reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title V - Militia › Chapter 33a - Massachusetts Code of Military Justice › Section 135 - Courts of Inquiry

Article 135. Courts of inquiry.
(a) Courts of inquiry to investigate any matter of concern to the state military forces may be convened by a person authorized to convene a general court-martial, whether or not the persons involved have requested such an inquiry.
(b) A court of inquiry shall consist of at least 3 commissioned officers. For each court of inquiry, the convening authority shall also appoint counsel for the court.
(c) A person subject to this code whose conduct is subject to inquiry shall be designated as a party. A person subject to this code who has a direct interest in the subject of inquiry shall have the right to be designated as a party upon request to the court. A person designated as a party shall be given due notice and shall have the right to be present, to be represented by counsel, to cross-examine witnesses and to introduce evidence.
(d) Members of a court of inquiry may be challenged by a party but only for cause stated to the court.
(e) The members, counsel, the reporter and interpreters of courts of inquiry shall take an oath to faithfully perform their duties.
(f) Witnesses may be summoned to appear and testify and be examined before courts of inquiry as provided for courts-martial.
(g) Courts of inquiry shall make findings of fact but shall not express opinions or make recommendations unless required to do so by the convening authority.
(h) Each court of inquiry shall keep a record of its proceedings which shall be authenticated by the signatures of the president and counsel for the court and forwarded to the convening authority. If the record cannot be authenticated by the president, it shall be signed by a member in lieu of the president. If the record cannot be authenticated by the counsel for the court, it shall be signed by a member in lieu of the counsel.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title V - Militia › Chapter 33a - Massachusetts Code of Military Justice › Section 136 - Authority to Administer Oaths and to Act as Notary

Article 136. Authority to administer oaths and to act as notary.
(a) The following persons may administer oaths for the purposes of military administration, including military justice:
(1) judge advocates;
(2) summary courts-martial;
(3) adjutants, assistant adjutants, acting adjutants and personnel adjutants;
(4) commanding officers of the naval militia; and
(5) all other persons designated by regulations of the armed forces of the United States or by law.
(b) The following persons may administer oaths necessary in the performance of their duties:
(1) the president, military judges and trial counsel for all general and special courts-martial;
(2) the president and the counsel for the court of any court of inquiry;
(3) officers designated to take a deposition;
(4) persons detailed to conduct an investigation;
(5) recruiting officers; and
(6) all other persons designated by regulations of the Armed Forces of the United States or by law.
(c) The signature without seal of the person, together with the title of the person's office, shall be prima facie evidence of the person's authority.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title V - Militia › Chapter 33a - Massachusetts Code of Military Justice › Section 138 - Complaints of Wrongs

Article 138. Complaints of wrongs.
A member of the state military forces who believes they have been wronged by a commanding officer and who, upon due application to that commanding officer, is refused redress may complain to a superior commissioned officer who shall forward the complaint to the officer exercising general court-martial jurisdiction over the officer against whom it is made. The officer exercising general court-martial jurisdiction shall investigate the complaint and take proper measures for redressing the wrong complained of and shall, as soon as possible, send to the adjutant general a true statement of that complaint, with the proceedings had thereon.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title V - Militia › Chapter 33a - Massachusetts Code of Military Justice › Section 139 - Redress of Injuries to Property

Article 139. Redress of injuries to property.
(a) Whenever complaint is made to a commanding officer that willful damage has been done to the property of a person or that the person's property has been wrongfully taken by members of the state military forces, the commanding officer may, under such regulations prescribed, convene a board to investigate the complaint. The board shall consist of from 1 to 3 commissioned officers and, for the purposes of that investigation, may summon witnesses and examine them upon oath, receive depositions or other documentary evidence and assess the damages sustained against the responsible parties. The assessment of damages made by the board shall be subject to the approval of the commanding officer and the amount approved by that officer shall be charged against the pay of the offenders. The order of the commanding officer directing charges herein authorized shall be conclusive on any disbursing officer for payment to the injured parties of the damages so assessed and approved.
(b) If the offenders cannot be ascertained but the organization or detachment to which they belong is known, charges totaling the amount of damages assessed and approved may be made in such proportion as may be considered just upon the individual members thereof who are shown to have been present at the scene at the time the damages complained of were inflicted, as determined by the approved findings of the board.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title V - Militia › Chapter 33a - Massachusetts Code of Military Justice › Section 140 - Delegation by the Commander-in-Chief

Article 140. Delegation by the Commander-in-chief.
The commander-in-chief may delegate any authority vested in the commander-in-chief under this code and may provide for the subdelegation of any such authority, except the power given to the commander-in-chief by article 22.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title V - Militia › Chapter 33a - Massachusetts Code of Military Justice › Section 141 - Payment of Fees, Costs, and Expenses

Article 141. Payment of fees, costs, and expenses.
(a) The fees and authorized travel expenses of all witnesses, experts, victims, court reporters and interpreters, the fees for the service of process, the costs of collection, apprehension, detention and confinement and all other necessary expenses of prosecution and the administration of military justice that are not otherwise payable by any other source shall be paid out of the Military Justice Fund.
(b) There shall be a Military Justice Fund that shall be administered by the adjutant general, from which expenses of military justice shall be paid in the amounts and manner as prescribed by law. Funds may be appropriated and deposited into the fund as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of the code.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title V - Militia › Chapter 33a - Massachusetts Code of Military Justice › Section 142 - Payment of Fines and Disposition Thereof

Article 142. Payment of fines and disposition thereof.
(a) Fines imposed by a military court or through imposition of non-judicial punishment may be paid to the commonwealth and delivered to the court or imposing officer or to a person executing their process. Fines may be collected by:
(1) cash or money order;
(2) retention of any pay or allowances due or to become due to the person fined from any state or the United States; or
(3) garnishment or levy, together with costs, on the wages, goods and chattels of a person delinquent in paying a fine, as provided by law.
(b) Any sum so received or retained shall be deposited to whomever the court so directs.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title V - Militia › Chapter 33a - Massachusetts Code of Military Justice › Section 143 - Uniformity of Interpretation and Military Rules of Evidence

Article 143. Uniformity of interpretation and Military Rules of Evidence.
(a) This code shall be so construed as to effectuate its general purpose to make it uniform, so far as practical, with the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. section 801, et seq.
(b) The federal Military Rules of Evidence at the time of the offense shall apply to court-martial proceedings convened under this chapter.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title V - Militia › Chapter 33a - Massachusetts Code of Military Justice › Section 144 - Immunity for Action of Military Courts

Article 144. Immunity for action of military courts.
A person acting under this code, whether as a member of the military or as a civilian, shall be immune from personal liability for any acts or omissions which they did or failed to do as part of their duties under this code.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 1 - Boundaries in Tide Water; Powers

Section 1. The seaward boundary of counties bordering on the open sea shall coincide with the marine boundary of the commonwealth. The boundary lines in tide water between adjacent coastal counties shall coincide with and are hereby established to be the boundary lines in tide water between the adjoining coastal municipalities of said counties, as confirmed and established by section one of chapter forty-two. Counties separated by waters within the jurisdiction of the commonwealth shall exercise a concurrent jurisdiction over such waters. Each county shall be a body politic and corporate for the purposes of suit, of buying and holding, for county uses, personal estate and land lying therein, and of contracting and doing other necessary acts relative to its property and affairs.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 2 - Alteration of Maps

Section 2. County commissioners shall cause changes in the boundaries of towns, in the courses of highways, railroads and canals, and other topographical alterations to be correctly delineated on the county maps, which shall remain in their possession.
The state secretary, as often as necessary, shall transmit the manuscript county maps in his office to the respective county commissioners who shall cause a competent engineer or surveyor under their direction to transfer thereto all changes, and shall, within two months after their receipt, return them to the secretary, who shall forthwith cause the changes to be copied on the plates of the state map.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 3 - Public Buildings

Section 3. Each county shall provide suitable jails, houses of correction, fireproof offices and other public buildings, including both the structures and the land upon which such structures are sited, necessary for its use; provided, however, that the county of Dukes need not provide a house of correction; provided, further, that the city of Boston shall provide necessary public buildings, including both the structures and the land upon which such structures are sited, for Suffolk county; provided, further, that the obligation to provide suitable structures of jails and houses of correction shall become that of the commonwealth and shall cease to be that of such counties or city in the event that the commonwealth constructs such facilities for such county or city; provided, further, that in any such county or city which has been ordered by a court to construct a new correctional facility, state assumption of the responsibility to provide such structure shall occur when the state appropriates funds therefor and such county or city has complied with any conditions attached to such appropriation, if any; and, provided further, that notwithstanding the fact that the commonwealth may have assumed the responsibilities of providing a suitable structure for such facilities, the counties and the city shall retain the obligation to provide for the operation and maintenance of such facilities. No courtroom of the superior court shall contain a cage for defendants.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 4 - Election; Tenure

Section 4. Except in Nantucket and Suffolk counties, there shall be elected in each county, as provided in section one hundred and fifty-eight of chapter fifty-four, for terms of four years beginning the first Wednesday of January following their election and until their successors are qualified, three county commissioners, who shall be sworn before entering upon their duties, and shall annually, at their first meeting after the first Wednesday of January, choose by ballot a chairman. In Nantucket county the selectmen of Nantucket, and in Suffolk county the mayor and city council of Boston, the municipal council of Chelsea and the city council of Revere, in their respective cities, and the selectmen of Winthrop in said town, shall, except as otherwise provided, have the powers and perform the duties of county commissioners.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 5 - Salaries

Section 5. The salaries of county commissioners, payable by their respective counties in full for all services performed by said commissioners except as otherwise provided, shall be as follows:—
Middlesex............................ $9,505.16
Essex............................8,799.73
Norfolk............................8,799.73
Worcester............................8,799.73
Bristol............................7,388.87
Hampden............................7,388.87
Barnstable............................6,683.44
Berkshire............................6,683.44
Plymouth............................6,683.44
Franklin............................5,272.58
Hampshire............................5,272.58
Dukes............................2,963.90
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 5a - Salaries; Acceptance of Provision of This Section

Section 5A. Subject to the acceptance of this section as hereinafter provided, the salaries of county commissioners, payable by their respective counties in full for all services performed by said commissioners except as otherwise provided, shall be as follows:
Effective July 1, 1976.
Middlesex............................$9,805.16
Essex............................9,099.73
Norfolk............................9,099.73
Worcester............................9,099.73
Bristol............................7,688.87
Hampden............................7,688.87
Barnstable............................6,983.44
Berkshire............................6,983.44
Plymouth............................6,983.44
Franklin............................5,572.58
Hampshire............................5,572.58
Dukes............................3,263.90
Effective January 1, 1977.
Middlesex............................$10,055.16
Essex............................9,349.73
Norfolk............................9,349.73
Worcester............................9,349.73
Bristol............................7,938.87
Hampden............................7,938.87
Barnstable............................7,233.44
Berkshire............................7,233.44
Plymouth............................7,233.44
Franklin............................5,822.58
Hampshire............................5,822.58
Dukes............................3,513.90
Effective April 1, 1977.
Middlesex............................$10,355.16
Essex............................9,649.73
Norfolk............................9,649.73
Worcester............................9,649.73
Bristol............................8,238.87
Hampden............................8,238.87
Barnstable............................7,533.44
Berkshire............................7,533.44
Plymouth............................7,533.44
Franklin............................6,122.58
Hampshire............................6,122.58
Dukes............................3,813.90
No salary payable under section five shall be increased in any county under the provisions of this section unless the county commissioners of such county have voted to accept the provisions of this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 7 - Commissioners Acting by Appointment; Compensation; Travel Expenses

Section 7. A person acting as commissioner by appointment under section twelve shall be paid by the county not less than five dollars for each day of actual service, not exceeding five hundred dollars in any year, and ten cents a mile for travel each way.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 8 - Statement of Expenses; Certification; Payment; Audit

Section 8. An itemized statement of the actual and proper cost to each commissioner for transportation and other necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his official duties shall, on the first day of each month, be approved by a majority of the county commissioners and certified by their clerk to the county treasurer who shall reimburse them. The director of accounts shall audit such expenses in the course of his examination of the books and accounts of the county treasurer pursuant to section forty-four of chapter thirty-five.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 9 - Meetings; Frequency; Location; Special Meetings

Section 9. The commissioners shall hold meetings at the following times and places for their respective counties:
At Barnstable, the second Tuesday of April and October.
At Pittsfield, the first Tuesday of January, April, July and October.
At Taunton, the fourth Tuesday of March and September.
At Edgartown, the Wednesday next after the third Monday of May and the Wednesday next after the second Monday of November.
At Ipswich, the second Tuesday of April; at Salem, the second Tuesday of July; at Newburyport, the second Tuesday of October; at Lawrence, the last Tuesday of August; and the fourth Tuesday of December, at Ipswich, Salem or Newburyport, as they shall order at the preceding meeting.
At Greenfield, the first Tuesday of March and September and the second Tuesday of June and December.
At Springfield, the second Tuesday of April, the first Tuesday of October and the fourth Tuesday of June and December.
At Northampton, the first Tuesday of March, September and December and the Tuesday next after the second Monday of June.
At Cambridge, twice yearly; at Lowell, twice yearly; at Framingham, twice yearly.
At Dedham, the third Tuesday of April, the fourth Tuesday of June and September and the last Wednesday of December.
At Plymouth, the first Tuesday of January, the third Tuesday of March and the first Tuesday of August.
At Worcester, the fourth Tuesday of March, the third Tuesday of June, the second Tuesday of September and the fourth Tuesday of December.
They may by vote, specify the time and place, establish other regular meetings within their county, and may also hold special meetings therein at such times and places as may be necessary. They may adjourn any regular or special meeting to any place within the county, and persons required to appear at, or processes returnable to, any such meeting, shall appear at or be returnable to the adjourned meeting.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 9b - Docket Defined

Section 9B. The docket is hereby defined as a record wherein their clerk shall register, by its title or by an abstract, and numbered consecutively, every action, suit and proceeding commenced before or transferred or appealed to the commissioners, and also contracts filed as required by section seventeen. He shall note therein, according to the date thereof, the filing or return of any paper or process, the making of any decree, adjudication, order, rule or other direction, or any amendment thereof, in or concerning such matter.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 9c - Files Defined

Section 9C. The files are hereby defined as all papers and processes filed with or by the clerk in any action, suit, proceeding or contract, before, by or with the commissioners. All such papers, processes and contracts shall be numbered consecutively in each case, as entered.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 9d - Record of Payments; Form and Contents

Section 9D. The record of payments ordered shall be in such form as the commissioners, with the approval of the director of accounts, may determine. It shall contain the name of each person to whom payment is ordered made, together with its amount, both of which shall be classified under a heading specifying the appropriation from which such payment is to be made.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 9e - Extended Record; Form and Contents

Section 9E. The extended record shall be in abridged form. It shall comprise an abbreviated chronicle of all matters entered upon the docket, under the same or a similar title or an abstract thereof, and under the same number, and shall contain a brief and concise narrative of the essential features of the matter. Any final judgment, decree or order affecting the title to land shall be copied therein at length. But contracts and amendments thereof shall not be copied unless so ordered by the commissioners.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 10 - Record of Proceedings; Copy to Director of Accounts

Section 10. They shall keep a full and complete record of the proceedings at all their meetings and, if their vote or decision is not unanimous, the record shall show how each commissioner voted. A copy thereof, attested by their clerk, shall be transmitted annually, on or before the fifteenth day of January, to the director of accounts, who shall submit it to the general court.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 11 - Clerical Employees; Temporary Clerk; Duties

Section 11. They may employ such clerical employees as may be necessary for the proper performance of the work of their offices, who shall perform such duties as the commissioners may determine. They may, in the absence from any meeting of the clerk or any deputy assistant clerk designated under section seven of chapter two hundred and twenty-one, appoint a temporary clerk, who may be a commissioner or other suitable person. He shall be sworn by the chairman or presiding commissioner, keep a record of the proceedings, and deliver the same forthwith to the clerk or deputy assistant clerk, who shall enter it upon the records of the commissioners.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 12 - Absence or Disqualification of Commissioners; Appointment of Substitute; Tenure

Section 12. In case of inability to attend, or interest in a question before the commissioners, or if any part of a highway relative to which they are to act lies within the town where a commissioner resides, the commissioners qualified to act and the clerk of the courts for the county shall appoint one or more persons, not residing in the same town as any commissioner, nor in the same town with each other, if more than one, to act as commissioners in place of those absent or disqualified, until such absence or disqualification ceases. The commissioners may, however, receive a petition, issue an order of notice thereon, take a recognizance, approve bills or payrolls, or perform ministerial acts, whenever two members are competent to act. If they cannot otherwise organize, residence shall not disqualify.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 13 - Powers; Administration of Oaths; Punishment for Contempt

Section 13. When in session, the commissioners may administer oaths to witnesses and punish disorderly conduct which interrupts their meeting or is an open and direct contempt of their authority or persons by a fine of not more than five dollars or by confinement in the custody of the sheriff, a deputy sheriff or constable for not more than twelve hours.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 14a - Associate Commissioner for Affairs Concerning the Elderly

Section 14A. In any county which accepts this section by vote of the county commissioners, the chairman of the county commissioners shall appoint a senior citizen to serve as an associate commissioner for affairs concerning the elderly. Said associate commissioner shall serve for a one year term, coterminous with the chairman's term of office. This associate commissioner shall have no powers or authority in the county government, but shall advise the county commissioners on affairs of the elderly and act as an ombudsman for senior citizens and elder agencies located within the county.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 14b - Associate Commissioner for Affairs Concerning Handicapped Persons

Section 14B. In any county which accepts this section by vote of the county commissioners, the chairman of the county commissioners shall appoint a handicapped person to serve as an associate commissioner for affairs concerning handicapped persons. Said associate commissioner shall serve for a one year term, coterminous with the chairman's term of office and shall serve without compensation. Said associate commissioner shall have no powers or authority in the county government, but shall advise the county commissioners on affairs of the handicapped.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 16 - Office Hours; Holidays; Certain Acts Performable on Next Business Day

Section 16. Except as otherwise provided by law, all offices under the jurisdiction of the commissioners shall be open to the public for the transaction of business daily on days other than Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays for such hours as may be set by the commissioners, except that, if the convenience of the public so requires, the commissioners may keep any office under their jurisdiction open on any Saturday, not a legal holiday, and give any employee required to work on such Saturday equivalent time off without loss of compensation. When the day or the last day for the performance of any act, including the making of any payment or tender of payment, authorized or required to be performed at such an office falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the act may be performed on the next succeeding business day.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 18 - Recognizances and Damages

Section 18. The commissioners shall require all applicants for the award of damages or the performance of any other official act in which the county has no interest to recognize to the county, with sureties to their satisfaction, for the payment of all costs and expenses accruing to the county by reason of their application and the proceedings thereon, which shall be added to the damages, if any, assessed in consequence thereof. If an application is dismissed and costs are chargeable to the petitioner, they shall be taxed for each commissioner at the rate of three dollars a day, and five cents a mile for travel to and from the place of meeting, and paid to the county. If the persons recognizing refuse or neglect, when required by the commissioners, to pay such costs and expenses, the commissioners may, after notice to the persons who so recognized, issue a warrant against them or some of them, unless sufficient cause is shown to the contrary, for the amount ordered to be paid by them, with the further costs of the notice and warrant, and the money shall be collected and paid into the county treasury.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 19 - Proceedings at Other Times Than Regular Meetings and Returns Thereof

Section 19. The commissioners severally may, at other times than at regular meetings, receive petitions relative to railroads or to matters where the county has no interest and may take recognizances thereon, and, upon such petitions and similar petitions entered at a regular meeting the commissioners or the chairman may, at other times than at regular meetings, appoint hearings and direct notices to be given to persons interested. They shall severally make return of such petitions and recognizances, with their proceedings, at any regular or special meeting held therefor; and the clerk shall record the same. The costs of any such special meeting shall be paid by such parties as the commissioners determine.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 22 - Breach or Neglect of Duty; Penalty

Section 22. For wilful breach or neglect of a duty imposed by law, a county commissioner or clerk of the county commissioners shall forfeit not less than fifty nor more than one thousand dollars, recoverable to the use of the county, at the suit of the attorney general.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 23 - Gifts; Use and Disposition

Section 23. Any county may receive, hold and manage any gift by devise, bequest or otherwise, to the use or benefit of the county or any activity, institution, organization, board, commission or other public body to the use of which funds of the county are advanced or contributed. Unless otherwise provided by the donor, any money so received or the proceeds of any such gift shall be placed at interest in savings banks or savings departments of trust companies incorporated under the laws of the commonwealth, or in savings departments of national banks, or shall be deposited on paid-up shares and accounts of and in cooperative banks, or shall be used to purchase share accounts of federal savings and loan associations located in the commonwealth, or invested in securities which are legal investments for savings banks. The county treasurer shall be the custodian of such fund and securities, and shall invest and reinvest the same, and expend therefrom moneys as directed by the county commissioners.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 24 - Federal Grants; Acceptance, Custody and Disposition

Section 24. Any county officer or department may, with the approval of the county commissioners, accept any grant from the federal government for the use or benefit of the county or any activity, institution or board. The county treasurer shall be the custodian of such grant, which shall be held as a separate account and expended for the purposes of such grant.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34 - Counties and County Commissioners › Section 25 - Acquisition of Real Property

Section 25. The commissioners may, subject to appropriation, acquire by eminent domain, or by purchase or otherwise, the fee or other lesser interest in such real property within their respective counties as may be necessary to maintain, improve, protect, limit the future use of or otherwise conserve and properly utilize open spaces, and may control and manage the same; provided that such acquisition has been approved by the department of environmental management and the conservation committee of the city or town within which such land lies, or if such city or town has no conservation committee by a two thirds vote of the city council in the case of a city and by a two thirds vote of the board of selectmen in the case of a town. Land used for farming or agriculture, as defined in section one A of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight, shall not be taken by eminent domain under the authority of this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34a - County Charter Procedures › Section 2 - Power to Adopt or Revise Charters

Section 2. Every county, except Barnstable county, shall have the power to adopt a charter or to revise an existing charter in accordance with procedures prescribed by this chapter. This chapter shall not limit any charter adoption or revision procedures allowed by prior law or the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34a - County Charter Procedures › Section 4 - Election of Charter Study Commission Members

Section 4. (A.) At the same election as the public question is submitted, fifteen members of a charter study commission shall be elected by the county's registered voters. The voting instructions shall state that the voter may vote on the question and that, regardless of how and whether he voted on the charter question, he may vote for members of the charter study commission who shall serve if the question is determined in the affirmative.
(B.) The ballots to be used in such county at such election shall be prepared and furnished by the state secretary in accordance with the requirements of this chapter and of chapter fifty-four. The charter commission candidates shall appear on the ballot as the last candidates to be elected. The question in subsection (A) of section three shall be printed on the ballot after the statewide questions on the ballot.
(C.) Said election shall be a statewide general election.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34a - County Charter Procedures › Section 5 - Candidates for Charter Commission; Nomination

Section 5. (A.) At-large candidates for the charter commission shall be registered voters of the county in which they are candidates. District candidates for the charter commission shall be registered voters of the district in which they are candidates.
(B.) The signatures of three hundred registered voters residing in such county shall be required to nominate at-large charter commission members, and signatures of one hundred and fifty registered voters residing in the district shall be required to nominate district charter commission members. Nominating papers containing required number of signatures shall be filed with the state secretary not later than the tenth Tuesday prior to the election in which charter commission members are to be chosen. Nominations for charter commission members shall be governed by the provisions of chapter fifty-three which are applicable to nominations for state office, except that no party or political designations shall be used and that the eight-word statements provided for in section forty-five of chapter fifty-three shall not be used. The clerk of each city and town in such county shall furnish to each candidate for charter commission upon request one copy of the list of registered voters of such city or town and one copy of the list of residents provided for in section six of chapter fifty-one.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34a - County Charter Procedures › Section 6 - Members of Charter Commission; Boundaries of Election Districts

Section 6. (A.) A charter commission shall consist of fifteen registered voters of such county elected by official ballot, without party or political designation, at an election held in accordance with relevant provisions of general law and this chapter. In addition, each county commissioner, or his designee, and the chairman of the county advisory board, or his designee, shall be non-elected members of the charter commission. In order to take into account widely differing population sizes of counties, charter commission members shall be elected at large or individually by district or both as follows: where the inhabitants of a county number less than fifty thousand persons, the election of all charter commission members in such county shall be at large; where the inhabitants of a county number at least fifty thousand but less than two hundred thousand persons, five charter commission members shall be elected at large and ten shall be elected by district; where the inhabitants of a county number two hundred thousand persons or more, the election of all charter commission members shall be by district.
The boundaries of the districts, for the purposes of electing charter commission members, shall be determined by the state secretary; not later than June first of the year in which members are to be elected, by dividing the county into districts of contiguous territory so that each representative shall represent an equal number of inhabitants, as nearly as may be.
Such districts shall also be so formed that no town containing less than six thousand inhabitants shall be divided.
(B.) For the purpose of this section, population shall be determined from the latest federal census. The names of the at-large candidates and the names of the candidates from each district nominated in accordance with section five shall be placed on such ballot in alphabetical order, preceded by the instruction in subsection A of section four.
(C.) The provisions of chapter fifty-four regarding votes on amendments to the constitution shall govern the canvassing and counting of votes on the question and the custody and disposition of ballots and related records.
(D.) The secretary shall provide a thirty day comment and review period prior to a final determination of district boundaries.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34a - County Charter Procedures › Section 7 - First Meeting; Officers; Vacancies; Expenses

Section 7. The commission member who received the highest number of votes shall convene the first meeting of the charter commission as soon as possible but in no event later than fifteen days after certification of the results of the state election by the governor and governor's council. If said member does not act, the state secretary shall designate another member of the charter commission to convene the first meeting. At that meeting the charter commission shall promptly organize by the election from among its members of a chairman, a vice chairman, a treasurer and a clerk and shall file a notice of such organization with the secretary of the commonwealth. If no notice of organization is received by the state secretary within twenty-four days after the organizational meeting he shall designate a charter commission for such purpose. A charter commission shall continue to exist until thirty days after the election at which its charter adoption or revision proposal, if any, is required to be submitted to the voters under this chapter or until thirty days after submission to the state secretary of a final report recommending no new charter or revision.
If any member dies, resigns or ceases to be a registered voter of such county or the district of such county from which such member was elected, or if there is a failure to elect any member, the remaining members of the charter commission shall fill the vacancy by choosing a registered voter of such county or district, respectively. The commission may continue to act notwithstanding the existence of any vacancy. Members shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed from the commission's account for expenses lawfully incurred by them in the performance of their duties.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34a - County Charter Procedures › Section 8 - Function of Commission

Section 8. It shall be the function and duty of the charter commission to study the form of government of the county, to compare it with other forms available under the laws of this state, to determine whether or not in its judgment the government of the county could be strengthened, made more clearly responsive or accountable to the people or whether its operation could be more economical or efficient, under a changed form of government.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34a - County Charter Procedures › Section 10 - Nonvoting Members

Section 10. (A.) In any county in which a charter commission has been established under this chapter, the members of the advisory board on county expenditures shall have the right to participate in the deliberations of the charter commission, but without the right to vote; except the chairman of the advisory board on county expenditures as provided in section six, on commission recommendations or to endorse or dissent from any report of the commission by virtue of their official advisory role, although this shall in no way be deemed to inhibit their comments as individuals after release of the charter commission report, or as an elected member of a charter commission.
(B.) The secretary of administration or his designee shall serve ex-officio as nonvoting advisor on all charter commissions established under this chapter. It shall be his duty to collect, evaluate and transmit to each commission such information, advice, plans, and policies as he may deem pertinent to county government and its relationship to the state and municipal government. He shall meet with the commission as frequently as the commission shall request in order to assist the commission in determining the best form to recommend for the county's government.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34a - County Charter Procedures › Section 11 - Public Hearings; Reports; Publication of Proposed Charter

Section 11. (A.) The charter commission shall hold public hearings, sponsor public forums and otherwise provide for the widest possible dissemination of information and the stimulation of public discussion respecting the purposes and progress of its work.
(B.) The charter commission shall report its findings and recommendations to the citizens of the county on or before the eighteenth calendar month next following the date of its election in the form of a final report which it shall file with the county clerk who shall distribute it to all elected county and municipal officials, all members of the counties' legislative delegation, and the state secretary.
In addition, there shall be printed and made available at least ninety days before the election at cost to the public at large, a number of copies equal to at least one-tenth of one per cent of the county's registered voters.
The commission shall publish in two newspapers of known general circulation within said county on two successive weeks the full text of the proposed charter, together with a summary of its findings and recommendations, a summary of the provisions of the plan, if any, which it recommends for approval, and an analysis of and commentary on such plans.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VI - Counties and County Officers › Chapter 34a - County Charter Procedures › Section 12 - Report and Recommendation; Findings and Determinations

Section 12. (A.) The charter study commission may report and recommend:
(i) That a referendum be held to submit to the voters of the county the question of adopting one of the optional forms of the government set forth in sections seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen of this chapter that the commission has designated; or (ii) That the charter commission shall petition the legislature for the enactment of a special charter, the text of which shall be appended to the charter commission's report; or (iii) That the form of government of the county remain unchanged; or (iv) That any or any combination of the following changes be made: (a) that the present form of county government be abolished and which, if any, county agencies or operations should be placed under another state, local or regional governmental system; or (b) that part of the present form of county government be abolished and which, if any, county agencies or operations should remain as part of county government and which should be abolished, changed or placed under another governmental system; or (c) that all or some of the county agencies or operations be taken over by the state or allowed to exist as part of a regional system.
The commission may also draft and submit to the commissioners whatever recommendations it deems appropriate for the efficient administration of the county. Such recommendations may include a model administrative code. Such recommendations may be adopted by the commissioners in whole or in part whether or not a new charter is recommended by the commission or approved by the voters.
(B.) If the charter commission shall vote to recommend adoption of one of the optional forms set forth in sections seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen of this chapter, it shall also consider and make findings with respect to each of the three subjects set forth below, and determine which plan would provide the best representation of the people of the county. The final report shall set forth said findings and determinations in detail.
(i) Commissioners, number and term. The commission shall make recommendations as to changes if any in the number and terms of service of the county commissioners.
(ii) The commission shall recommend either a continuation of the present system of nonconcurrent terms or the adoption of a new system of concurrent terms.
(iii) Constituencies. The commission can recommend that the commissioners be elected at large or that they be elected by districts.