reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 151j - Payment of Expenses; Annual Assessment

Section 151J. (a) The interstate commission shall pay or provide for the payment of the reasonable expenses of its establishment, organization and ongoing activities.
(b) The interstate commission shall levy on and collect an annual assessment from each compacting state to cover the cost of the internal operations and activities of the interstate commission and its staff which assessments shall total an amount sufficient to cover the interstate commission's annual budget as approved each year. The aggregate annual assessment amount shall be allocated based upon a formula to be determined by the interstate commission, taking into consideration the population of the state and the volume of interstate movement of offenders in each compacting state and shall promulgate a rule binding upon all compacting states which governs such assessment.
(c) The interstate commission shall not incur any obligations of any kind prior to securing the funds adequate to meet the same; nor shall the interstate commission pledge the credit of any compacting state, except by and with the authority of such compacting state.
(d) The interstate commission shall keep accurate accounts of all receipts and disbursements. The receipts and disbursements of the interstate commission shall be subject to the audit and accounting procedures established under its by-laws except that all receipts and disbursements of funds handled by the interstate commission shall be audited yearly by a certified or licensed public accountant and the report of the audit shall be included in and become part of the annual report of the interstate commission.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 151k - Eligibility of Compacting States; Effect of Compact Upon Adoption by Other States; Amendments

Section 151K. (a) Any state is eligible to become a compacting state.
(b) The compact shall become effective and binding upon legislative enactment of the compact into law by no less than 35 of the states. The initial effective date shall be the later of July 1, 2001, or upon enactment into law by the 35th jurisdiction. Thereafter it shall become effective and binding, as to any other compacting state, upon enactment of the compact into law by that state. The governors of non-member states, or their designees, shall be invited to participate in interstate commission activities on a non-voting basis prior to adoption of the compact by all states and territories of the United States.
(c) Amendments to the compact may be proposed by the interstate commission for enactment by the compacting states. No amendment shall become effective and binding upon the interstate commission and the compacting states unless and until it is enacted into law by unanimous consent of the compacting states.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 151m - Severability; Construction

Section 151M. (a) The provisions of this compact shall be severable, and if any phrase, clause, sentence or provision is deemed unenforceable, the remaining provisions of the compact shall be enforceable.
(b) The provisions of this compact shall be liberally constructed to effectuate its purposes.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 151n - Effect on Other Laws; Binding Effect of Interstate Commission Actions; Advisory Opinions; Limitations on Authority

Section 151N. (a) (1) Nothing herein prevents the enforcement of any other law of a compacting state that is not inconsistent with this compact.
(2) All compacting states' laws conflicting with this compact are superseded to the extent of the conflict.
(b) (1) All lawful actions of the interstate commission, including all rules and by-laws promulgated by the interstate commission, are binding upon the compacting states.
(2) All agreements between the interstate commission and the compacting states are binding in accordance with the terms thereof.
(3) Upon the request of a party to a conflict over meaning or interpretation of interstate commission actions, and upon a majority vote of the compacting states, the interstate commission may issue advisory opinions regarding such meaning or interpretation.
(4) In the event any provision of this compact exceeds the constitutional limits imposed on the legislature of any compacting state, the obligations, duties, powers or jurisdiction sought to be conferred by such provision upon the interstate commission shall be ineffective and such obligations, duties, powers or jurisdiction shall remain in the compacting state and shall be exercised by the agency thereof to which such obligations, duties, powers or jurisdiction are delegated by law in effect at the time this compact becomes effective.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 153 - Notification to Attorney General of Petition for Pardon of State Prisoner

Section 153. In all cases of petitions for pardons referred to the executive council by the governor, where the petitioner is serving a sentence in the state prison, the executive secretary shall notify the attorney general, and also the district attorney who prosecuted the case, and they or their representatives may be present at the hearing on the petition by the pardon committee of the executive council, examine the petitioner's witnesses, and present to the pardon committee full information as to the case of the commonwealth against the petitioner on which he stands convicted of the crime for which he is serving sentence.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 155 - Violation of Pardon; Arrest; Notice

Section 155. If a prisoner who has been pardoned upon conditions to be observed and performed by him violates such conditions, the parole board shall forthwith cause him to be arrested and detained, and the warden, superintendent or keeper, respectively, of the institution in which the prisoner was confined shall receive said prisoner and cause him to be detained until the case can be examined by the governor and council; and the officer who makes the arrest shall forthwith give written notice thereof to the governor and council.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 156 - Confinement for Unexpired Term; Computation of Confinement; Discharge

Section 156. The governor and council shall, upon receiving such notice, examine the case of such prisoner; and if it appears by his own admission or by evidence that he has violated the condition of his pardon, the governor, with the advice and consent of the council, shall order him to be remanded and confined for the unexpired term of his sentence, said confinement, if the prisoner is under any other sentence of imprisonment at the time of said order, to begin upon the expiration of such sentence. In computing the period of his confinement, the time between the conditional pardon and subsequent arrest shall not be taken to be part of the term of his sentence. If it appears to the governor and council that he has not broken the conditions of his conditional pardon, he shall be discharged.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 157 - Execution of Warrant of Pardon; Return

Section 157. If a prisoner is pardoned or his punishment is commuted, the officer to whom the warrant for such purpose is issued shall, as soon as may be after executing it, make return thereof, signed by him, with his doings thereon, to the secretary's office, and shall file in the office of the clerk of the court in which the offender was convicted an attested copy of the warrant and return, and the clerk shall subjoin a brief abstract thereof to the record of the conviction and sentence.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 158 - Parole Board Agents; Duties

Section 158. The agents employed by the parole board shall, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the board, supervise, counsel and advise prisoners released on parole from the correctional institutions of the commonwealth, or from any institution to which they were removed therefrom, and shall assist them in securing employment. They shall also render assistance and counsel to discharged prisoners who are in need of such help, and perform such other duties relative to discharged or released prisoners as the parole board requires.
They shall obtain information for the use of the parole board relative to prisoners sentenced to correctional institutions of the commonwealth, especially as to the details of their offences and their previous character and history. They may for that purpose require of the police authorities any facts in their possession relative to such prisoners if the communication thereof will not, in the opinion of said authorities, be detrimental to the public interest.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 160 - Expenditures for Assistance of Released Prisoners

Section 160. The parole board may expend such sum as may be appropriated for the assistance of prisoners released from any correctional institution of the commonwealth, or from any institution to which they were removed therefrom. Such assistance may be in the form of a loan on such conditions as the board may determine.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 161 - Account of Expenditures by Parole Board Agents

Section 161. The commissioner shall cause an account to be kept of the money expended by the agents for the necessary expenses of the service required by sections one hundred and fifty-eight and one hundred and fifty-nine, for correspondence and travel in procuring employment for and furnishing clothing, board and tools to discharged prisoners and for conveying them to their homes or places of employment, which, upon approval by the comptroller, shall be paid at the end of each month.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 162 - Expenditure of Institutional Funds for Welfare of Released Prisoners

Section 162. The superintendent of any correctional institution of the commonwealth may pay from the treasury of the institution not more than fifty dollars to every prisoner leaving the institution. A prisoner who leaves the institution shall be provided with decent clothing.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 162a - Arsonists or Violators of Secs. 102 to 102c of Chapter 266; Notice of Release

Section 162A. The superintendent of a correctional institution shall immediately prior to the release or discharge from such institution of any person sentenced upon conviction of the crime of arson or a violation of sections 102 to 102C, inclusive, of chapter 266 notify the state fire marshal of the intended date of the release or discharge of such prisoner.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 163 - Annual Report of Agents for Aiding Discharged Prisoners

Section 163. The agents for aiding discharged prisoners shall annually, on or before December fifteenth, make full and detailed statements to the commissioner of their doings for the year ending on November thirtieth, which shall be included by the commissioner in his annual report.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 164 - County Commissioners; Aid to Prisoners

Section 164. The county commissioners may provide a prisoner released from prison with such amount of money as in their opinion can be wisely used to encourage his reformation, or they may pay it to a suitable person designated by them to be used for such prisoner.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 165 - Expenditures by Superintendent or Keeper of Jail in Aid of Discharged Prisoners

Section 165. The superintendent or keeper of a jail or house of correction may, with the approval of the county commissioners, expend such amount, not exceeding twenty-five dollars, in aiding a prisoner discharged from his custody as in his opinion will assist such prisoner in his endeavor to reform. He may in his discretion pay it to the prisoner, or to some person selected by the superintendent or keeper, to be expended by him in behalf of the prisoner or for providing the prisoner with board, clothing, transportation or tools. The amount so paid by a superintendent or keeper shall be allowed and paid by the county like other prison expenses.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 166 - Payment or Receipt of Money for Obtaining Pardon, Parole, Commutation of or Respite From Sentence

Section 166. No person shall, in the attempt to procure, or for the procurement of, any pardon, parole, commutation of or respite from sentence of a prisoner then confined in, or at liberty after having been confined in, any of the penal institutions of this commonwealth, or then under sentence to serve a term of imprisonment in any of said institutions, knowingly pay or offer to pay, or solicit, offer to receive or receive, either by way of gift or of reward or of compensation for services, or otherwise, except for proper legal services, any money or other thing of value, or shall transmit the same from one person to another; nor in such attempt or for such procurement shall any person make, or offer or promise to make, or to procure or induce the making of, any appointment to any position, whether or not in the public service.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 167 - Persons Representing Applicants for Pardons, Parole or Commutation of Sentence; Statements

Section 167. No person shall represent or purport to represent any prisoner then confined in, or at liberty after having been confined in, any of the penal institutions of this commonwealth or then under sentence to serve a term of imprisonment in any of said institutions, in the attempt to procure or for the procurement of any pardon, parole, commutation of or respite from sentence, unless such person shall first have filed in the office of the state secretary a written statement signed by him and made under the penalties of perjury, stating in substance that none of the provisions of section one hundred and sixty-six has been violated, that such person is acting with the written consent of the prisoner, and that such person has not received or been promised, and does not expect to receive or to be promised, any money or other reward for so acting, except fees or other reward for legal services, the amount of which fees or other reward and a detailed description of which services shall be set forth in such statement. If any person receives any additional fee or other reward for legal services different from that disclosed in the statement referred to in this section, such person shall forthwith file in the same form and manner as the original statement an additional statement setting forth the amount of such additional fees or the exact nature and extent of such reward, with a detailed description of the legal services rendered for such fee or reward. Said statements shall be kept as permanent records in the office of the state secretary and shall be open to public inspection at any reasonable time.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 168 - Violation of Sec. 166 or 167

Section 168. Whoever violates any provision of section one hundred and sixty-six or one hundred and sixty-seven shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than two years, or both.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 169 - Copy of Secs. 166 to 169; Printing on Petition for Pardon Forms

Section 169. A copy of sections one hundred and sixty-six to one hundred and sixty-nine, inclusive, shall be printed on the form of any petition for pardon, parole, commutation of or respite from sentence, but shall not be deemed a part of such petition.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 170 - Recording, Storage and Retention of Audio From Parole Board Hearings

Section 170. The parole board shall record and securely store all audio for all parole board hearings. Audio from each parolee's hearing(s) shall be securely stored and may only be deleted when that individual is no longer on parole or is deceased.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVIII - Prisons, Imprisonment, Paroles and Pardons › Chapter 127 - Officers and Inmates of Penal and Reformatory Institutions. Paroles and Pardons › Section 171 - Commissary Items in State Correctional Facilities, State Prisons, County Correctional Facilities and Entities Contracting With Such Facilities

[ Text of section added by 2023, 28, Sec. 51 effective July 1, 2024. See 2023, 28, Sec. 112.]
Section 171. (a) For the purposes of this section, the terms "county correctional facility'', "state correctional facility'' and "state prison'' shall have the same meanings as those terms are defined in section 1 of chapter 125.
(b) State correctional facilities, state prisons, county correctional facilities and entities contracting with such facilities shall not charge more than 3 per cent over the purchase cost for commissary items. The department of correction and county sheriffs shall maximize discounts procured from bulk purchasing of commissary items or other contracting opportunities that reduce the cost of such items and shall not receive commissions, revenue or other financial incentives in any contract with a seller, supplier or vendor of commissary items. Commissary items offered shall include gender affirming items, consistent with section 32A, and culturally appropriate items for all communities in custody.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 1 - Definitions

Section 1. The following words as used in this chapter shall have the following meanings unless the context otherwise requires: ''Commissioner'', the commissioner of agricultural resources. ''Department'', the department of agricultural resources. ''Director'', in sections 16 to 31A, inclusive, the director of the division of regulatory services in the department of agricultural resources. ''Inspector'', in sections thirty-two to thirty-eight, inclusive, the inspector of apiaries. ''Nursery stock'', trees, shrubs, woody plants and strawberry plants, whether wild or cultivated, and parts thereof for propagation. ''Riding school operator'', any person owning or having the custody of one or more horses which are let for hire to be ridden or driven, with or without the furnishing of riding or driving instructions. ''Trustees'', the trustees for county cooperative extension service.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 1a - Farming, Agriculture, Farmer; Definitions

Section 1A. ''Farming'' or ''agriculture'' shall include farming in all of its branches and the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing and harvesting of any agricultural, aquacultural, floricultural or horticultural commodities, the growing and harvesting of forest products upon forest land, the raising of livestock including horses, the keeping of horses as a commercial enterprise, the keeping and raising of poultry, swine, cattle and other domesticated animals used for food purposes, bees, fur-bearing animals, and any forestry or lumbering operations, performed by a farmer, who is hereby defined as one engaged in agriculture or farming as herein defined, or on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with such farming operations, including preparations for market, delivery to storage or to market or to carriers for transportation to market.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 2a - Horse Riding Instructors; Licenses; Fees; Validity of License; Duplicate Licenses; Rules and Regulations

Section 2A. No person shall hold himself out to be a horse riding instructor for hire without being licensed for such purpose by the commissioner. Application for a license under this section may be filed with the commissioner and shall contain such information as he shall prescribe. Every such application shall be accompanied by a registration fee of 20 dollars, which shall in no event be refunded. If an application is approved by the commissioner, the applicant upon the payment of an additional fee of 30 dollars shall be granted a license, which shall expire on March thirty-first following the date of issue, unless sooner revoked. The annual fee for renewal thereafter shall be 30 dollars.
Every person licensed as aforesaid shall endorse his usual signature on the margin of the license in the space provided for such purpose immediately upon the receipt of said license, and such license shall not be valid until so endorsed. In case of loss, mutilation, or destruction of a license, the commissioner shall issue a duplicate upon proper proof thereof and payment of a fee of 4 dollars.
The commissioner shall make rules and regulations governing the issuance and revocation of said license, and shall establish the minimum qualifications for the issuance thereof. If the qualifications of an applicant meet or exceed the minimum qualifications established by the commissioner he shall be issued such license.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 2b - Riding Schools or Stables; License; Fee; Rules and Regulations; Penalties

Section 2B. Every person engaged in the business of operating a riding school or a stable where horses are kept for hire, shall obtain a license therefor from the commissioner, the fee for which shall be $100, and such license shall expire on March thirty-first following the date of issuance, unless sooner revoked. The commissioner, subject to the approval of the governor may make rules and regulations governing the issuance and revocation of such licenses and the conducting of the businesses so licensed and relative to the maintenance of the premises, buildings and conveyances, the health of the horses or other equine animals, and the method and time of inspection and checking of said animals. Whoever violates any provision of this section or of any rule or regulation made thereunder shall be punished for a first offence by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars and for any subsequent offence by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than two and one half years, or both.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 2c - Horses Participating in Contests at Agricultural Fairs; Administering of Drugs Prohibited; Testing, Prima Facie Evidence; Eligibility Restricted; Rules and Regulations

Section 2C. No person shall administer or cause to be administered any drug, internally or externally by injection, drench or otherwise, to any animal for the purpose of retarding, stimulating or in any other manner affecting the performance of such animal in or in connection with a contest conducted under the provisions of paragraph (f) of section two.
The commissioner is hereby authorized to make such tests of saliva, blood and urine of any animal entered into a pulling contest as he may deem necessary. If a drug is found in the chemical analysis of said saliva, blood or urine, it shall be prima facie evidence that a drug has been administered.
The owner of any animal which has been tested and in which a drug has been found, his representative, and any animals owned by or leased to such person shall be ineligible to participate in or receive premiums offered at any agricultural fair or any pulling contest in the commonwealth pending an investigation, finding, and order of the commissioner.
The commissioner may make rules and regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 2e - Agricultural Harvesting or ''pick-Your-Own'' Farming Operations; Liability of Owners or Operators

Section 2E. No owner, operator, or employee of a farm who allows any person to enter said farm for the purpose of agricultural harvesting, including the cutting of Christmas trees under a so-called ''pick-your-own'' agreement shall be liable for injuries or death to persons, or damage to property, resulting from the conduct of such operation in the absence of wilful, wanton, or reckless conduct on the part of said owner, operator, or employee.
Said owner or operator of said farm shall post and maintain signs which contain the warning notice specified herein. Such signs shall be placed in a location visible to persons allowed to enter said farm for the purpose of agricultural harvesting. The warning notice shall appear on a sign in black letters, with each letter to be a minimum of one inch in height and shall contain the following notice:
WARNING
Under section 2E of chapter 128 of the General Laws the owner, operator, or any employees of this farm, shall not be liable for injury or death of persons, or damage to property, resulting out of the conduct of this ''pick-your-own'' harvesting activity in the absence of wilful, wanton, or reckless conduct.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 3 - Collection and Circulation of Information Regarding Development of Agricultural Resources

Section 3. The department may collect all necessary information in regard to the opportunities for developing agricultural resources through the reoccupancy of idle or partly improved farms and farm land, and may cause the facts so obtained, and a statement of the advantages offered, to be circulated where and how it deems for the best interest of the commonwealth.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 4 - Trust Funds, Gifts or Bequests

Section 4. The department may take, and hold in trust, funds collected pursuant to marketing orders or agreements as set forth in sections one hundred and two through one hundred and fifteen of this chapter, and gifts and bequests to it for promoting agricultural education or the general interests of husbandry.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 5 - Annual Report

Section 5. The department shall make an annual report, including the number of agents, assistants and scientific experts employed in the various divisions together with their expenses and disbursements, of all investigations made by the department of all cases prosecuted with the results thereof, and any other information advantageous to the public and agricultural industry.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 6 - Lectures and Publications

Section 6. The commissioner may arrange for lectures before the department, and may issue for general distribution such publications as he considers best adapted to promote the interests of agriculture including, but not limited to, reports, bulletins, special circulars, or otherwise, the results of analysis of commercial fertilizers and feedstuffs made under sections fifty-one to eighty, inclusive of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 7 - Posters Containing Extracts of Laws; Preparation and Distribution

Section 7. The commissioner shall cause to be printed on durable material, suitable to be affixed to trees or otherwise to be posted in the open air, copies of such extracts from section thirty-six of chapter one hundred and thirty-one and sections one hundred and five, one hundred and thirteen, one hundred and fifteen, one hundred and seventeen, one hundred and twenty-two and one hundred and thirty-one of chapter two hundred and sixty-six as in his opinion will tend to prevent depredations on farm and forest lands, and shall furnish a reasonable number of such copies to any owner or tenant of land, upon application, at a price not less than the cost thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 7a - Definitions

Section 7A. As used in this chapter the following words shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the following meanings:—
''Agriculture'' and ''farming'', as defined in section 1A of chapter 128.
''Arbor'', an area of land devoted to the propagation and cultivation of fruitbearing trees and shrubs, and nut trees.
''Bureau'', the bureau of land use in the division of agricultural development.
''Chief'', the chief of the bureau of land use.
''Elderly persons of low income'', persons who are age 65 or over and whose annual income is less than the amount necessary to enable them to maintain a decent standard of living, except that where there exists a surplus of land appropriate for garden use, the age requirement may be reduced by the director to age 62; but the oldest of the applicants between 62 and 65 shall be given preference.
''Families of low income'', families and persons whose net annual income is less than the amount necessary to enable them to maintain a decent standard of living.
''Farm'', a body of land devoted to agriculture.
''Garden'', a piece of land appropriate for the cultivation of herbs, fruits, flowers, or vegetables.
''Greenhouse gas benefits'', greenhouse gas emissions source reduction or carbon sequestration.
''Healthy soils'', soils that enhance their continuing capacity to function as a biological system, increase soil organic matter, improve soil structure and water and nutrient-holding capacity and result in net long-term greenhouse gas benefits.
''Healthy soils practices'', practices that: (i) improve measurable soil health on lands utilized for commercial farming, suburban and urban lawns, yards and gardens, public and private forests, parks and other open spaces and non-paved outdoor areas of office complexes, mixed-use facilities, businesses, industries and colleges and other institutions; (ii) provide 1 or more of the following benefits: (A) improve food production; (B) encourage the health, growth and biological diversity of plants and forests; (C) increase water infiltration reducing storm water run-off; (D) provide drought and crop resilience; (E) enhance water quality; and (F) reduce the use of fertilizers and herbicides; and (iii) provide greenhouse gas benefits.
''Use'', when applied to gardening; to make use of, without conveyance of title or any other ownership.
''Vacant public land'', any land owned by the commonwealth, or any county or municipality therein, that is not in use for public purpose.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 7b - Use of Public Lands; Application; Indemnification

Section 7B. Any person may make application to the bureau of land use on a form to be furnished by the bureau for a permit to use available vacant public land for garden, arbor, or farm purposes. Applicants shall submit a plan for said use and shall agree to maintain the land in a condition consistent with said land use plan, and shall agree to abide by the rules and regulations promulgated by said bureau. Failure to carry out the conditions of agreement shall result in the forfeiture of the garden, arbor or farm permit. Any person who is granted the use of garden, arbor, or farm land shall indemnify and save harmless the commonwealth, the department of agricultural resources and all of its officers, agents and employees against suits and claims of liability of each name and nature arising out of, or in consequence of the use of vacant public land.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 7c - Priority in Allotment of Public Lands

Section 7C. Priority in the allotment of vacant public land for garden and arbor purposes shall be given to elderly persons of low income, families of low income and children between the ages of 7 and 16. Products grown in gardens and arbors shall not be sold.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 7d - Bureau Contracts for Use of Public Lands

Section 7D. The bureau shall, with the cooperation of other state agencies and cities and towns, compile a list of all vacant land, that in the opinion of the agencies and cities and towns, can be feasibly used for gardening, arbor culture or farming. The bureau shall, by letters of agreement, contract with such agencies or cities and towns for the use of said vacant land. Contracts may contain a termination date. If no date is determined, either party may terminate the contract by written notice given within 60 days; but no contract shall be terminated until the end of the harvest season. The bureau shall notify the gardeners or farmers of the notice of termination.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 7e - Making Land Available to Bureau

Section 7E. Owners of land may make available to the bureau parcels of land for the purposes set forth in section 7B under terms and conditions agreed upon between the owners and the bureau, and the commonwealth, the department and all of its officers, agents and employees shall be saved harmless as provided in section 7B.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 8a - Destruction or Control of Foxes and Rodents; Investigations; Cooperative Arrangements With United States

Section 8A. In order to protect the food supplies, agricultural produce, growing crops, live stock, manufactured goods and buildings, and to safeguard the public health, the commissioner may investigate the life and habits of, and may take necessary measures to destroy or to control, foxes, and rats, mice, woodchucks, and such other rodents not protected by law, as may from time to time be determined by him to be detrimental to one or more of such purposes. In performing such duties he may, by himself or by his authorized agent, with the consent of the owner or tenant, enter upon private premises for any of such purposes at any reasonable time. In order to carry out this section, the commissioner may enter into co-operative arrangements with the United States or any agency thereof, with any department, board or commission of this commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, or with any association, corporation or individual owning, occupying or possessing any property within the commonwealth. Section forty-three of chapter one hundred and thirty-one shall not apply to the destruction of rodents under this section. Nothing herein shall be construed to authorize the destruction or control of foxes by the use of poison.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 8b - Supervision of Mink Ranches; Listing; Fee; Certificate; Penalty

Section 8B. Mink that have been propagated in captivity for two or more generations shall be considered domesticated mammals subject to all the laws of the commonwealth with reference to possession, ownership and taxation as are at any time applicable to domesticated animals; such domesticated mink and the pelts or products thereof shall be deemed agricultural products and shall not be subject to the provisions of chapter one hundred and thirty-one. The breeding, raising, producing in captivity and marketing thereof shall be deemed an agricultural pursuit. For the purposes of this section, a mink ranch shall be deemed to be any place where mink as defined by this section are raised and propagated in captivity. Each mink ranch shall be listed with the department on or before February first of each year and the premises and the breeding records may be inspected by the commissioner or his agents at any reasonable time. The fee for such listing shall be $25 annually for which fee a certificate shall be issued by the department of agriculture. Such certificate shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the premises at all times. The burden shall be upon the owner of such a ranch to prove that all mink possessed are domesticated as defined above. Whoever violates any provisions of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 9 - Establishment of Demonstration Sheep Farms

Section 9. The department may establish demonstration sheep farms in such places as may be selected by the commissioner. Such a farm may be established in co-operation with the owner of any farm who is desirous of conducting it in conformity with this and the two following sections.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 10 - Maintenance of Flock of Sheep on Demonstration Farm

Section 10. Each person conducting a demonstration sheep farm shall maintain under the supervision of and in accordance with such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the commissioner, a flock of not less than twenty sheep and under his direction may from time to time purchase and sell such sheep as may be considered essential to the proper development of the industry in the locality of such farm, the sheep so purchased or sold to be passed upon by the division of animal health as to their condition and freedom from disease.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 11 - Compensation From Commonwealth for Use of Farm as a Demonstration Sheep Farm

Section 11. The owner of every such farm shall receive a reasonable compensation from the commonwealth for the use of the farm as such demonstration sheep farm, for the labor and expense involved in carrying out this and the two preceding sections, and for any loss involved in the purchase or sale of sheep made in accordance with the preceding section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 12 - Powers and Duties of Division of Regulatory Services

Section 12. The division of regulatory services shall investigate all dairy products bought or sold, enforce the laws for the manufacture, transfer and sale of such products, and take such action as will tend to produce better quality thereof and to improve the dairy industry. It may co-operate with the department of public health and with inspectors of milk, but it shall not interfere with the duties of such department or officers.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 13 - Report of Unsanitary Condition

Section 13. The bureau of dairying in the division of regulatory services shall report to the director of animal health each case brought to its attention where any barn, stable or other enclosure, where neat cattle, other ruminants or swine are kept, is found in an unsanitary condition.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 13a - Reimbursement Following Dealer's Milk Payment Default

Section 13A. The Milk Producers Security Fund, established by section 48 of chapter 10, shall be for the purpose of reimbursing Massachusetts producers who sold milk to a dealer when the dealer has defaulted in the timely payment for the milk under chapter 94A, or orders, rules or regulations issued under the authority thereof, or of a federal milk marketing order. Each producer shall notify the commissioner in writing of any default in the payment within 90 days after the date on which payment of milk is regularly due. If there is reason to believe that the dealer is in arrears in his payments to producers for milk received by him, the commissioner shall give notice to all producers so affected to file verified claims with the commissioner. The commissioner shall examine all claims so filed and shall certify the amounts determined to be due thereon, and transmit the same for payment to the state treasurer under section 48 of chapter 10.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 128 - Agriculture › Section 13b - Dealer Payments Into Milk Producers Security Fund

Section 13B. (a) The dealer of milk in the commonwealth who first received milk from Massachusetts producers, shall pay on or before the due date of payment to the producers, the amount of 5 cents per 100 weight on the volume of all the milk purchased from the producers and the payments shall be deposited with the state treasurer in the Milk Producers Security Fund established by section 48 of chapter 10. Payment as provided in this section shall be made for all milk shipped to a dealer by a producer who is not a member of a cooperative association which guarantees payment where there is a default in the payment for milk. Payment shall be deducted by the dealer from monies owed by the dealer to the producers in the amount of 5 cents per 100 weight.
(b) The commissioner may suspend the collection of payments made under subsection (a) from time to time as the commissioner determines to be in the best interests of the producers affected by this section and section 13A; provided, that the balance of the fund shall not be less than $1,000,000; and provided further, that the commissioner shall consider the quantity of milk covered by the fund and the current price levels for milk when making the determination. The commissioner shall provide 30 days written notice of any suspension or reinstatement of payments into the fund to the house and senate committees on ways and means and to all dealers and producers affected.
(c) Notwithstanding section 13A, a milk producer who pays into the fund under subsection (a) may, after the milk producer's application is approved by the commissioner, be reimbursed up to an amount equal to the monies paid by the applicant into the fund minus any funds previously distributed to said applicant plus a pro rata share of the interest earned by the fund. The commissioner shall establish criteria for the approval of the applications, the criteria shall include, but shall not be limited to: whether the milk producer continues to produce milk; whether the milk producer has joined a cooperative association; and other criteria the commissioner deems relevant. The commissioner shall not authorize a reimbursement if payment of that reimbursement would result in the balance of the fund falling below $1,000,000. Upon approval of an application, the commissioner shall certify the amount due to the milk producer and transmit the certified amount for payment to the state treasurer under section 48 of chapter 10.