reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 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 11/2 - Certificates of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth; Filing

Section 11/2. The state registrar shall establish a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth for fetal deaths, as defined in section 202 of chapter 111, occurring in the commonwealth after a gestational period of 20 weeks or more. The certificate shall be issued only at the request of either individual listed as mother or father on the report of fetal death. The certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth shall meet all of the format requirements for a certificate of live birth as provided in this chapter and in section 4 of chapter 17. If the parents of the stillborn child decide not to name the stillborn child, the person preparing a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth shall leave blank any references to the stillborn child's name.
The certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth shall be filed with the state registrar within 10 days after the delivery. When a birth resulting in stillbirth occurring in the commonwealth has not been registered within 1 year after the date of delivery, a certificate marked ''delayed'' may be filed and registered in accordance with regulations of the department of public health relating to evidentiary and other requirements sufficient to substantiate the alleged facts of birth resulting in stillbirth.
2023 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 12 - Certified Copies of Birth Certificates and Death Records; Transmission to Parents or Next of Kin; Exceptions

Section 12. Except as hereinafter provided, the clerk of a city or town shall forthwith make a certified copy of the record of each birth and death recorded during the preceding month, if the parents of the child born were at the time of said birth residents of any other city or town in the commonwealth, or if the deceased at the time of his death was a resident of any other city or town aforesaid or was a war veteran and was buried in any other city or town aforesaid, and transmit such certified copy to the clerk of the city or town where such parents or deceased person were so resident, setting forth the name of the street and number of the house, if any, where such parents or deceased person so resided and, in the case of a deceased war veteran as aforesaid, to the clerk of the city or town where he was buried, setting forth the cemetery or other place of burial. No birth record of a child born out of wedlock or of a child of abnormal sex shall be so transmitted to any other city or town except with the written authorization of the natural mother at the time of the birth.
2023 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 13a - Correction of Birth Records; Procedure

Section 13A. If it is claimed that a child was born in a city or town in this commonwealth and the clerk or registrar of such city or town has no record thereof, said clerk or registrar may receive an affidavit, signed and sworn to by a parent of such child, or, in his discretion, by some credible person or persons having knowledge of the case, setting forth the facts relating to such birth, in the manner provided by section one, and documentary evidence substantiating such facts beyond reasonable doubt. The minimum documentary evidence to be required in accordance with this section shall be determined by regulation as provided for in section four of chapter seventeen. If said clerk or registrar is satisfied as to the truth and accuracy of the statements in such affidavit and the sufficiency of the evidence submitted therewith, he shall make a record of such birth.
A person who is unable to furnish such an affidavit for the establishment of his birth record may petition the clerk or registrar of the city or town wherein it is claimed his birth occurred for the recording of his birth. If the evidence submitted by the petitioner is satisfactory to said clerk or registrar as a basis for establishing such record, he shall accept the same and record the birth. If, however, in the opinion of said clerk or registrar such evidence is not satisfactory, he shall refuse in writing to record the birth. Such person may then present a petition, together with such written refusal and his evidence to establish the validity of such record, to a judge of the probate court of the county in which such city or town is located. Written notice shall be given to said clerk or registrar of the time and place of the hearing on such petition. After such hearing, if it is the opinion of the court that such birth should be recorded, it shall be so ordered. Upon receipt of such order from said judge, said clerk or registrar shall establish the record.
2023 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 16 - Blank Forms for Vital Records; Security Features; Approval of Non-State Registrar Supplied Forms; Standards for Forms Used for Permanent Records

Section 16. The state registrar shall prepare and furnish forms of uniform size to the clerks, boards of health, physicians, hospitals, the chief medical examiner, funeral directors, probate and district courts and others involved in the preparation and registration of vital records and shall provide them with any necessary instructions and explanations as to use of such forms. All forms 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. All forms and other materials that are used for preparation of vital records but are not supplied by the state registrar shall be approved by the state registrar. All forms used for permanent records shall meet standards established by the state registrar, which standards shall be no less stringent than the current standards of the supervisor of public records and the state archivist for materials, devices and preservation.
2023 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 17 - Birth Records; State Registrar; Originals; Certified Copies

Section 17. Effective January 1, 2000, the clerk of each town and of each city shall, on or before the tenth day of the second month following every month in which births occurred in the city or town, transmit to the state registrar, upon forms furnished by him, the original records of such births and any documentary evidence including voluntary acknowledgments signed by the parents and adjudications of paternity entered by the court. The clerk of each city and town shall retain a certified copy of said birth records. If no births occurred in the city or town during the month for which a report is required, a report of such fact shall be sent on forms provided by the state registrar. Prior to January 1, 2000, the city or town clerk in which the birth occurred shall forward to the state registrar a certified copy of each record of birth and original copies of all acknowledgments and adjudications of paternity filed with such birth records. The city or town clerk shall make an attested, certified copy of these documents for the files of the office of the city or town clerk.
2023 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 17a - Marriage Records; State Registrar; Originals; Certified Copies

Section 17A. Effective January 1, 2000, the clerk of each city and town shall, on or before the tenth day of the second month following every month in which marriages are solemnized, transmit to the state registrar upon forms furnished by him, the original record of such marriages and all documentary evidence. Certified copies of the marriages shall be retained by said clerk. If no marriages were filed for the month of the report, a report of such fact shall be transmitted to the state registrar. Prior to January 1, 2000, the clerk shall maintain all original documents and transmit to the state registrar a certified copy of each record of marriage. The clerk of each city and town shall annually, not later than April 15, report to the state registrar on forms furnished by him the number of intentions filed in the clerk's office, and the number of intentions on which licenses were not issued, or, if issued, not returned to the clerk.
2023 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 17b - Death Records; State Registrar; Originals; Certified Copies

Section 17B. Effective January 1, 2000, the clerk of each city and town shall, on or before the tenth day of the month, transmit to the state registrar upon forms furnished by him, the original records of death and any documentation relating to said certificates of death recorded therein during the preceding month or, in case no such deaths have occurred, a certificate of such fact. The clerk in the city or town shall retain a certified copy of the record of said death. Prior to January 1, 2000, the clerk shall maintain all original documents and supporting documentation and transmit to the state registrar a certified copy of each record of death.
2023 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 17c - Original Forms and Evidence of Amendments and Corrections in Birth, Marriage and Death Records

Section 17C. The original form and documentary evidence of such amendments and corrections in birth, marriage and death records as have not been previously returned shall be transmitted to the state registrar by the tenth day of the following month. A certified copy of any such forms completed by the clerk shall be retained by said clerk.
2023 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 17d - Amended Birth, Marriage and Death Records; Certified Copies to Holders of Originals

Section 17D. If an amendment to a birth, death or marriage record is completed at the state registry, the state registrar shall forward a certified copy of the amended birth, death or marriage record to all cities and towns holding an original or certified copy of the initial record within ten days of recording such event. If a delayed record of birth or death or other return of birth or death is recorded by the state registry, the state registrar shall transmit a certified copy of a delayed record of marriage to the town clerk where the original intention of marriage was filed. In cases where no such intention has been filed, the state registrar shall transmit such certified copy to the town clerk in the community where the marriage occurred.
2023 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 18 - Script Used on Forms; State Standards for Uniformity, Security, Materials, Devices and Preservation

Section 18. Records transmitted by the town clerk under section 12 and sections 17 to 17D, inclusive, shall be written in legible hand, typewritten, printed using an electronic format approved by the state registrar or printed using the centralized, automated database operated by the state registrar pursuant to section 32. All forms and formats shall have the prior approval of the state registrar and shall meet state standards for uniformity, security, materials, devices and preservation.
2023 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 19 - Use of Records as Evidence

Section 19. The record of the town clerk relative to a birth, marriage or death shall be prima facie evidence of the facts recorded, but nothing contained in the record of a death which has reference to the question of liability for causing the death shall be admissible in evidence. A certificate of such a record, signed by the town clerk or assistant clerk, or a certificate of the copy of the record relative to a birth, marriage or death required to be kept in the department of public health, signed by the commissioner of public health or the registrar of vital records and statistics, shall be admissible as evidence of such record. Upon request for an abbreviated record of a birth, marriage or death, the clerk or assistant clerk, commissioner of public health or registrar of vital records and statistics, shall make an abstract of the record of the same without notation thereon of the name of the parent or parents, except by request of the applicant. Upon the written request of the person to whom the record relates or of either of his parents, the clerk or assistant clerk, commissioner of public health or registrar of vital records and statistics, shall issue a certified copy of a birth record containing no reference to the color of said person or his parents.
2023 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 19a - Unauthorized Reproduction of Records; Penalty

Section 19A. Reproductions of certificates or records referred to in section nineteen by any person other than the town clerk, assistant clerk, commissioner of public health shall be prohibited, except that a register of deeds, register of probate or other county, state, municipal or federal official keeper of public records may, in the course of his official duties, reproduce such certificates or records as are required in his office. Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.
2023 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 19b - Certified Copies of Birth Records; Restricted Information Regarding Mother

Section 19B. A certified copy of a birth record furnished under section two A shall not, unless the applicant so requests or unless the certificate is to be used in conjunction with a judicial proceeding, include the name of or any other information regarding the mother.
2023 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 19c - Authentication of Copies of Birth, Marriage and Death Records; Use as Evidence

Section 19C. The state registrar shall use the seal of the department of public health for the purpose of authenticating copies of birth, marriage and death records, and copies of such records when certified by him and authenticated by said seal, shall be evidence like the originals.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts › Section 12 - Compensation

Section 12. Payment shall be made to forest wardens, their deputies, and persons assisting them, and for property used under their direction at a forest fire, at a rate prescribed by the town or, in default of its action thereon, by the selectmen. No such payment shall be made until an itemized account, approved by the forest warden under whose direction the work was done or assistance furnished, shall have been filed with the officer making payment.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts › Section 13 - Setting Open Air Fires; Conditions and Restrictions; Penalty for Violation

Section 13. No person shall set, maintain or increase a fire in the open air at any time except by permission, covering a period not exceeding two days from the date thereof, granted by the forest warden or chief of the fire department in cities and towns, or, in cities having such an official, the fire commissioner; provided, that if such permission is not in writing, a written record of the granting thereof, setting forth the date upon which permission was granted, the dates covered by such permission, the name and address of the person to whom, and the manner in which, such permission was granted, and any other necessary information relative thereto, shall be made and kept by the forest warden, chief or fire commissioner, as the case may be, and shall be open to public inspection; and provided further, that persons eighteen years of age or older may, without a permit, set, maintain or increase a reasonable fire for the purpose of cooking, upon sandy or gravelly land free from living or dead vegetation or upon sandy or rocky beaches bordering on tidewater, if the fire is enclosed within rocks, metal or other nonflammable material. The forest warden, chief or fire commissioner, as the case may be, may make it a condition for granting a permit that any burning shall be done only after four o'clock (eastern standard time) in the afternoon, and in the case of a permit for a demolition burning may make it a condition for granting such permit that sufficient fire department personnel, to be assigned by proper authority at the expense of the person seeking such permit, shall be present at such burning to control the fire until it is entirely extinguished. Any permit granted under this section may be revoked at any time. The forester may make rules and regulations relating to the granting and revocation of such permits binding throughout the commonwealth. Such rules and regulations shall take effect subject to section thirty-seven of chapter thirty, when approved by the governor and council. The forest wardens in towns and officials performing the duties of forest wardens in cities shall cause public notice to be given of the provisions of this section and shall enforce the same. Whoever violates any provision of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500 plus the cost of suppression or by imprisonment for not more than one month or both. In this section, a demolition burning shall mean a fire set for the purpose of burning debris resulting from the demolition of buildings.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts › Section 15 - Powers of Arrest

Section 15. The forester, the state fire warden or any duly authorized assistant, the forest warden in a town or the official performing the duties of a forest warden in a city, or any duly appointed deputy forest warden, the director of the division of fisheries and wildlife, an environmental police officer or deputy environmental police officer or a fish and game warden may arrest without warrant any person found in the act of setting, maintaining or increasing a fire in violation of section thirteen. They shall take precautions to prevent the progress of forest fires, or the improper kindling thereof, and upon the discovery of any such fire shall immediately require the necessary assistance in accordance with section ten, the provisions of which and of sections eleven and twelve are hereby made applicable in such case, and shall notify the local forest warden.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts › Section 16 - Definitions

Section 16. For the purposes of this section and section sixteen A, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
''Forest or woods road'', any permanently maintained road that is not a highway, the primary use of which is access to forest lands for the purpose of forest management or presuppression and suppression of forest fires.
''Highway'', any state road or land maintained by the department of highways of the commonwealth or any municipal or county maintained road, or private road other than a forest or woods road, of sufficient width to permit the simultaneous passage of two or more vehicles.
''Slash'', tops, branches, damaged trees, slabs, sawdust from milling operations, or debris left from logging or land clearing operations.
Every owner, lessee, tenant or occupant of lands, or their agents or employees, or any such person or entity holding rights or interest in said land or the timber thereon, or any rights or interests therein, except electric, telephone and telegraph companies, who cuts or permits the cutting of brush, wood or timber on lands which border upon woodland of another, or upon a highway or railroad location, or upon any forest or woods road to which the public has authorized access, shall dispose of the slash caused by such cutting in accordance with the following manner:
(a) hardwood slash shall not remain more than two feet above the ground within forty feet of any woodland of another, or of any railroad location, or of the outer edge of the boundary of any highway, or twenty feet from the outer edge of any forest or woods road;
(b) softwood slash shall not remain on the ground within forty feet of any woodland of another, or of any railroad location, or of the outer edge of the boundary of any highway, and shall not lie more than two feet above the ground between forty feet and one hundred feet of the outer edge of the boundary of any highway, or twenty-five feet from the edge of any forest or woods road;
(c) all slash resulting from such cutting operations shall be disposed of in such a manner as to minimize the danger from fire. No slash shall be permitted within twenty-five feet of any continuously flowing brook or stream, pond, river or water supply. The director of the division of forests and parks may make exceptions to this procedure in the preparation or approval of cutting plans; provided, however, that any exceptions made on lands adjacent to a state highway shall be approved by the commissioner of the department of highways.
This section shall apply to cutting operations subject to the provisions of chapter one hundred and thirty-two.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts › Section 16a - Handling of Slash

Section 16A. Every owner, lessee, tenant or occupant of lands, or their agents or employees, or any such person or entity holding rights or interest in said lands or the timber thereon, or of any rights or interests therein, except electric, telephone and telegraph companies, who cuts or permits the cutting of brush, wood or timber on lands which border upon woodland of another, or upon a highway or railroad location, shall dispose of the slash caused by such cutting in such a manner that the same will not remain on the ground within forty feet of any woodland of another, or of any railroad location, or within one hundred feet from the center of any highway, and all slash resulting from such cutting operations shall be cut and scattered in such a manner as to minimize the danger from fire. Wherever multiple highway systems exist adjacent to cuttings, no slash shall be permitted within one hundred feet from the outer edge of the highway. No slash shall be permitted within twenty-five feet of any brook, stream, pond, river or water supply.
This section shall apply to cutting or clearing operations not subject to the provisions of chapter one hundred and thirty-two.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts › Section 17 - Disposition of Slash Cut Near Highways

Section 17. Any person who cuts or causes to be cut trees, brush or undergrowth within the limits of any highway, shall dispose of the slash and brush then and there resulting from such cutting in such a manner that the same will not remain on the ground within the limits of said highway.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts › Section 18 - Disposition of Slash Cut by Public Utility Companies

Section 18. Electric, telephone and telegraph companies which, at the time of erecting their transmission lines, cut or cause to be cut brush, wood or timber on land which borders upon woodland of another, or upon a highway or railroad location, shall dispose of the slash caused by such cutting in such a manner that the same will not remain on the ground within forty feet of any woodland of another, or of any highway or railroad location; such companies which after the erection of their lines trim or cut brush, wood or timber which has grown up since the line was erected, and which borders upon woodland of another, or upon a highway or railroad location, shall, upon the request of the forester, and within a time limit set by him, dispose of the slash of second or subsequent cuttings if the same in his opinion constitutes a menace to adjoining property.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts › Section 19 - Enforcement of Regulations Prohibiting Accumulations of Slash

Section 19. The forester, or any duly authorized assistant, the state fire warden and the forest wardens in cities and towns are hereby authorized to inspect wood or lumber operations, and also the rights of way of electric, telephone and telegraph companies' transmission lines, to determine whether the slash and brush are disposed of in accordance with sections sixteen to eighteen, inclusive.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts › Section 20 - Penalty for Violating Provisions Prohibiting Accumulations of Slash

Section 20. Violation of any provision of sections 16 to 18, inclusive, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $250 nor more than $2,500.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 48 - Fires, Fire Departments and Fire Districts › Section 21 - Spark Arresters; Requirements; Penalty for Noncompliance

Section 21. Whoever operates in or adjacent to forest or grasslands any equipment or vehicle which burns any spark producing material as fuel, unless the same is provided with a suitable spark arrester approved by the United States Department of Forestry, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $100 and the cost of suppression if such operation results in a response from a fire department.