reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 79a - Relocation Assistance › Section 11 - Expenditure of Funds by Public Agency or Municipality; State Financial Assistance

Section 11. Funds appropriated or otherwise available to any public agency for the acquisition, rehabilitation or demolition of real property or any interest therein for a particular program or project shall be available also for obligation and expenditure to carry out the provisions of this act as applied to that program or project.
If a municipality acquires, rehabilitates, or demolishes real property, and state financial assistance is available to pay the cost, in whole or part, of the acquisition, rehabilitation, or demolition of such real property, or of the improvement for which such property is acquired, the cost to the unit of local government of providing the payments and services prescribed by this act shall be included as part of the costs of the project for which state financial assistance is available to such municipality, and shall be eligible for state financial assistance in the same manner and in the same ratio as other project costs.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 79a - Relocation Assistance › Section 12 - Regulations; Powers of Bureau

Section 12. The bureau may promulgate regulations to carry out the purposes of this chapter and to assure that relocation payments are administered in a manner which is equitable and uniform; and may agree to waive with respect to any particular acquisition any provision of this chapter which would constitute a bar to federal reimbursement otherwise available with respect to any project on account of which such acquisition is proposed.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 79a - Relocation Assistance › Section 13 - Enforcement of State Sanitary Code; Displacement of Persons; Moving Expenses; State Financial Assistance; Reports

Section 13. Any public agency displacing one or more persons by issuing an order to vacate real property for the purpose of enforcing Article II of the state sanitary code, pursuant to section one hundred and twenty-seven B of chapter one hundred and eleven, shall provide relocation assistance and a relocation payment to such person or persons for actual reasonable documented expenses in moving his personal property from the real property, unless such payment is otherwise provided. The provisions of this section shall apply only to real property which is not part of or constitutes the entirety of a project where relocation payments would otherwise be required.
In instances where such enforcement results in the eviction of occupants, the state shall reimburse the locality carrying out such enforcement for fifty per cent of the costs of providing such relocation assistance and moving payments. Such state financial assistance shall be contingent upon the provision of relocation services and payments as documented by periodic reports as required by regulation pursuant to section twelve.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 79a - Relocation Assistance › Section 14 - Projects Utilizing Public Mortgage Financing; Moving Expenses

Section 14. Any person utilizing mortgage financing issued, insured, or subsidized by a public agency, including an agency of the federal government, for a project resulting in the displacement of occupants, shall provide relocation assistance and a relocation payment to any such displaced occupant for actual reasonable documented expenses in moving his personal property from such real property.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80 - Betterments › Section 1 - Assessment of Cost of Public Improvements

Section 1. Whenever a limited and determinable area receives benefit or advantage, other than the general advantage to the community, from a public improvement made by or in accordance with the formal vote or order of a board of officers of the commonwealth or of a county, city, town or district, and such order states that betterments are to be assessed for the improvement, such board shall within six months after the completion of the improvement determine the value of such benefit or advantage to the land within such area and assess upon each parcel thereof a proportionate share of the cost of such improvement, and shall include in such cost all damages awarded therefor under chapter seventy-nine; but no such assessment shall exceed the amount of such adjudged benefit or advantage. The board shall in the order of assessment designate as the owner of each parcel the person who was liable to assessment therefor on the preceding January first under the provisions of chapter fifty-nine.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80 - Betterments › Section 2 - Assessment Order; Plan and Estimate; Recordation

Section 2. An order under section one which states that betterments are to be assessed for the improvement shall contain a description sufficiently accurate for identification of the area which it is expected will receive benefit or advantage, other than the general advantage to the community, from such improvement, and shall refer to a plan of such area, and shall contain an estimate of the betterments that will be assessed upon each parcel of land within such area; and such order, plan and estimate shall be recorded, within ninety days from the adoption of the order, or from the acceptance by a town of the laying out, relocation or alteration of a way in case such acceptance is required before the establishment thereof, in the registry of deeds of every county or district in which the benefited area is situated. No betterments shall be assessed for such improvement unless the order, plan and estimate are recorded as herein provided, nor upon any parcel of land not within such area, nor for a greater amount than such estimate.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80 - Betterments › Section 3 - Surrender of Land Assessed

Section 3. An owner of land abutting on a public improvement and liable to assessment therefor under this chapter may give notice in writing to the board, within three months after the award of damages is made, that he elects to surrender his land; and if said board adjudge that the public convenience and necessity require the taking of such abutting estate for the improvement named, they may take the whole thereof, and shall thereupon estimate its value, excluding the benefit or advantage accruing from such improvement; and such owner shall convey the estate to the body politic or corporate on behalf of which the assessment was made and may recover therefrom in contract the value so estimated. The commonwealth, county, city, town or district may sell any portion of said land which is not needed for such improvement.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80 - Betterments › Section 4 - Collection

Section 4. Within a reasonable time after making the assessment the board shall certify to the assessors the list of assessments upon land in each town who shall forthwith commit such assessments with their warrant to the collector of taxes thereof, and he shall forthwith send notice in accordance, except as to the date of notice, with section three of chapter sixty, to the person designated under section one as the owner of each parcel assessed, and any demand for the payment of such assessment shall be made upon such person. Except as otherwise herein provided, the collector shall have the same powers and be subject to the same duties with respect to such assessments as in the case of the annual taxes upon real estate, and the law in regard to the collection of the annual taxes, to the sale of land for the non-payment thereof and to redemption therefrom shall apply to assessments made under this chapter, so far as the same are applicable; but the owner of land assessed shall not be personally liable for the assessment thereon. Every collector of taxes receiving a list and warrant from the assessors shall collect the assessment therein set forth, and at such times as the assessors shall direct, or in the case of assessments relating to state funded projects, as the collector of taxes and the board determine shall pay over to the treasurer of the body politic on behalf of which the assessment was made the amounts collected by him.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80 - Betterments › Section 5 - Petition for Abatement; Filing, Etc.

Section 5. The owner of any real estate upon which betterments have been assessed may, within six months after notice of such assessment has been sent out by the collector, file with the board a petition for an abatement thereof, and the board shall grant such abatement as may be necessary to make such assessment conform to section one. Such petition may be filed with the clerk or secretary of the board, or delivered by mail or otherwise at their office. The board shall within ten days after their decision upon the petition give written notice thereof to the petitioner. If an assessment is abated by the board the assessment so determined shall stand as the assessment upon the land, and if it has not been paid shall be collected in the same manner as the original assessment. If the assessment has been paid, the person by whom it was paid shall be reimbursed by the body politic on behalf of which it was assessed to the amount of the abatement allowed, with interest at the rate of six per cent per annum from the time of payment.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80 - Betterments › Section 6 - Filing Petition; Time Limitation; Extension

Section 6. If a suit in which the validity of an assessment is drawn in question is brought within the time for filing a petition to the board for the abatement thereof or within six months after the determination of an earlier suit involving the same question, brought within the time for filing such petition, which failed for want of jurisdiction, defect of form or other like cause not decisive of the merits of the controversy, the petition may be filed within six months after the final determination of such suit.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80 - Betterments › Section 7 - Appeal to Superior Court

Section 7. A person who is aggrieved by the refusal of the board to abate an assessment in whole or in part may within thirty days after notice of their decision appeal therefrom by filing a petition for the abatement of such assessment in the superior court for the county in which the land assessed is situated. If a single parcel of land so assessed lies in more than one county the petition may be filed in the superior court for either such county, and the court in which such petition is first filed shall have exclusive jurisdiction thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80 - Betterments › Section 8 - Death of Person Entitled to Petition for Abatement

Section 8. If a person who is entitled to petition for an abatement under this chapter dies within the time limited for such petition without having filed the same, his executor, administrator, heir or devisee, if interested, may, within one year after his interest vests, file such petition in the same manner and with the same effect as if filed by the deceased in his lifetime.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80 - Betterments › Section 9 - Trial Procedure

Section 9. Upon the filing of a petition under section seven, process shall issue and service be made as in suits in equity upon the body politic on behalf of which the assessment was made. Any defence to the petition not relating to the amount of the assessment must be pleaded within thirty days of the return day of the subpoena; but no answer relating solely to the amount of the assessment shall be filed, and there shall be no default for failure to enter an appearance. The trial shall be by the court unless one of the parties within the time prescribed in actions at law files a notice that he desires a trial by jury; and the court may appoint an auditor. Interrogatories may be filed with the same effect as in actions at law. The court, as the request of any party, shall advance the petition so that it may be heard and determined with as little delay as possible. In case petitions have been filed for the assessment of damages and for the abatement of betterments with respect to the same parcel of land and the same public improvement, the petitions shall be tried together. In case of trial by jury, if either party requests it the jury shall view the premises. If the assessment is not reduced the respondent shall recover costs and an execution shall issue therefor as in actions at law; but if the assessment is reduced the petitioner shall recover judgment for costs, and the assessment so determined shall stand as the assessment upon the land, and if it has not been paid shall be collected in the manner provided for an original assessment. If the assessment has been paid judgment shall be entered for the petitioner for the amount of the reduction, with interest at the rate of four per cent per annum from the time of payment.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80 - Betterments › Section 10 - Appeal to County Commissioners

Section 10. A person who is aggrieved by the refusal of a board of officers of a city, town or district to abate an assessment may, instead of pursuing the remedy provided by section seven, appeal within the time limited therein to the county commissioners of the county in which the land assessed is situated. The person so appealing shall, within ten days after the filing of said appeal, give written notice thereof to such city, town or district. Such notice may be given by mailing a copy of the appeal by registered mail, postage prepaid, to the board which made the assessment or to the clerk of such city, town or district. The county commissioners shall hear the parties, and shall have the same powers and duties with respect to the abatement of such assessment as the board by which it was assessed, and may make an order as to costs. The decision of the county commissioners shall be final.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80 - Betterments › Section 10a - Petition for Abatement; Procedure on Failure of Board to Act

Section 10A. If the board with which a petition for the abatement of an assessment has been duly filed in accordance with the provisions of section five fails to act upon said petition within four months of the date of the filing of such petition, the petition shall be deemed to be denied, and the petitioner shall have the right within sixty days after the expiration of said four months to appeal as if the board had in fact denied the said petition; provided, that if the assessment has been paid, no appeal shall be taken after the expiration of ten months from the time of payment.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80 - Betterments › Section 11 - Contribution by Lessee; Rights and Remedies of Lessee

Section 11. If an assessment is made upon land the whole or part of which is leased, the owner shall pay the assessment, and may collect of the lessee an additional rent for the portion so leased equal to ten per cent per annum on that proportion of the amount paid which the value of the leased portion bears to that of the whole estate, after deducting from the whole amount any money received for damages to such land in excess of what he has necessarily expended thereon by reason of such damages. A lessee aggrieved by the imposition of this burden may, within six months from the time demand is made upon him for such additional rent, file a petition in the superior court for the county in which the land is situated, to determine the proportion of the assessment which he ought to bear, and the proportion determined upon the petition shall be substituted for the proportion provided by this section. If such proportion is reduced the lessee shall recover costs from the owner; otherwise the owner shall recover costs from the lessee.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80 - Betterments › Section 13a - Land Devoid of Structures; Extension of Time for Payment of Assessments

Section 13A. The board making the order for the assessment of any betterment upon land which is not built upon may extend the time of payment of the assessment until it is built upon or for a fixed time; but interest at the rate of four per cent per annum shall be paid annually upon the assessment from the time it was made, and the assessment shall be paid within three months after such land is built upon or at the expiration of such fixed time.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80 - Betterments › Section 15 - Division of Assessed Land

Section 15. If land which is subject to a lien for an assessment made under this chapter is subsequently divided by sale, mortgage, partition or otherwise and such division has been duly recorded in the registry of deeds, the board, before the land has been advertised for sale for non-payment of the assessment, may, or upon the written request of the owner or mortgagee of a portion thereof, accompanied by a plan sufficient for the identification of the division of the whole estate, with the names of the different owners thereof, shall, divide said assessment or the amount thereof remaining unpaid, and the costs and interest accrued thereon, among the several parcels into which said land has been divided, assessing upon each parcel the part of the original assessment remaining unpaid proportionate to the special benefit received by such parcel from the improvement. After such assessment has been so divided, only the part of the assessment, interest and costs assessed upon each parcel shall constitute a lien upon such parcel. At least seven days prior to making such division the board shall send by registered mail to all owners of any interest in the land assessed, whose addresses are known to them, a notice of their intention to make such division and of the time appointed therefor, unless such notice has been waived. A person aggrieved by any action of the board under this section shall have the same remedy as a person aggrieved by the refusal of the board to abate an assessment.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80 - Betterments › Section 16 - Reassessment

Section 16. If an assessment is invalid and has not been paid in full or has been paid under such circumstances that it can be recovered back, it may be reassessed by the board in the amount for which the original assessment ought to have been made, at any time before the expiration of two years from the date of the assessment, if the land has in the meantime been alienated; otherwise at any time before the alienation thereof. Such assessment shall be a lien upon any sum paid on account of the original assessment, and to the extent that it is not thereby satisfied shall be a lien upon the land. It shall be collected in the same manner as an original assessment, and shall in all other respects be subject to this chapter.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80 - Betterments › Section 17 - Application of Chapter

Section 17. Whenever a formal vote or order for the laying out or construction of a public improvement, or for the taking of land therefor, states that betterments are to be assessed, no betterments shall be assessed except under this chapter or chapter eighty A, and all proceedings relating to such betterments shall be as herein or therein provided, notwithstanding any special act hitherto enacted.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings › Section 1 - Authorization

Section 1. A board of officers, hereinafter called the board, upon whom authority to take real estate by eminent domain on behalf of the commonwealth or of any county, city, town or district thereof, hereinafter described as the body politic, has been conferred by law, for the purpose of effecting a public improvement, may, at its election, instead of proceeding in accordance with chapter seventy-nine, or in accordance with chapters seventy-nine and eighty if betterments are to be assessed, institute proceedings for the taking of real estate or any interest therein, and for the assessment of betterments, in accordance with this chapter. So much of sections two to fifteen, inclusive, as relates to the assessment of betterments shall apply only to proceedings thereunder wherein the board votes under section two to assess betterments and so states in the order adopted thereunder.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings › Section 2 - Order of Intention; Contents

Section 2. The board, having first complied with all the preliminary requirements prescribed by law, shall adopt an order of intention to take, which shall contain a description of the property to be taken sufficiently accurate for identification, and shall state the interest therein to be taken and the purpose for which such property is to be taken, and, if betterments are to be assessed therefor, shall so state; otherwise, it shall state that no betterments are to be assessed. In case there are trees upon land so to be taken, or structures affixed thereto, the order shall state whether the same are to be included in the taking, and, if they are not to be so included, shall allow the owner a reasonable time after the taking becomes absolute to remove the same, to be specified in the order.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings › Section 3 - Order of Intention; Additional Provisions; Notice of Adoption

Section 3. The order shall contain an estimate of all damages sustained by every person in his property by reason of such taking as of the date of the adoption of the order, and shall contain an estimate of the cost of the improvement, including such damages, and, if betterments are to be assessed, a description sufficiently accurate for identification of the area which it is expected will receive benefit or advantage, other than the general advantage to the community, from such improvement, and shall refer to a plan of such area, and shall contain an estimate of the betterments that will be assessed upon each parcel of land within such area. Notice of the adoption of such order shall be sent forthwith by registered mail to every person, whose address is known, appearing of record to have an interest in any land to be taken, damaged or assessed, by or on account of the proposed improvement, setting forth all estimates contained in said order in relation to said land, and a like notice shall be posted in a conspicuous place on each parcel thereof. Such order, plan and estimate shall be recorded, within ten days from the adoption of the order, in the registry of deeds of every county or district in which property to be taken or assessed is situated.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings › Section 4 - Petition to Take Property

Section 4. Within ten days from the recording of such order, plan and estimate, the board shall cause to be filed in the superior court of the county in which such proposed public improvement or the major part thereof is situated a petition on behalf and in the name of the body politic undertaking such improvement, to establish its right to take the property described in the order and, if betterments are to be assessed, to assess the same on account of the special benefits to be derived from the improvement, and to determine the compensation and damages to be paid, the area to be assessed and the amount of the benefits to be made the basis of assessments. The petition shall contain a copy of the order and estimates, and shall designate the registry or registries of deeds in which the order, plan and estimate have been recorded as provided in section three. The proceeding thus instituted shall be in rem against the land to be taken, damaged or assessed, but every person appearing of record to have an interest in any of said land at the time of the adoption of the order shall be made a party respondent. The court shall issue an order of notice to all of said respondents, returnable at any return day which occurs thirty days or more after the filing of the petition, which shall be served upon all respondents who are residents of the commonwealth or can be found therein in the manner prescribed for serving a writ of summons in civil actions, and upon all other parties by posting a copy thereof on each parcel of land to be taken, damaged or assessed and by sending a copy thereof by registered mail to each of said parties whose address is known, at least twenty days before said return day. Persons not in being, unascertained or unknown who may have an interest in any of such land shall be made parties respondent by such description as seems appropriate, and service may be made on such persons by publication, in such manner as the court may order.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings › Section 5 - Answer

Section 5. Any of said respondents, and any other person claiming an interest in any of the land to be taken, damaged or assessed by or on account of said improvement, may appear and file an answer within thirty days after the return day of the petition. In such answer he may (1) deny the right of the petitioner to make the improvement, or to take or damage his land, (2) deny the right of the petitioner to levy an assessment upon his land, (3) impugn the validity or regularity of the proceedings for establishing the improvement, taking property by eminent domain or assessing betterments therefor so far as any absence of such validity or regularity may affect the legality of the taking or damaging of his land, or of the assessment of betterments thereon, in which case he shall specify the invalidity or irregularity relied on, (4) deny the sufficiency of the compensation or damages allotted to him in the estimate of the board, in which case he shall state the amount of compensation or damages claimed by him, (5) deny that his property will receive benefit or advantage, other than the general advantage to the community, from the establishment of the improvement, in the amount stated in the estimate, in which case he shall state the value of such benefit or advantage, if any, which he admits his property will receive.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings › Section 6 - Default Judgments; Appointment of Guardians

Section 6. The court shall, on motion of the petitioner, enter a default against all persons served with process or who otherwise appear to have seasonably received personal notice of the petition and who have not appeared and answered within the time prescribed. The court shall appoint one or more disinterested persons to act as guardian or guardians ad litem for minors, for persons under disability, and for all persons not in being, unascertained, unknown or out of the commonwealth, who have been named or described as parties respondent and for whom no duly authorized person has appeared and answered, and such guardian or guardians ad litem shall be allowed thirty days from his or their appointment to appear and answer on behalf of the persons whom he or they represent.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings › Section 7 - Hearing; Judgment

Section 7. If any person in his answer denies the right of the petitioner to make the improvement or to take or damage his property, or to levy an assessment thereon, or impugns the validity or regularity of the proceedings, the court shall forthwith hear and determine the issue thus raised, and may order the petition dismissed or may enter an order establishing the right of the petitioner to take the real estate, or interest therein, described in the order for the purpose therein stated and to assess betterments as therein set forth, or may enter such other order as law and justice may require. If the court does not order the petition dismissed, and one or more of the respondents allege exceptions or appeal to the supreme judicial court or the matter is reported to the supreme judicial court, further proceedings shall not be stayed unless the justice who heard and determined the matter so directs. If no such issue is raised by any person in his answer, the court shall, on motion of the petitioner, enter an order establishing the right of the petitioner to take the real estate, or interest therein, described in the order for the purpose therein stated and to assess betterments as therein set forth. An order under this section establishing the right of the petitioner to take property or to assess betterments shall be final and conclusive as to the validity of the proceedings up to the date of the adoption of such order.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings › Section 8 - Arbitration of Disputes; Appointment of Commissioners

Section 8. If the court shall enter an order establishing the right of the petitioner to take the real estate, or interest therein, described in the order for the purpose therein stated and to assess betterments as therein set forth, and any person has in his answer denied the sufficiency of his compensation or damages as estimated in the order under section three or has denied that his property will receive benefit or advantage in the amount estimated therein, the court shall appoint not more than three disinterested persons as commissioners to hear and determine the issues thus raised. The provisions of law in regard to auditors shall so far as apt apply to such hearing, and all controversies as to the amount of compensation, damages and betterments arising out of the same petition shall be referred to the same commissioners. The commissioners shall hear the parties as speedily as may be and shall thereafter file a draft report with the clerk of the court and shall send notice of such filing to the several parties. The commissioners shall not determine the compensation or damages to which any person is entitled to be greater than as alleged by him in his answer, nor less than as estimated by the board; nor shall they determine the benefit to any parcel of land to be less than as admitted by the owner in his answer nor more than as estimated by the board.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings › Section 9 - Redetermination of Damages; Procedure

Section 9. Any person aggrieved by the determination of the commissioners with respect to his compensation or damages may have a redetermination thereof by a jury by making application therefor within twenty days after the sending of the notice of the filing of the commissioners' draft report. The application may be placed on the trial list of the next ensuing sitting of the court with jury in the county and heard and determined in the same manner as other civil cases and may be advanced for speedy trial; but if there are two or more such applications with respect to a particular public improvement which cannot be heard forthwith without unduly delaying the trial of other civil cases, the court may direct that a special jury be summoned to hear and determine all such applications. The administrative justice for the superior court department shall preside or designate a justice sitting in said department to preside over the sittings of such special jury, who shall have in the hearing and determination of such applications all the powers of a justice appointed to said department presiding over the trial of an ordinary civil action. The award of the commissioners shall be prima facie evidence of the compensation or damages to which the applicant is entitled, and the jury shall not award compensation or damages to any person in a greater amount than as alleged by him in his answer nor less than as estimated by the board. If the jury does not agree upon a verdict, or if the verdict is set aside, the applicant shall be entitled to a new jury from time to time until a verdict has been rendered and established; but he may at any time, upon terms, waive his right to a trial by jury and accept the compensation or damages awarded by the commissioners.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings › Section 10 - Final Adjudication

Section 10. If the verdict of the jury as finally established shall differ from the award of the commissioners with respect to the compensation or damages to which any person is entitled, the report of the commissioners shall be amended accordingly, and, after all applications for redetermination of compensation or damages have been disposed of, the report shall be presented to the court for confirmation. The report of the commissioners as thus amended shall be final and conclusive as to all questions of fact, but the court may hear and determine questions of law arising therefrom and may order the report to be confirmed or to be recommitted to the commissioners to be reconsidered in accordance with law, or may itself make such amendments and alterations as are necessary to render the report consistent with the law. If an appeal to the supreme judicial court or exceptions are taken with respect to the order of the justice of the superior court upon the motion for final confirmation of the commissioners' report, or if the matter is reported to the supreme judicial court, the same shall be heard and determined without awaiting further proceedings in the superior court. The operation of the order shall be stayed pending the disposition of such appeal, exceptions or report, and the order shall, if necessary, be modified to conform to the decision of the supreme judicial court. After the expiration of thirty days from the final confirmation of the report, or if the same is affirmed by the supreme judicial court, of thirty days from the date of the rescript of said court, if the proceedings have not in the meantime been discontinued, and if it shall be made to appear that all laws requiring appropriations of money, to be raised by loan or otherwise, in cases of taking of property by eminent domain, in so far as applicable, have been complied with, judgment of condemnation shall be entered upon motion of the petitioner which shall be final and conclusive against all the world with respect to the validity and extent of the taking, and the right of the petitioner to assess betterments therefor, and against all parties to the proceedings with respect to the amount of compensation or damages to which any person is entitled and the amount of benefit or advantage which each parcel of land within the designated area will receive from the improvement. If judgment of condemnation is not entered within six months from the confirmation of the commissioners' report, or from the rescript of the supreme judicial court, the petition shall be dismissed upon motion of any one or more of the parties respondent. The clerk of the court shall forthwith transmit for record to every registry of deeds designated in the petition as provided in section four a certified copy of any judgment of condemnation entered under this section or of any interlocutory judgment of condemnation entered under section eleven.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings › Section 11 - Abandonment or Discontinuance of Proceedings

Section 11. The board may at any time before final judgment of condemnation abandon the proposed improvement and discontinue the proceedings, in which case all action taken thereunder and under the proceedings for the laying out or establishment of such improvement shall become void; but in such case, or in case the petition shall be dismissed on motion of a party respondent under section ten, any person who has suffered damage or loss or been put to expense by the proceedings shall be entitled to recover indemnity in full by order of the court and for which execution shall issue. In case of abandonment or dismissal as aforesaid, the clerk of the court shall forthwith transmit for record to every registry of deeds designated in the petition as provided in section four a certificate that all proceedings in relation to such improvement have been discontinued or dismissed. At any time after the right of the petitioner to take the property described in the order for the purpose stated therein and to assess betterments therefor has been established, if it shall be made to appear that all laws requiring appropriations of money, to be raised by loan or otherwise, in cases of the taking of land by eminent domain, in so far as applicable, have been complied with, the court shall on motion of the petitioner enter an interlocutory judgment of condemnation, which shall have the same effect as a final judgment of condemnation, except with respect to compensation, damages and assessments for benefits, and the proceedings shall continue as herein provided with respect to compensation, damages, and assessments; but the petitioner shall not thereafter have the right to discontinue the proceedings.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings › Section 12 - Transfer of Property; Interest Transferred; Payment of Compensation

Section 12. The taking shall become absolute and the right of the body politic to the real estate or interest therein described in the petition and the right of the respondents to compensation or damages shall vest upon the entry of either final or interlocutory judgment of condemnation, and it shall have immediate right of entry and possession, subject to the rights of the owners under section two with respect to structures and trees. The compensation or damages shall be payable when vested, or as soon thereafter as they are finally determined, and if not then paid may be recovered in an action of contract. In case two or more persons have appeared in the proceedings as parties respondent with interests adverse to each other with respect to a particular parcel of land, the body politic shall not be bound to pay such compensation until one or more of such persons have established his or their rights thereto in proper judicial proceedings to which the others of such persons are parties; but the proceedings to determine the amount of compensation shall not be stayed pending the establishment of such rights. Compensation and damages shall be assessed as of the date of the adoption of the order, and shall bear interest at the rate of six per cent per annum from the date when the right to damages becomes vested until payable, but shall not bear interest after they are payable unless the body politic fails upon demand to pay the same to the person entitled thereto. The body politic shall not pay compensation or damages to any person in excess of its estimate, except in accordance with an award of the commissioners, nor in excess of the award of the commissioners, except as amended in accordance with a verdict of the jury.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings › Section 13 - Taxation of Costs

Section 13. If the petition is dismissed under section seven, costs, as in actions at law, shall be awarded to the respondents, in addition to indemnity for loss and damages as provided in section eleven. If, upon entry of an interlocutory or final judgment of condemnation it appears that a respondent has been awarded greater compensation or damages than was allotted to him in the estimate contained in the order adopted under sections two and three or if betterments to be assessed on the land of any respondent have been determined to be less than as estimated in said order, such respondent shall be entitled to such costs; otherwise, he shall be liable for such costs.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings › Section 14 - Assessment of Improvements; Assessment Lien; Effective Date

Section 14. If the right to assess betterments has been established, the board, within six months after the completion of the improvement, shall assess a proportionate share of the whole or part of the cost thereof upon each parcel of land with respect to which a benefit or advantage has been determined as herein provided and in the amount so determined, unless the betterments so assessed shall exceed the cost of the improvement, in which case they shall be proportionately reduced; and such assessments shall not thereafter be abated. The lien for such assessments shall take effect upon the recording of the order of intention to take under section three.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings › Section 15 - Application of Sections Controlling Eminent Domain and Betterments; Fees of Guardians and Commissioners

Section 15. The provisions of chapters seventy-nine and eighty, and all other provisions of law relative to proceedings under said chapters, shall apply to proceedings under this chapter, and to betterments assessed thereunder, so far as applicable and not inconsistent with the provisions hereof; but no petition for the assessment of compensation or damages or for the abatement of an assessment shall be maintained by any person who has been made a party to the proceedings for condemnation or with respect to property the record owners of which at the time of the adoption of the order under section two have been made parties thereto. Failure to make any person having an interest in the land taken, damaged or assessed a party respondent under section four shall not invalidate the proceedings, but such person shall not be bound by the judgment in the proceedings in respect to compensation, damages or assessments. The court shall determine the compensation of guardians ad litem and commissioners appointed under this chapter, and shall have power to establish and regulate the procedure thereunder, so far as not therein prescribed.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIII - Eminent Domain and Betterments › Chapter 80a - Eminent Domain Takings and Betterment Assessments by Judicial Proceedings › Section 16 - Election to Proceed Under This Chapter

Section 16. In any case where the commonwealth, or a county, city, town or district thereof, has been or shall be authorized by provisions of general or special law to take real estate or any interest therein by eminent domain under chapter seventy-nine, the officer or board of officers thereof authorized to exercise such power may, unless otherwise provided, elect to take such property or interest under this chapter and, if betterments are to be assessed, to assess the same hereunder.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 81 - State Highways › Section 1 - Powers and Duties

Section 1. The division of highways, in this chapter called the department, shall compile statistics relative to the public ways of counties, cities and towns, and make such investigations relative thereto as it considers expedient. It may be consulted by, and shall without charge advise, officers of counties, cities or towns having the care of and authority over public ways as to their construction, maintenance, alteration or repair; but such advice shall not impair the legal duties and obligations of any county, city or town. It shall prepare maps of the commonwealth on which shall be shown county, city and town boundaries, the public ways and the state highways, with their names if practicable, and may sell such maps or other maps prepared by it from time to time in connection with the work under its charge relative to highways at such prices and on such conditions as it may determine. It shall collect, collate and make available, geoscience data of the commonwealth, for the purpose of aiding in the search for and evaluation of reserve sources of water, gas, materials suitable for road building and all other minerals within the land and water boundaries of the commonwealth, the location of which it shall, so far as practicable, designate on maps which shall be open to inspection by the public. It shall give public notice of and hold at least one public meeting annually in each county for the open discussion of questions relative to the public ways.