reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 9 - Temporary Clerks

Section 9. In the case of the absence, death or removal of a clerk of a court of the district court department, the chief justice of the district court department may appoint a temporary clerk, to act until the clerk resumes his duties or until the vacancy is filled.
In the case of the absence, death or removal of a clerk of a court of the Boston municipal court department, the chief justice of the Boston municipal department may appoint a temporary clerk, to act until the clerk resumes his duties or until the vacancy is filled.
A temporary clerk shall be paid by the commonwealth for each day's service an amount equal to the rate by the day of the compensation of the clerk of such court as established in the salary schedule set forth in section seventy-nine; but compensation so paid to a temporary clerk for service, in excess of the number of days of vacation accumulated by the clerk as provided in section eight in any one year, shall be deducted by the state treasurer from the salary of the clerk; provided, however, that if a clerk is absent, due to his illness or physical disability, for a period not exceeding the number of days of sick leave he has accumulated pursuant to said section eight, no such deduction shall be made. Such thirty days sick leave or any portion thereof not used in any year may be accumulated, but shall, in any event not exceed one hundred and eighty days in any consecutive six-year period. If the person so appointed holds an office or position, the salary or compensation for which is paid out of the treasury of the commonwealth, or of a county, or a municipality, he shall not receive the salary of both office or positions during the period of such temporary service.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 10a - Deputy Assistant Clerks; Power to Designate

Section 10A. The clerk of each district court, except the central division of the Boston municipal court department, may, designate such employees in his office, as in his judgment may be necessary for the convenience of the public, as deputy assistant clerks of said court, who shall have the same authority to administer oaths as an assistant clerk of a district court without receiving any extra compensation therefor.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 11 - Temporary Assistant Clerks

Section 11. In case of the absence, death or removal of a salaried assistant clerk of the district court department and the Boston municipal court department, the clerk, subject to the approval of the court administrator as to compliance with personnel standards promulgated pursuant to section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B, may appoint a temporary assistant clerk, to act until such assistant clerk resumes his duties or until the vacancy is filled. A temporary assistant clerk shall be paid by the commonwealth for each day's service an amount equal to the rate by the day of the compensation of such assistant clerk as established by section eighty, but compensation so paid to a temporary assistant clerk for service, in excess of the number of days of vacation accumulated by the assistant clerk as provided in section ten in any one year, shall be deducted by the state treasurer from the salary of such assistant clerk; provided, however, that if an assistant clerk is absent due to his illness or physical disability for a period not exceeding the number of days of sick leave he has accumulated, no such deduction shall be made. Such thirty day sick leave or any portion thereof not used in any year may be accumulated, but shall, in any event, not exceed one hundred and eighty days in any consecutive six-year period.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 12 - Clerks; Oath of Office; Duties and Powers

Section 12. The clerks, assistant clerks, temporary clerks and temporary assistant clerks of said courts shall be sworn, and in the case of any such assistant clerk, temporary clerk or temporary assistant clerk the oath of office may be administered by the justice or a special or associate justice of his court, who shall, upon administering the same, forthwith make return of such act with the date thereof to the state secretary. They or one of them shall attend all sessions of the court and shall keep a record of all its proceedings. The clerks shall have the care and custody of all the records, books and papers, whether in physical or electronic form, appertaining to, or filed or deposited in, their respective offices. A clerk may make and issue writs and processes, shall make returns of the court, tax bills of costs and receive fines, forfeitures, fees and costs accruing from the civil and criminal business of the court, including fees for blanks and copies.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 13 - Records; Storage

Section 13. The records, papers and documents of the district courts may, subject to the approval of the supervisor of public records, be stored and kept in the trial court electronic document management system or in fireproof rooms, vaults and safes, provided by the commonwealth in the towns where the divisions are respectively situated, or in the courthouses.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 14 - Facsimile or Electronic Rendering of Signatures

Section 14. Clerks and assistant clerks of district courts may sign process issued by the said courts, and court records, documents or other legal papers, or copies thereof, relating to criminal, delinquent, wayward and neglected cases made or issued by such clerks or assistant clerks in conformity with law, except search warrants and process authorizing arrests or commitments, by imprinting thereon a facsimile or electronic rendering of the signature of the clerk or assistant clerk; and such signatures shall have the same validity as their written signatures.
Complaints for violations of the parking law, brought under section twenty A or section twenty C of chapter ninety, may be signed by the complainant by imprinting thereon a facsimile or electronic rendering of his signature. Such signature shall have the same validity as his written signature.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 15 - Times for Holding Trials; Office Hours

Section 15. The chief justice for the district court department, and the chief justice for the Boston municipal court department, shall prescribe the times for holding civil and criminal trials in their respective departments, and the divisions thereof, except where such times are established by law, and the hours when their respective departments, and divisions, shall open for the transaction of business, and shall also prescribe reasonable office hours for the clerks of their respective divisions, during which hours the offices of such clerks shall be open, and may authorize such clerks to operate their offices on Saturdays with reduced personnel. Such hours shall be fixed with reference to the business of said divisions and the convenience of the public and of attorneys, and notice thereof shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the offices of the respective clerks. Clerks shall also keep their offices open whenever the court so orders.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 16 - Bond of Clerk

Section 16. The clerk of a division of the district court department before entering upon the performance of his official duties, and thereafter, at intervals of not more than one year, so long as he continues to hold such office, shall give to the commonwealth a bond, conditioned to perform faithfully his official duties, with a surety company authorized to transact business in the commonwealth, as surety, in a sum approved by the chief justice of the district court department, but in no event less than five thousand dollars. Failure to give such bond shall be sufficient cause for his removal.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 17 - Justice, Clerk or Assistant Clerk; Restrictions on Practice of Law; Special Justices; Restrictions on Hearing or Trying Cases

Section 17. A justice, clerk or assistant clerk of a district court shall not be retained or employed as an attorney in an action, complaint or proceeding pending in the court to which he is appointed, or which has been examined or tried therein; and a special justice shall not be so retained or employed in any case in which he acts or has acted as justice. No justice or special justice shall hear or try any case or proceeding in any court of the district court department, if he shall know that a partner or office associate of his has been directly or indirectly retained or employed as an attorney in such case or proceeding. No special justice shall practice in a criminal session of any court in the commonwealth nor shall he practice at all in the court, or predecessor district court, to which he is appointed.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 18 - Justices and Clerks; Receipt of Certain Fees; Prohibition

Section 18. A justice, special justice acting in the place of the justice, clerk or assistant clerk of a district court shall not receive any fee or compensation to his own use, other than his regular salary or allowance, for making complaints or issuing in any capacity warrants, subpoenas or other criminal processes which he is authorized to issue, or for any official services performed by him in court. A clerk or assistant clerk shall not receive, in addition to his salary, any fee or compensation for making out bail papers, or for admitting a prisoner to bail while the court is in session or during the hours when his office is required to be open.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 19 - General Provisions

[See Standing Order of the Supreme Court, dated July 17, 2019, effective January 1, 2020, and applicable to civil actions for money damages commenced on or after that date (MA R S CT SDG ORDERS Amount-in-Controversy) which increased the amount-in-controversy from $25,000 to $50,000.]
Section 19. Except as otherwise provided by law, the district court and Boston municipal court departments shall have original jurisdiction of civil actions for money damages. The actions may proceed in the courts only if there is no reasonable likelihood that recovery by the plaintiff will exceed $25,000, or an amount ordered from time to time by the supreme judicial court. Where multiple damages are allowed by law, the amount of single damages claimed shall control. Notwithstanding the limitation of $25,000, or other amount ordered by the supreme judicial court, the district courts may proceed with actions for money damages in any amount in summary process actions. The Boston municipal and district court departments shall have original jurisdiction concurrent with the probate and family court department of actions relative to paternity and support under chapter two hundred and nine C. The district courts shall also have jurisdiction of actions in summary process under chapter two hundred and thirty-nine and in the hearing and disposition of such actions shall have the same equitable powers and jurisdiction as is provided for the divisions of the housing court department pursuant to section three of chapter one hundred and eighty-five C. The Boston municipal and district court departments shall have original jurisdiction concurrent with the probate and family court department of proceedings under chapter two hundred and nine D. They shall have jurisdiction of proceedings transferred to them under the provisions of section four A of chapter two hundred and eleven.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 19c - District Court Jurisdiction; Equity Powers and Rules

Section 19C. The district court and Boston municipal court departments of the trial court shall have the same equitable powers and jurisdiction as is provided for the superior court pursuant to chapter 214 and the same authority with regard to declaratory judgments as is provided for the superior court pursuant to chapter 231A for the purpose of the hearing and disposition of summary process actions and of civil actions for money damages under section 19 of this chapter.
The district courts shall have original jurisdiction in rem and personam of all actions arising under sections one hundred and twenty-seven A to one hundred and twenty-seven K, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and eleven. The district courts shall have equity powers only to the extent necessary to enforce the aforementioned sections, including the power to appoint receivers, grant injunctions and issue restraining orders as justice and equity may require and for punishing civil contempt of orders, rulings and decrees made or pronounced in the exercise of this jurisdiction.
Subject to the approval of the supreme judicial court, the chief justice for the district court department may from time to time promulgate rules and prescribe forms for the efficient operation of such equity sessions in the courts of the district court department; and in the Boston municipal court department the chief justice for said department may promulgate such rules and prescribe such forms.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 19d - Housing Specialists; Appointment; Knowledge Requisites; Powers and Duties

Section 19D. The first justice of a district court may appoint, subject to appropriation, and subject to the approval of the chief justice of the district court department, such number of housing specialists as the first justice of said department may from time to time determine. The first justice may designate one of them as chief housing specialist for the court. All housing specialists shall hold office at the pleasure of the first justice of the district court, subject, however, to retirement under the provisions of any applicable general or special law relative to retirement systems. All housing specialists shall be knowledgeable in the maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation of dwelling units; the problems of landlord and tenant as they pertain to dwelling units; the types of funds and services available to assist landlords and tenants in the financing and resolution of such problems; the federal and state laws, rules and regulations pertaining to the maintenance, repair and rehabilitation of such units; and the financing and resolution of such problems. The housing specialists shall have such powers and perform such duties as the first justice of the district court shall from time to time prescribe with regard to actions pending before the court under chapter two hundred and thirty-nine. Every housing specialist shall be sworn by the first justice of the district court, who shall, upon administering the oath, forthwith make return of such act with the date thereof to the state secretary.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 20 - Actions Against Executors and Administrators, and Against Bail

Section 20. District courts shall also have jurisdiction of civil actions against executors and administrators under section ten of chapter two hundred and thirty, and shall further have jurisdiction of civil actions against bail taken in a civil action in the district courts.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 22 - Procedure

Section 22. The procedure shall include the beginning of actions with an entry fee of $20 for claims of $500 for less and $30 for claims of greater than $500, plus the surcharge required by section four C of chapter two hundred and sixty-two, but without summons and complaint and without requirement, except by special order of court, of any pleading other than a concise written statement of the claim. The procedure shall include notice by first class mail instead of the mode of service heretofore required, and shall include provisions for early hearing. The procedure may include the modification of any or all rules of pleading and practice, anything contained in other chapters, sections or acts notwithstanding, and may include a stay of the entry of judgment or of the issue of execution and authority in the court, in its discretion, after proper inquiry, to order payment to the prevailing party of the amount found due on or before a day stated or by instalments, to modify, extend or vacate such order and, in its discretion, to enforce such order by contempt proceedings, substantially in the manner provided in chapter two hundred and twenty-four, and to provide therefor in the rules for the procedure. Said rules for the procedure may provide for the elimination of any or all fees and costs, and that costs shall be in the discretion of the court. In causes begun under the procedure, the court may on application for cause shown issue writs of attachment of property.
At the commencement of an action under the procedure the plaintiff shall be informed that such action may be submitted for mediation and resolution at the request of either party and with the agreement of both parties. The clerk-magistrate shall make appropriate note of any agreement so reached, and entry of judgment shall be made by the court. Any action which is not resolved by agreement may, at the request of any party, be heard by a clerk-magistrate under the provisions of sections twenty-one to twenty-five, inclusive; provided, however, that cases heard before a jury of six must be heard by a justice.
The procedure shall include the beginning of actions with an entry fee of $30 for claims of $500 or less, $40 for claims of greater than $500 but less than or equal to $2000, $90 for claims of greater than $2000 but less than or equal to $5000, and $140 for claims greater than $5000, plus the surcharge required by section four C of chapter two hundred and sixty-two, but without summons and complaint and without requirement, except by special order of court, of any pleading other than a concise written statement of the claim.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 24 - Transfer to Regular Docket

Section 24. The court may, in its discretion, transfer a cause begun under the procedure to the regular civil docket for formal hearing and determination as though it had been begun by summons and complaint, and may impose terms upon such transfer.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 25 - Costs; Discretion of Court

Section 25. In any civil action begun by summons and complaint which might have been begun under the procedure, the rules for the procedure may provide, or the court may by special order direct, that the cost to be recovered by the plaintiff, if he prevails, shall be eliminated in whole or in part.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 26 - General Provisions

Section 26. The district courts and divisions of the Boston municipal court department shall have original jurisdiction, concurrent with the superior court, of the following offenses, complaint of which shall be brought in the court of the district court department, or in the Boston municipal court department, as the case may be, within which judicial district the offense was allegedly committed or is otherwise made punishable:— all violations of by-laws, orders, ordinances, rules and regulations, made by cities, towns and public officers, all misdemeanors, except libels, all felonies punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five-years, the crimes listed in paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of section eight of chapter ninety B, subparagraph (1) of paragraph (a) of subdivision (1) of section twenty-four, paragraph (a) of section twenty-four G and paragraph (1) of section twenty-four L of chapter ninety, paragraph (a) of section thirty-two and paragraph (a) of section thirty-two A of chapter ninety-four C, and section thirty-two J of chapter ninety-four C, section 38B of chapter 127, section one hundred and thirty-one E of chapter one hundred and forty, sections thirteen K, 15A, 15D, 21A and 26 of chapter two hundred and sixty-five and sections sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty-eight, thirty, forty-nine and one hundred and twenty-seven of chapter two hundred and sixty-six, and sections one, fifteen and fifteen A of chapter two hundred and seventy-three, and the crimes of malicious destruction of personal property under section one hundred and twenty-seven of chapter two hundred and sixty-six, indecent assault and battery on a child under fourteen years of age, offenses under section 13B of chapter 268, conspiracy under section 7 of chapter 274, solicitation to commit a felony under section 8 of said chapter 274, escape or attempt to escape from any penal institution, forgery of a promissory note, or of an order for money or other property, and of uttering as true such a forged note or order, knowing the same to be forged. They shall have jurisdiction of proceedings referred to them under the provisions of section four A of chapter two hundred and eleven.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 27 - Imposition of Penalties

Section 27. The district court may impose the same penalties as the superior court for all crimes of which they have jurisdiction, except that they may not impose a sentence to the state prison; provided, however, that the divisions of the juvenile court department shall have the authority to hear cases and impose penalties in accordance with the provisions of sections fifty-two through eighty-four of chapter one hundred and nineteen, and section one through nineteen of chapter one hundred and twenty.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 28 - Recognizances to Keep Peace

Section 28. District courts may require persons found guilty of any crime within their final jurisdiction, except a violation of by-laws, orders, ordinances, rules and regulations, made by cities, towns and public officers, or of the laws and regulations relative to the public health or relative to defective highways, in addition to the punishment prescribed by law, to recognize with sureties, in a reasonable sum, to keep the peace or be of good behavior, or both, for not more than one year, and to stand committed until they so recognize. Sections thirteen, sixteen and seventeen of chapter two hundred and seventy-five shall apply to recognizances so taken.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 30 - Binding Over to Superior Court

Section 30. They shall commit or bind over for trial in the superior court persons brought before them who appear to be guilty of crimes not within their final jurisdiction, and may so commit or bind over persons brought before them who appear to be guilty of crimes within their final jurisdiction. If such a person is committed for failure to recognize as ordered, the superior court shall thereupon have jurisdiction of the case against such person for the purpose of revising the amount of bail theretofore fixed.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 32 - Complaints and Warrants

Section 32. District courts may receive complaints and issue warrants and other processes for the apprehension of persons charged with crime and found within their county, or who after committing crime therein escape therefrom, returnable before a court of the county having jurisdiction of the trial or examination of the person charged with the crime.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 32a - Inclusion of Offense-Based Tracking Number on Application for Complaint

Section 32A. An application for a criminal complaint submitted to the district court by a police department against a person arrested for a felony offense shall be accompanied by an offense-based tracking number. An otherwise valid application for a complaint submitted by a police department against a person arrested shall not preclude the issuance of a complaint merely because the application does not include an arrestee's offense-based tracking number. If a complaint is issued based on an application for a complaint submitted by a police department against a person arrested for a felony that did not include the arrestee's offense-based tracking number, the prosecutor shall submit the offense-based tracking number of the defendant to the court to be included in the case file.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 33 - Warrants and Process; Power of Clerks to Issue

Section 33. A clerk, assistant clerk, temporary clerk or temporary assistant clerk, may receive complaints, administer to complainants the oath required thereto, and issue warrants, search warrants and summonses, returnable as required when such process are issued by said courts. No other person, except a judge, shall be authorized to issue warrants, search warrants or summonses.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 34 - Arrest Without Warrant; Endorsement of Complaint by Arresting Officer

Section 34. Said courts may dispense with the issuing of a warrant if the person charged with a crime has been arrested without a warrant and brought before the court or admitted to bail; but in such case the officer making the arrest shall endorse upon the complaint a statement of his doings.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 35 - Complaints, Warrants and Process; Power to Issue; Disqualification to Hear Case; Destruction of Applications for Complaints

Section 35. A justice or special justice of a district court, or a justice of the peace who is also a clerk or assistant clerk of such a court, may at any time receive complaints and issue warrants and summonses, under his own hand and seal, and such justice or special justice may likewise issue search warrants, returnable before a court or trial justice having jurisdiction of the trial or examination of the person charged with the crime. If, after a hearing on the issuance of a complaint or a request for a search warrant, by a justice or special justice of a district court he issues such complaint or warrant, he shall be disqualified from presiding over a trial on the merits of any matter brought to trial because of such complaint or warrant if the defendant objects to his sitting before any evidence is taken.
If such an application for the issuance of a complaint is denied, the clerk of the district court wherein such application was made shall destroy such application one year after the date such application was filed, unless a justice of such court or the chief justice of the district courts shall for good cause order that such application be retained on file for a further period of time. The clerk shall enter on the face of any application so denied a conspicuous notation to that effect, and such applications shall be maintained separately from other records of such court. The provisions of this paragraph relating to the destruction of such applications shall not apply to applications filed pursuant to section twenty C of chapter ninety.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 35a - Process; Issuance on Complaints for Misdemeanors; Consideration of Criminal Records and Domestic Violence Records; Right to Hearing

Section 35A. If a complaint is received by a district court, or by a justice, associate justice or special justice thereof, or by a clerk, assistant clerk, temporary clerk or temporary assistant clerk thereof under section 32, 33 or 35, as the case may be, the person against whom such complaint is made, if not under arrest for the offense for which the complaint is made, shall, in the case of a complaint for a misdemeanor or a complaint for a felony received from a law enforcement officer who so requests, and may, in the discretion of any said officers in the case of a complaint for a felony which is not received from a law enforcement officer, be given an opportunity to be heard personally or by counsel in opposition to the issuance of any process based on such complaint unless there is an imminent threat of bodily injury, of the commission of a crime, or of flight from the commonwealth by the person against whom such complaint is made. The court or said officers referred to above shall consider the named defendant's criminal record and the records contained within the statewide domestic violence record keeping system maintained by the office of the commissioner of probation in determining whether an imminent threat of bodily injury exists. Unless a citation as defined in section 1 of chapter 90C has been issued, notice shall also be given of the manner in which he may be heard in opposition as provided herein.
The court, or said officer thereof, may upon consideration of the evidence, obtained by hearing or otherwise, cause process to be issued unless there is no probable cause to believe that the person who is the object of the complaint has committed the offense charged.
The term district court as used in this section shall include the Boston municipal court department and the juvenile court department.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 36 - Justice of Peace; Taking Bail

Section 36. The governor, with the advice and consent of the council, may from time to time, upon the petition of the aldermen or the selectmen of any town within the judicial district of a district court, except a town in which the clerk of such court resides, designate and commission a justice of the peace residing in such town to take bail in criminal cases arising within said judicial district.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 37 - Process for Witnesses and Defendants in Criminal and Juvenile Cases; Direction and Service

Section 37. District courts, justices, special justices, clerks, assistant clerks, temporary clerks and temporary assistant clerks thereof may issue summonses and other processes for witnesses in criminal cases, and at all hearings upon applications for complaints wherein a person may be charged with the commission of a crime, and such processes and likewise warrants and other processes in such cases, issued by said courts or persons, may be directed to a court officer or probation officer of the court issuing the process, or either specifically or in general terms to any person in the commonwealth qualified to serve criminal process, and any such process may be served and executed in any part of the commonwealth by the person to whom it is delivered for that purpose. This section shall apply to summonses, warrants and other processes for parties and witnesses in cases of wayward, delinquent or neglected children.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 38 - Access to Courts; Sittings; Adjournments; Filing of Complaints

Section 38. District courts and Boston municipal court divisions shall always be open and business may be transacted at any time, except as provided in section six of chapter two hundred and twenty. Sittings of the courts shall be held in the courthouses or other places provided therefor by the judicial branch, at the times and in the towns fixed by law; but if the times are not fixed by law, they shall be prescribed as provided in section fifteen. Sittings may be adjourned from time to time as occasion requires, and cases, civil or criminal, may be continued to any future day fixed for the sitting of the court. Subject to any other provisions of law relative to the filing of complaints for particular crimes, district courts and Boston municipal court divisions may place on file any complaint in a criminal case other than a complaint for the commission of a felony issued against a person who appears previously to have been convicted of a felony or previously to have had a complaint for felony placed on file.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 39 - Books and Supplies

Section 39. Justices and clerks of district courts, except the central division of the Boston municipal court department, may procure all law books relating to the laws of the commonwealth, including the reports of the supreme judicial court, the Massachusetts digests, all blank books, blanks, stationery and other incidentals required by said courts and approved by the justices. The clerk of a district court in any county other than Suffolk, the judicial district of which has a population exceeding one hundred and twenty thousand as ascertained by the last preceding national census and in which there is no county law library, may, with the approval of the chief justice, procure other law books required by said court. The expenses thereof shall be certified by the justices or clerks monthly, and shall be transmitted to the state treasurer for payment.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 40 - Part-Time Special Justices; Authorized Cases

Section 40. A special justice of a district court who does not serve full-time in accordance with the provisions of section six A shall sit on the Boston municipal court department by assignment in the same manner as if he were serving full-time. When such a special justice, who is part-time, so-called, holds court, or a session thereof or an inquest, or certifies a bill of costs to the treasurer of the commonwealth, that fact, and the fact which gave him jurisdiction, shall be entered upon the general records of the court, but need not be stated in the record of any case heard by him.
Except in the central division of the Boston municipal court department, the district court of Dukes county and the district court of Nantucket, no justice or special justice who does not serve full-time shall hear and determine any civil cases other than supplementary proceedings, summary process, small claims, and proceedings relating to juveniles and mentally ill persons in any district court without the authorization of the chief justice of the district courts. The chief justice of the district courts shall give such authorization for specified limited periods of time in specified district courts and only as the public convenience may require, and may give such authorization by general rule applicable to the hearing and determination of interlocutory proceedings, or whenever full-time justices or special justices assigned to hear such civil cases, who serve full-time in accordance with the provisions of section six A, are absent or otherwise unable to sit. No such authorization shall be required for the rehearing of matters of law arising in civil causes by any justice assigned to the appellate division of a district court.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 41 - Special Justice; Powers and Duties

Section 41. A special justice of a district court shall at all times have and exercise all the powers and duties of a justice of such court, so far as to render decisions, make orders, and perform such other acts as he may deem necessary or proper in connection with or relating to matters which have been heard before him.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 42 - Adjournment When Justice Absent

Section 42. If no justice or special justice is present at the time and place appointed for holding a session of a district court, the sheriff or any of his deputies or the clerk may adjourn the court from day to day or from time to time, giving notice thereof as circumstances may require.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 42a - Chief Justice; Powers and Duties

Section 42A. The justice, as provided under section 1 of chapter 211B, as the chief justice for the district court department, in addition to his judicial powers and duties, shall, subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section 3 of chapter 211, have the power, authority and responsibility of a chief justice as set forth in section 10 of chapter 211B.
In addition to the powers conferred in section 10 of said chapter 211B, said chief justice shall have the powers and duties prescribed in sections 43 to 43B, inclusive, and in such other provision of statute.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 42b - Deputy Court Administrator

Section 42B. The deputy court administrator for the district court department, as provided under section 1 of chapter 211B shall, subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section 3 of chapter 211, have the power, authority and responsibility of a deputy court administrator as set forth in section 10 of chapter 211B.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 43 - Uniform Rules of Practice and Procedure; Power to Make and Promulgate

Section 43. The chief justice shall from time to time make and promulgate uniform rules of practice and procedure, subject to the approval of the supreme judicial court, including rules for the preparation and submission of reports, the allowance of reports which a justice shall disallow as not conformable to the facts, or shall fail to allow by reason of physical or mental disability, death, resignation, retirement or removal and the reporting of cases reserved for report when a justice shall fail to report the same by reason of physical or mental disability, death, resignation, retirement or removal, the granting of new trials, and the practice and the manner of conducting business in cases which are not expressly provided for by law. Such rules shall not apply to the Boston municipal court department.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 43a - Uniform Practices; Forms; Superintendence of Record Keeping

Section 43A. The chief justice shall be authorized to require uniform practices, to prescribe forms of blanks and records, and to superintend the keeping of records by clerks. He may authorize any justice or special justice to hold a session of any division at another division or elsewhere, in order to promote the speedy dispatch of the court's business.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 43b - Official Forms; Powers of Chief Justice

Section 43B. In addition to the powers set forth in section forty-three A, the chief justice for the district court department shall prescribe official forms to be used in all divisions of said department. Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting the provisions of section one hundred and one A of chapter two hundred and seventy-six.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 43e - Community Mediation Advisory Board; Coordinator

Section 43E. There shall be established a district court community mediation advisory board. The board shall be advisory to the chief justice of the district court department on matters pertaining to the utilization and role of community mediation in the district court department, including but not limited to the education and training of community mediators and the establishment of standards for persons and organizations engaged in community mediation in the district court department, and shall perform such other duties as the chief justice may request. Said board shall also advise the chief justice on the utilization of funds that may be appropriated for the purpose of supporting the use of community mediation in the district court department. Said board shall consist of five members to be appointed by the chief justice for such terms as he may establish. Members shall be eligible for reappointment. They shall be knowledgeable and experienced in the utilization of community mediation in the courts and shall serve without compensation.
Said chief justice shall appoint, subject to appropriation, a coordinator of community mediation, who shall serve at his pleasure and at a salary to be fixed by the chief justice of the district court department. Said coordinator shall perform such duties with regard to community mediation as the chief justice of the district court department shall determine.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 44 - Process; Formal Requisites; Territorial Jurisdiction

Section 44. Processes issuing from district courts shall be under the seal of the court, signed by hand or electronically by the clerk or an assistant clerk or temporary clerk or temporary assistant clerk, and shall bear teste of the justice, or, in the Boston municipal court department, the chief justice, unless he is a party or unless his office is vacant, and in such cases they shall bear teste of the special justice who holds the senior commission or the senior associate justice. The process, civil or criminal, of a district court shall run throughout the commonwealth for service in any case or proceeding within its jurisdiction.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 47 - Clerks; Duty to Make Payments and to Account; Penalty

Section 47. Clerks of district courts, except Boston municipal court department, shall, on or before the tenth day of each month, account for and pay over to the state treasurer all money received by them from civil business, including fees for the blanks and copies, and to city and town treasurers all fines and forfeitures received by them payable to said cities or towns, and render to said treasurers a detailed account on oath of the same. Such payments shall include the balances due and payable at the end of the month last preceding the day of payment. They shall, at the end of a criminal case, pay the fees and expenses of officers entitled thereto from the funds in their hands payable to the city or town liable for the payment of such fees and expenses, if they have sufficient funds therefor, and all such fees and expenses not so paid shall be certified at the end of each month to the treasurer of the city or town liable therefor, who shall pay them to the parties entitled thereto. They shall, at the end of a criminal case or inquest, pay the fees of witnesses for the commonwealth and the fees and expenses of officers at inquests who are entitled thereto, from the funds furnished them by the state treasurer for that purpose, or out of any funds which may be paid into court and are payable to the commonwealth. They shall be allowed for the amounts so paid in their settlement with the state, city and town treasurers. If they do not have in their hands sufficient funds returnable to the commonwealth with which to pay such fees, as herein provided, that may make written requisition therefor upon the state treasurer, who shall pay to them not more than two hundred dollars each in any one month; but if it appears necessary to the commissioner of administration, he may approve in addition thereto a requisition for not more than two hundred dollars in any one month, and, upon receipt of a requisition so approved, the state treasurer may pay to them such amount as may be called for therein. They shall account therefor in their regular settlements with the state treasurer and shall be liable therefor on their official bonds. A clerk violating any provision of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.