26 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 26 - Appointment by Selectmen Where Town So Votes

Section 26. If a town votes under section twenty-one to have its selectmen appoint a board of assessors, the selectmen shall thereupon appoint three or five suitable persons as assessors, who shall act as assessors of the town and shall have all necessary powers therefor.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 26a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 26a - Employment of Counsel in Certain Proceedings

Section 26A. The assessors, or selectmen acting as assessors, may employ counsel at the expense of the city or town in all proceedings under chapter fifty-eight A; provided, that if such city or town maintains a city solicitor or town counsel the assessors, or selectmen acting as assessors, shall not employ other counsel but shall use such solicitor or counsel therefor, whose expenses incurred shall be paid from his general appropriation. The foregoing restriction on the right of the assessors to employ counsel for such purpose shall not apply in case the town has made an appropriation covering the employment of counsel therefor.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 28 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 28 - Powers and Duties of Assistant Assessors

Section 28. Assistant assessors shall, in their respective districts, assist the assessors in estimating the value of the real and personal estate in such districts, and in the performance of such other duties as the assessors require.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 29 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 29 - Oath of Office; Penalty for Failure to Take Oath

Section 29. Any person chosen to assess taxes or to determine or to assist in determining the value of property for the purpose of taxation shall, before entering upon the performance of his duties, take the following oath:  I, having been chosen to assess taxes and estimate the value of property for the purpose of taxation for the town (or city) of for the year (or years) ensuing, do swear that I will truly and impartially, according to my best skill and judgment, assess and apportion all such taxes as I may during that time assess; that I will neither overvalue nor undervalue any property subject to taxation, and that I will faithfully perform all the duties of said office.  If he neglects to take such oath before entering upon the performance of his duties, he shall forfeit not more than fifty dollars.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 30 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 30 - Penalty for False Valuation

Section 30. Any person chosen to determine the valuation of property for the purpose of taxation who, in order that the taxpayers may escape payment of their just proportion of any state or county tax or in order to evade any law limiting municipal indebtedness or the rate of taxation to a percentage of valuation or for any other fraudulent or corrupt purpose, knowingly fixes the valuation of any property at a smaller or greater amount than its full and fair cash value, or who causes an abatement to be made otherwise than is provided by law, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 30a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 30a - Vacancies; Effect on Powers of Remaining Assessors

Section 30A. A vacancy in the office of assessor shall not divest or suspend the authority and powers of the remaining assessors, notwithstanding any provision of special law making mandatory the filling of vacancies.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 34b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 34b - Identification of Husbands and Wives in Documents and Communications

Section 34B. Whenever the assessor, in any communication, document or writing intended for use outside his department, identifies a husband and wife, he shall use the name of both husband and wife and shall not use a legal phrase as a substitute for either name.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 35 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 35 - Bond of Treasurer; Duties

Section 35. Every town treasurer shall give bond annually for the faithful performance of his duties in a form approved by the commissioner of revenue and in such sum, not less than the amount established by said commissioner, as shall be fixed by the selectmen or the mayor and aldermen, and if he fails to give such bond within ten days after his election or appointment, or if within ten days after the expiration of said bond or any renewal of said bond he fails to file a renewal thereof, the selectmen or the mayor and aldermen shall declare the office vacant and the vacancy shall be filled in the manner prescribed by section forty or sixty-one A, as the case may be. He shall receive and take charge of all money belonging to the town, and pay over and account for the same according to the order of the town or of its authorized officers. No other person shall pay any bill of any department; provided, however, this provision shall not prohibit the treasurer from paying such bill by the use of bank treasurer's or cashier's check. He shall have the authority given to an auditor by section fifty-one, and shall annually render a true account of all his receipts and disbursements and a report of his official acts. The bond required herein shall cover the duties of the treasurer with respect to trust funds and funds of retirement systems which are in his custody by virtue of his office, and any such funds, for the purposes of said bond, shall be deemed to be public funds.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 36 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 36 - Powers of Treasurer; Prosecution of Actions

Section 36. He may in his own name and official capacity prosecute actions upon bonds, notes or other securities given to him or to his predecessors in office; and unless otherwise provided, he or the chief or superintendent of police or other police officer of the town may prosecute for trespasses committed in or on any public building or enclosure belonging to or within the town. If a public building or enclosure is owned in part by the town and in part by the county, such prosecution may be instituted by the treasurer of either the town or the county.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 38 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 38 - Powers of Tax Collector

Section 38. A town may authorize its collector of taxes to use all means of collecting taxes which a town treasurer may use when appointed a collector of taxes.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 38a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 38a - Collection of Accounts Due City or Town; Powers and Duties of Tax Collector

Section 38A. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a city or town may by ordinance, by-law or vote provide that the collector of taxes shall be authorized to collect, under the title of city or town collector, any accounts due the city or town and may in like manner define the collector of taxes' powers and duties in relation to the collection of such accounts; provided, however, that no such ordinance, by-law or vote shall limit such collector in the exercise of the remedies hereinafter conferred. Such a collector shall in the collection of such accounts have all the remedies provided by sections thirty-five, thirty-six and ninety-three of chapter sixty for the collection of taxes on personal estate. This section shall not apply to the collection of interest on investments of sinking or trust funds. All bills for accounts due the city or town shall state that all checks, drafts or money orders shall be made payable to or to the order of the city or town and not to or to the order of any officer, board or commission.  Whenever the collector of taxes, in any communication, document or writing intended for use outside his department, identifies a husband and wife, he shall use the name of both husband and wife and shall not use a legal phrase as a substitute for either name.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 39 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 39 - Collection of Taxes by Constable

Section 39. If a person appointed to collect taxes in a town refuses to serve, or if no person is elected or appointed a collector of taxes, the constables of the town shall be the collectors of taxes.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 39a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 39a - Assistant Treasurer

Section 39A. The treasurer of a city or town may in writing appoint, with the approval of the mayor or the selectmen thereof, an assistant treasurer who may be an employee in the treasurer's department. The assistant treasurer shall be sworn to the faithful performance of his duties, and a record shall be made of his appointment and oath. The assistant treasurer shall be a citizen of the United States and shall give bond annually for the faithful performance of his duties in a form approved, and in an amount determined, by the commissioner of revenue. Unless a temporary treasurer is appointed in accordance with law, the assistant treasurer may, in the absence of the treasurer, perform his duties and when performing such duties shall have the powers and be subject to the requirements and penalties applicable to him. The person appointed as assistant treasurer may receive a salary from the city or town for service as such.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 39c (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 39c - Assistant Collector

Section 39C. The collector of a city or town may in writing appoint, with approval of the mayor or the selectmen thereof, an assistant collector who may be an employee in said collector's department. The assistant collector shall be sworn to the faithful performance of his duties, and a record shall be made of his appointment and oath. The assistant collector shall be a citizen of the United States and shall give bond annually for the faithful performance of his duties in a form approved, and in an amount determined by the commissioner of revenue. Unless a temporary collector is appointed in accordance with law, the assistant collector may, in the absence of the collector, perform his duties and when performing such duties shall have the powers and be subject to the requirements and penalties applicable to him; provided, however, that the assistant collector shall not be authorized to sign for the collector instruments of taking pursuant to section fifty-four of chapter sixty. The person appointed as assistant collector may receive a salary from the city or town for service as such.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 40 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 40 - Temporary Town Officers

Section 40. If the office of town treasurer, town collector of taxes, town accountant or auditor in a town having but one is vacant or if any such officer, because of disability or absence, is unable to perform his duties, the selectmen may in writing signed by them or by a majority of them, which shall be filed in the office of the town clerk, appoint a temporary officer to hold such office and exercise the powers and perform the duties thereof until another is duly elected or appointed and has qualified according to law or the officer who was disabled or absent resumes his duties. Any such temporary officer shall be sworn and give bond for the faithful performance of his duties in accordance with the provisions of law applying to the officer whose place he fills, and if he fails so to do within ten days after his appointment the selectmen shall rescind the appointment and appoint another. If a tree warden, highway surveyor, or road commissioner in a town having but one road commissioner, because of disability or absence, is unable to perform his duties, the selectmen may, in like manner, appoint a temporary officer to hold his office, who shall have like powers and duties until such tree warden, highway surveyor or road commissioner resumes his duties or his successor is elected or appointed, as the case may be. This section shall not apply to cities.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 41 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 41 - Payment of Compensation; Oath

Section 41. No treasurer or other fiscal officer of any town or city shall pay any salary or compensation to any person in the service or employment of the town or city unless the payroll, bill or account for such salary or compensation shall be sworn to by the head of the department or the person immediately responsible for the appointment, employment, promotion, or transfer of the persons named therein, or, in the case of the absence or disability of the head of the department or of such person, then by a person designated by the head of the department and approved by the board of selectmen in towns, and by the mayor in cities, or by the city manager in cities operating under a Plan D or Plan E charter. Except as otherwise provided in a collective bargaining agreement, the treasurer or other fiscal officer may pay the payroll to an employee on a biweekly or semimonthly basis. A commission, committee or board of trustees in a city or town, including a city council, board of aldermen or common council in a city, may for purposes of this section designate any one of its members to make oath to a payroll, bill or account for salary or compensation of its members or employees. This provision shall not limit the responsibility of each member of any such body in the event of a noncompliance with this section.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 41a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 41a - Delivery of Payroll Checks to Department Heads

Section 41A. Notwithstanding the provisions of section thirty-five, the treasurer of a city or town may deliver or cause to be delivered to the head of a municipal department or his designee the payroll checks for the employees of such department, with the approval of the board of selectmen in towns, and of the mayor in cities, or of the city manager in cities operating under a Plan D or Plan E charter.