reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 80a § 10 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments|Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings|Section 10 - Final Adjudication

Section 10. If the verdict of the jury as finally established shall differ from the award of the commissioners with respect to the compensation or damages to which any person is entitled, the report of the commissioners shall be amended accordingly, and, after all applications for redetermination of compensation or damages have been disposed of, the report shall be presented to the court for confirmation. The report of the commissioners as thus amended shall be final and conclusive as to all questions of fact, but the court may hear and determine questions of law arising therefrom and may order the report to be confirmed or to be recommitted to the commissioners to be reconsidered in accordance with law, or may itself make such amendments and alterations as are necessary to render the report consistent with the law. If an appeal to the supreme judicial court or exceptions are taken with respect to the order of the justice of the superior court upon the motion for final confirmation of the commissioners' report, or if the matter is reported to the supreme judicial court, the same shall be heard and determined without awaiting further proceedings in the superior court. The operation of the order shall be stayed pending the disposition of such appeal, exceptions or report, and the order shall, if necessary, be modified to conform to the decision of the supreme judicial court. After the expiration of thirty days from the final confirmation of the report, or if the same is affirmed by the supreme judicial court, of thirty days from the date of the rescript of said court, if the proceedings have not in the meantime been discontinued, and if it shall be made to appear that all laws requiring appropriations of money, to be raised by loan or otherwise, in cases of taking of property by eminent domain, in so far as applicable, have been complied with, judgment of condemnation shall be entered upon motion of the petitioner which shall be final and conclusive against all the world with respect to the validity and extent of the taking, and the right of the petitioner to assess betterments therefor, and against all parties to the proceedings with respect to the amount of compensation or damages to which any person is entitled and the amount of benefit or advantage which each parcel of land within the designated area will receive from the improvement. If judgment of condemnation is not entered within six months from the confirmation of the commissioners' report, or from the rescript of the supreme judicial court, the petition shall be dismissed upon motion of any one or more of the parties respondent. The clerk of the court shall forthwith transmit for record to every registry of deeds designated in the petition as provided in section four a certified copy of any judgment of condemnation entered under this section or of any interlocutory judgment of condemnation entered under section eleven.
MA Gen L ch 80a § 11 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments|Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings|Section 11 - Abandonment or Discontinuance of Proceedings

Section 11. The board may at any time before final judgment of condemnation abandon the proposed improvement and discontinue the proceedings, in which case all action taken thereunder and under the proceedings for the laying out or establishment of such improvement shall become void; but in such case, or in case the petition shall be dismissed on motion of a party respondent under section ten, any person who has suffered damage or loss or been put to expense by the proceedings shall be entitled to recover indemnity in full by order of the court and for which execution shall issue. In case of abandonment or dismissal as aforesaid, the clerk of the court shall forthwith transmit for record to every registry of deeds designated in the petition as provided in section four a certificate that all proceedings in relation to such improvement have been discontinued or dismissed. At any time after the right of the petitioner to take the property described in the order for the purpose stated therein and to assess betterments therefor has been established, if it shall be made to appear that all laws requiring appropriations of money, to be raised by loan or otherwise, in cases of the taking of land by eminent domain, in so far as applicable, have been complied with, the court shall on motion of the petitioner enter an interlocutory judgment of condemnation, which shall have the same effect as a final judgment of condemnation, except with respect to compensation, damages and assessments for benefits, and the proceedings shall continue as herein provided with respect to compensation, damages, and assessments; but the petitioner shall not thereafter have the right to discontinue the proceedings.
MA Gen L ch 80a § 12 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments|Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings|Section 12 - Transfer of Property; Interest Transferred; Payment of Compensation

Section 12. The taking shall become absolute and the right of the body politic to the real estate or interest therein described in the petition and the right of the respondents to compensation or damages shall vest upon the entry of either final or interlocutory judgment of condemnation, and it shall have immediate right of entry and possession, subject to the rights of the owners under section two with respect to structures and trees. The compensation or damages shall be payable when vested, or as soon thereafter as they are finally determined, and if not then paid may be recovered in an action of contract. In case two or more persons have appeared in the proceedings as parties respondent with interests adverse to each other with respect to a particular parcel of land, the body politic shall not be bound to pay such compensation until one or more of such persons have established his or their rights thereto in proper judicial proceedings to which the others of such persons are parties; but the proceedings to determine the amount of compensation shall not be stayed pending the establishment of such rights. Compensation and damages shall be assessed as of the date of the adoption of the order, and shall bear interest at the rate of six per cent per annum from the date when the right to damages becomes vested until payable, but shall not bear interest after they are payable unless the body politic fails upon demand to pay the same to the person entitled thereto. The body politic shall not pay compensation or damages to any person in excess of its estimate, except in accordance with an award of the commissioners, nor in excess of the award of the commissioners, except as amended in accordance with a verdict of the jury.
MA Gen L ch 80a § 13 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments|Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings|Section 13 - Taxation of Costs

Section 13. If the petition is dismissed under section seven, costs, as in actions at law, shall be awarded to the respondents, in addition to indemnity for loss and damages as provided in section eleven. If, upon entry of an interlocutory or final judgment of condemnation it appears that a respondent has been awarded greater compensation or damages than was allotted to him in the estimate contained in the order adopted under sections two and three or if betterments to be assessed on the land of any respondent have been determined to be less than as estimated in said order, such respondent shall be entitled to such costs; otherwise, he shall be liable for such costs.
MA Gen L ch 80a § 14 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments|Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings|Section 14 - Assessment of Improvements; Assessment Lien; Effective Date

Section 14. If the right to assess betterments has been established, the board, within six months after the completion of the improvement, shall assess a proportionate share of the whole or part of the cost thereof upon each parcel of land with respect to which a benefit or advantage has been determined as herein provided and in the amount so determined, unless the betterments so assessed shall exceed the cost of the improvement, in which case they shall be proportionately reduced; and such assessments shall not thereafter be abated. The lien for such assessments shall take effect upon the recording of the order of intention to take under section three.
MA Gen L ch 80a § 15 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments|Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings|Section 15 - Application of Sections Controlling Eminent Domain and Betterments; Fees of Guardians and Commissioners

Section 15. The provisions of chapters seventy-nine and eighty, and all other provisions of law relative to proceedings under said chapters, shall apply to proceedings under this chapter, and to betterments assessed thereunder, so far as applicable and not inconsistent with the provisions hereof; but no petition for the assessment of compensation or damages or for the abatement of an assessment shall be maintained by any person who has been made a party to the proceedings for condemnation or with respect to property the record owners of which at the time of the adoption of the order under section two have been made parties thereto. Failure to make any person having an interest in the land taken, damaged or assessed a party respondent under section four shall not invalidate the proceedings, but such person shall not be bound by the judgment in the proceedings in respect to compensation, damages or assessments. The court shall determine the compensation of guardians ad litem and commissioners appointed under this chapter, and shall have power to establish and regulate the procedure thereunder, so far as not therein prescribed.
MA Gen L ch 80a § 16 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments|Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings|Section 16 - Election to Proceed Under This Chapter

Section 16. In any case where the commonwealth, or a county, city, town or district thereof, has been or shall be authorized by provisions of general or special law to take real estate or any interest therein by eminent domain under chapter seventy-nine, the officer or board of officers thereof authorized to exercise such power may, unless otherwise provided, elect to take such property or interest under this chapter and, if betterments are to be assessed, to assess the same hereunder.
MA Gen L ch 81 § 1 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 81 - State Highways|Section 1 - Powers and Duties

Section 1. The division of highways, in this chapter called the department, shall compile statistics relative to the public ways of counties, cities and towns, and make such investigations relative thereto as it considers expedient. It may be consulted by, and shall without charge advise, officers of counties, cities or towns having the care of and authority over public ways as to their construction, maintenance, alteration or repair; but such advice shall not impair the legal duties and obligations of any county, city or town. It shall prepare maps of the commonwealth on which shall be shown county, city and town boundaries, the public ways and the state highways, with their names if practicable, and may sell such maps or other maps prepared by it from time to time in connection with the work under its charge relative to highways at such prices and on such conditions as it may determine. It shall collect, collate and make available, geoscience data of the commonwealth, for the purpose of aiding in the search for and evaluation of reserve sources of water, gas, materials suitable for road building and all other minerals within the land and water boundaries of the commonwealth, the location of which it shall, so far as practicable, designate on maps which shall be open to inspection by the public. It shall give public notice of and hold at least one public meeting annually in each county for the open discussion of questions relative to the public ways.
MA Gen L ch 81 § 2 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 81 - State Highways|Section 2 - Road Information; Duties of Local Officials

Section 2. County commissioners and city and town officers who have the care of and authority over public ways shall, on request, furnish the department with any information required by it concerning such ways.
MA Gen L ch 81 § 3 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 81 - State Highways|Section 3 - Purchase and Maintenance of Road Machinery; Storage Quarters

Section 3. Steam road rollers and other road machinery, purchased by the department and owned by the commonwealth shall be managed and maintained under the direction of the department, which may engage competent engineers and mechanics to operate and keep said machines in repair, may purchase all needed materials and supplies, and may incur such other expenses as may be necessary to operate, maintain and transport said machines. Upon the application of the selectmen or road commissioners of a town of not more than twelve thousand inhabitants, the department may furnish such road machinery for use by the town in building or repairing ways therein. The expenses incurred under this section shall be paid by the towns using said machines, as apportioned and directed by the department. For the purpose of providing suitable quarters for the storage of supplies, the storage and repair of road rollers and other road machinery and tools and other equipment owned by the commonwealth and for the construction, operation and maintenance of inter-departmental communications systems, the department may, subject to the approval of the governor and council, take by eminent domain or acquire by purchase or gift land and buildings and construct or alter buildings or other structures on any land so acquired. Any person whose property has been taken or injured by any action of the department under authority of this section may recover compensation therefor from the commonwealth under chapter seventy-nine.
MA Gen L ch 81 § 4 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 81 - State Highways|Section 4 - Petition

Section 4. If county commissioners, aldermen or selectmen adjudge that public necessity and convenience require that the commonwealth lay out and take charge of a new or existing way as a highway in whole or in part, in their county, city or town, they may apply, by a written petition, to the department, requesting that said way be laid out and taken charge of by the commonwealth.
MA Gen L ch 81 § 5 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 81 - State Highways|Section 5 - Filing of Highway Plan; Right to Abandon or Discontinue; Width of Highway

Section 5. If the department determines, after public notice and a hearing of all parties interested, that public necessity and convenience require that a way should be laid out or be taken charge of by the commonwealth, it shall file in the office of the county commissioners for the county where the way is situated a certified copy of a plan thereof and a certified copy of a certificate that it has laid out and taken charge of said way in accordance with said plan, and shall file in the office of the clerk of each town where the way is situated a copy of the plan showing the location of the portion lying therein and a copy of the certificate that it has laid out and taken charge of said highway in accordance with said plan, and thereafter said way shall be a state highway, and shall be constructed by the department at the expense of the commonwealth; but any state highway so laid out and constructed may be abandoned or discontinued as provided in section twelve. The width of a state highway shall be such as the department deems necessary. If the width of a state highway be less than that of the way previously existing, that portion of the way which lies between the boundary or location lines of the state highway and the boundary lines of the way previously existing shall remain a public way unless the department determines that it should be abandoned, or the county commissioners of the county, or the city or town in which the way is situated, having jurisdiction of the way, abandon at any time said portion in the manner provided by law for the alteration, relocation or discontinuance of public ways.
MA Gen L ch 81 § 6 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 81 - State Highways|Section 6 - Alteration of Location

Section 6. The department may alter the location of a state highway in a city or town by filing a plan thereof and a certificate that the department has laid out and taken charge of said state highway, as altered in accordance with said plan, in the office of the county commissioners for the county where said highway is situated, and by filing a copy of the plan or location as altered in the office of the clerk of such city or town.
MA Gen L ch 81 § 7 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 81 - State Highways|Section 7 - Acquisition of Land Outside Limits of Existing Highway

Section 7. If it is necessary to acquire land for the purposes of a state highway outside the limits of an existing public way, the department may take the same by eminent domain on behalf of the commonwealth under chapter seventy-nine. When injury has been caused to the real estate of any person by the laying out or alteration of a state highway, he may recover compensation therefor from the commonwealth under chapter seventy-nine. The mayor, if so authorized by the aldermen, or the selectmen, if so authorized by the town, may stipulate in writing in behalf of the city or town to indemnify and save harmless the commonwealth against all claims and demands for damages which may be sustained by any persons whose property has been taken for, or has been injured by the laying out or alteration of, any highway which the department proposes to lay out and construct or alter as a state highway, and thereupon such city or town shall be liable ultimately for the amount of any verdict against the commonwealth for such damages, and for costs, and the amount thereof may be recovered by the commonwealth in contract.
MA Gen L ch 81 § 7a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 81 - State Highways|Section 7a - Acquisition of Land to Alter or Relocate Ways Connecting With State Highways

Section 7A. In connection with the laying out, alteration or reconstruction of a state highway, the department may alter or relocate connecting ways as may be necessary. Land or rights in land may be acquired for this purpose by eminent domain under chapter seventy-nine by the department in behalf of the city or town in which the land lies, or in behalf of the commonwealth, at the option of the department. The department may take or acquire by eminent domain under said chapter, easements in land outside the location of limited access state highways, said easements to be taken in behalf of those owners of land abutting said highways, whose rights of access to and egress from their land, and any other rights necessary to make the same available for use, will become inoperative due to the construction of said highway. Control of the land or rights in the land acquired under this section shall not vest in the city or town until such time as the work for which the land or rights in land have been acquired has been completed by said department, except that the city or town shall be responsible for snow and ice control on such portions of the highway as may be opened to traffic prior to final completion or acceptance of the project. Any person whose property has been taken or injured by any action of said department under authority of this section may recover from the commonwealth under chapter seventy-nine such damages therefor as he may be entitled to.
MA Gen L ch 81 § 7b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 81 - State Highways|Section 7b - Acquisition of Slope Easement to Protect Existing Ways

Section 7B. Wherever in this chapter the department is authorized to take land by eminent domain under chapter seventy-nine, in connection with the laying out, widening or relocating of a public way, the department shall be authorized to take, or institute proceedings for the taking of, an easement in land adjoining the location of the public way consisting of the right to have the land of the location protected by having the surface of the adjoining land slope from the boundary of the location.
MA Gen L ch 81 § 7d (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XIV - Public Ways and Works|Chapter 81 - State Highways|Section 7d - Public Utility Easements and Cattle Passes

Section 7D. The department may grant easements within state highway locations for wires, pipes, poles, conduits and cattle passes.