reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 48 - Sentences to Deer Island

Section 48. In cases in which municipal courts in Boston are authorized to sentence to imprisonment in the house of correction or county jail, or to commit thereto for nonpayment of fine, they may sentence to imprisonment in the house of correction at Deer island or commit thereto.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 49 - Clerks; Duty to Pay Certain Fees; Advances; Accounting

Section 49. In the municipal courts in Boston, except the central division of the Boston municipal court department, and in the East Boston division of the Boston municipal court department, witness fees and the fees and expenses of officers named in section fifty of chapter two hundred and sixty-two and of all other persons shall, at the end of a criminal case or inquest in which such fees or expenses accrue, be paid by the clerks to the persons entitled thereto. If they do not have sufficient funds in their hands with which to make such payments, they may make written requisition upon the chief justice and thereupon the state treasurer shall advance to them not more than one hundred dollars each in any one month, for which they shall, before the tenth day of each month, account to the commonwealth and for which they shall be liable on their official bonds.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 50 - Justices; Number; Vacation and Sick Leave; Rule Making Power

Section 50. The Boston municipal court department established under section one of chapter two hundred and eleven B shall consist of 30 associate justices of the trial court appointed to said department. They shall devote their entire time during ordinary business hours to their duties and shall not, directly or indirectly, engage in the practice of law. Said justices shall each be entitled to thirty days vacation and thirty days sick leave in each calendar year. Vacation leave and sick leave not used in any such year may be accumulated, provided that the number of vacation days so accumulated shall not exceed sixty and the total amount of sick leave shall not exceed one hundred and eighty days.
The chief justice of the department, subject to the approval of the supreme judicial court and the chief justice of the trial court, may make, from time to time, rules for regulating the practice and conducting the business therein in all cases not expressly provided for by law.
Unless the context refers only to a district court or a juvenile court, or some other clearly contrary intent, whenever the words ''municipal court of the city of Boston'', ''municipal court'', ''district court'' or ''court'' are used in this chapter, they shall refer to the Boston municipal court department. And unless the context includes, or refers only to, a person appointed to a district court or to the Boston juvenile court, the words ''justice'' or ''associate justice'' shall mean an associate justice of the trial court appointed to the Boston municipal court department; and the words ''clerk'' or ''clerk of court'' shall mean a clerk of said department; and the words ''assistant clerk'', ''deputy assistant clerk'', ''temporary clerk'' or ''temporary assistant clerk'' shall mean, respectively, an assistant clerk, deputy assistant clerk, temporary clerk or temporary assistant clerk of said department.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 51a - Chief Justice of the Boston Municipal Court Department; Powers and Duties

Section 51A. The justice provided for under section 1 of chapter 211B as the chief justice of the Boston municipal court department, in addition to his judicial powers and duties, shall, subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section 3 of chapter 211, have the powers, authority and responsibilities of a chief justice as set forth in section 10 of chapter 211B.
The deputy court administrator of the Boston municipal court department as provided for under section 1 of chapter 211B shall, subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section 3 of chapter 211, have the powers, authority and responsibilities of a deputy court administrator as set forth in section 10 of chapter 211B; provided, however, that the clerk shall have responsibility for the internal administration of his office, including the selection, appointment, and management of personnel, staff services and recordkeeping.
The chief justice of the Boston municipal court department shall have the power to appoint the first justice of each of the various divisions within the Boston municipal court department, subject to the approval of the chief justice of the trial court, and to define his duties; provided, however, that appropriate consideration shall be given to seniority, length of service at that particular division, and managerial ability. Each first justice so appointed shall serve as the first justice of that court for a 5 year term and shall be eligible to be reappointed for additional 5–year terms at that particular court. Any first justice may be removed from his position as first justice by the chief justice of the Boston municipal court department; provided, however, that any such removal is not for arbitrary or capricious reasons.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 52 - Justices and Special Justices; Assignment; Additional Sessions; Compensation, Etc.

Section 52. In addition to the powers conferred in section ten of chapter two hundred and eleven B, the chief justice referred to in section fifty-one A may from time to time make assignments for the attendance of a justice at the several times and places appointed for holding court. Said chief justice, or, in case of his death, illness, absence or incapacity, the senior justice in the department, if in his opinion the public business so requires, may provide for additional sessions in the department. A special justice appointed in the district court department, with the assent of the chief justice for that department, may hold any such additional session at the request of the chief justice or senior justice as aforesaid. During the continuance of such request a special justice shall have and exercise all the powers and duties of a justice. The fact of holding court and the fact which gave him jurisdiction shall be entered upon the general records of the court, but need not be stated in the record of any case heard by him. The compensation of said justice shall be at the rate by the day of the salary of an associate justice of the municipal court of the city of Boston; and, except when holding an additional session as above provided, the compensation for service in excess of the number of days of vacation leave he has accumulated which may be rendered to or for any one justice shall be deducted from the salary of such justice; provided, however, that if such justice is absent due to his illness or physical disability for a period not exceeding the number of days of sick leave he has accumulated, no such deduction shall be made.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 52a - Clerks; Criminal and Civil Business

Section 52A. The central division of the Boston municipal court department shall have one clerk for both criminal and civil business. The position of clerk for civil business shall be abolished when said position becomes vacant and the duties of such clerk shall be assumed by the clerk for criminal business who shall be hereinafter the one clerk for the said central division of the Boston municipal court department. The first assistant clerk for criminal business shall hereinafter serve as the first assistant clerk of the central division of the Boston municipal court department. The person currently serving as acting clerk for civil business shall hereinafter serve as the second assistant clerk of the central division of the Boston municipal court department and shall be paid at the same rate of compensation that he now receives. Any reference in any general or special law to a clerk of the Boston municipal court for civil business shall be construed to refer to the one clerk of the central division of the Boston municipal court department as proscribed herein.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 53 - Clerks and Assistant Clerks

Section 53. In the central division of the Boston municipal court department, there shall be one clerk and the same number of assistant clerks of said court as were authorized in statute on January first, two thousand three. The assistant clerks shall be appointed by the clerk, subject to the approval of the court administrator with respect to compliance with the personnel standards promulgated under section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B, and the clerk shall be responsible for the doings of his assistants, and may remove them at his pleasure. The salary of the clerk shall be 81.57 per cent of the salary of the chief justice of the department, and shall be paid, subject to appropriation, by the commonwealth. The salaries of the assistant clerks shall be seventy-seven per cent of the salary of the clerk, and shall be paid, subject to appropriation, by the commonwealth.
The clerk and assistant clerks shall devote their entire time during ordinary business hours to their respective duties and shall not, directly or indirectly, engage in the practice of law.
Each assistant clerk of said court appointed to such position prior to January first, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven and serving continuously thereafter, shall be entitled to thirty days vacation and thirty days sick leave in each calendar year. Each such assistant clerk may accumulate vacation leave and sick leave not used in any such year; provided, however, that the number of vacation days so accumulated shall not exceed sixty and the total amount of sick leave so accumulated shall not exceed one hundred and eighty days; and provided, further, that no additional such days shall be accumulated on or after said January first except in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the court administrator pursuant to section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B. All other clerks and assistant clerks of said court shall be entitled to vacation leave and sick leave in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the court administrator pursuant to said section eight.
Assistant clerks appointed under authority of this paragraph who have held said appointment for three consecutive years shall hold office during good behavior, but subject to applicable retirement laws, and may be removed by the clerk for cause shown, subject to the procedures authorized by section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B.
The clerk may designate such employees in his office as in his judgment may be necessary for the convenience of the public, as deputy assistant clerks of said court who shall have the same authority to administer oaths as the assistant clerks of said court.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 53a - Temporary Assistant Clerks

Section 53A. In case of the absence, death or removal of a salaried assistant clerk of the central division of the Boston municipal court department, the clerk of said court may, subject to the approval of the chief justice, appoint a temporary assistant clerk, to act until such assistant clerk resumes his duties or until the vacancy is filled.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 54 - Civil Jurisdiction

Section 54. In addition to the jurisdiction otherwise conferred and except as otherwise provided by this chapter, the central division of the Boston municipal court department shall have jurisdiction of civil actions in which money damages are sought pursuant to sections 19 and 21 and of actions brought under chapter two hundred and forty-seven if one or more of the defendants lives or has his usual place of business in Suffolk County, excluding Chelsea and Revere, or, if in connection with the commencement of such an action the approval of trustee process is sought, one of the alleged trustees lives or has a usual place of business in Suffolk County, excluding Chelsea and Revere, or, in actions brought under chapter two hundred and twenty-seven, if an attachment of property or personal service of the complaint is made in said county.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 55 - Recording Systems; Stenographic and Medical Services and Equipment

Section 55. The chief justice of the Boston municipal court department may employ stenographic services and provide for recording systems for the court. Said department may secure for its criminal business medical service, and the equipment necessary therefor, and for this purpose may expend annually such sum, not exceeding fifteen thousand dollars, as the chief justice of the Boston municipal court department may from time to time determine, subject to the approval of the chief justice for administration and management. Sums so expended shall be paid by the commonwealth upon vouchers approved by the chief justice of the Boston municipal court department.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 56 - Clerks; Accounting; Penalty

Section 56. The clerk shall, on or before the tenth day of each month, account for and pay over to the collector of the city of Boston or to the state treasurer, as the case may be, the balance due and payable at the end of the preceding month of all money received by them payable by law to the city of Boston or to the commonwealth, and shall render to said officers a detail account thereof under oath. Violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 57a - Chief Justice for the Juvenile Court Department; Powers and Duties

Section 57A. The justice provided for under section 1 of chapter 211B as the chief justice for the juvenile court department, in addition to his judicial powers and duties, shall, subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section 3 of chapter 211, have the powers, authority and responsibilities set forth in section 10 of chapter 211B; provided, however, that the clerk of such court shall have responsibility for the internal administration of his office, including personnel, staff services and recordkeeping.
Said chief justice may require uniform practices, may prescribe forms of blanks and records. A chief justice shall hold said office for a term of 5 years, and shall be eligible to be reappointed for additional 5 year terms. A chief justice, so appointed may be removed from that office prior to the expiration of his term provided, however, that any such removal is not for arbitrary or capricious reasons.
Said chief justice shall also prescribe official forms to be used in all courts of the juvenile court department and in juvenile sessions of the district court department.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 57b - Deputy Court Administrator for the Juvenile Court Department

Section 57B. The deputy court administrator for the juvenile court department as provided for under section 1 of chapter 211B shall, subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section 3 of chapter 211, have the powers, authority and responsibilities set forth in section 10 of chapter 211B; provided, however, that the clerk of such court shall have responsibility for the internal administration of his office, including personnel, staff services and record keeping.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 58a - Administrative Assistant for Intergovernmental Relations

Section 58A. The Boston juvenile court shall have an administrative assistant for intergovernmental relations who shall coordinate activities between the Boston juvenile court and the department of mental health, the department of public welfare, the department of youth service and other state, county and federal agencies. Said administrative assistant shall be appointed by the justice and shall receive a salary equal to eighty per cent of the salary of the justice.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 58c - Special Justices of Juvenile Court

Section 58C. (a) Any special justice of a juvenile court who assumes office after January first, nineteen hundred and seventy-six shall devote full time during ordinary business hours to the duties of his office and shall not engage directly or indirectly in the practice of law.
(b) Said special justice shall be paid the salary provided in section seventy-seven A for justices of the district courts who are required to devote full time to their duties, other than the chief justice thereof, said salary to be paid from the same source and in the same manner as the salary paid to a justice of a juvenile court, and travel and expense allowance to the same extent as is provided for justices of district courts.
(c) Said special justice shall sit in such other divisions or departments within the trial court as the law provides for a justice of a juvenile court; and he shall have such other powers, duties, rights and privileges as has a special justice under clauses (4) and (5) of paragraph (b) of section six A.
(d) Said special justice shall have the same rights of vacation and sick leave and the same pension rights and responsibilities as are provided a special justice of a district court under paragraph (d) of section six A.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 59 - Powers, Duties and Procedure; Jurisdiction

Section 59. Except as otherwise provided by law, the divisions of the juvenile court department shall have and exercise, within their respective jurisdictions, the same powers, duties, and procedure as the divisions of the district court department; and all laws relating to district courts or municipal courts in their respective counties or officials thereof or proceedings therein, shall, so far as applicable, apply to said divisions of the juvenile court department.
The divisions of the juvenile court department shall also have jurisdiction in equity concurrent with the supreme judicial court and with the superior court department in all cases and matters arising under the provisions of chapters 119 and 210.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 60 - Jurisdiction Over Offenders; Rule Making Power

Section 60. Within the territorial limits prescribed in section fifty-seven, the divisions of the juvenile court department shall have and exercise jurisdiction, exclusive of all municipal and district courts, over cases of juvenile offenders under age seventeen and cases of neglected or delinquent children, and over proceedings referred to it under the provisions of section four A of chapter two hundred and eleven. In addition to the powers conferred in section ten of chapter two hundred and eleven B, the chief justice for the juvenile court department may, from time to time, provide procedural forms and make general rules and issue standing orders in reference to practice and procedure for the conducting of business in the juvenile court department, subject to the approval of the supreme judicial court. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, said chief justice may make and promulgate rules providing for the transfer of petitions brought in the Boston court of the Suffolk county division of the juvenile court department under sections thirty-nine E to thirty-nine I of chapter one hundred and nineteen for hearing in other courts of the Suffolk county division of the juvenile court department as may be appropriate.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 67 - Boston Municipal Court; Interpreters

Section 67. The chief justice of the Boston municipal court department may appoint such official court interpreters, or enter into such service contracts for the provision of telephone-based interpretation services, as he may deem necessary for the criminal and the civil sessions of the court, subject to the approval of the chief justice of the trial court. Official interpreters shall hold their positions at the pleasure of said department chief justice and shall render such additional services as said chief justice may require. Said department chief justice shall forthwith discharge any such official interpreter who shall be found by him to have requested or received, directly or indirectly, any gratuity, bonus or fee in connection with any criminal or civil case pending or in course of preparation for presentation to any court. Other official interpreters, or a telephone-based interpretation service, may be employed when the services of the official court interpreter are not available.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 68 - East Boston Division of the Boston Municipal Court Department; Interpreter

Section 68. The justice of the East Boston division of the Boston municipal court department may appoint an Italian interpreter for that court. Said interpreter shall be entitled to an annual vacation period of fifteen working days with pay.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 70 - Clerks of Boston Municipal and Juvenile Court Departments; Allowance for Assistance

Section 70. The clerks of the Boston municipal court department and the clerks of the divisions of the juvenile court department shall each be annually allowed for clerical assistance such amounts as the chief justice for their respective departments may approve.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 75b - Salaries of Assistant Clerks of Boston Municipal Court Department

Section 75B. The salaries of the first assistant clerks of the central division of the Boston municipal court department and the first assistant clerk designated in charge of twelve man jury sessions of said court shall be equal to eighty-three and one-half percent of the salary of the clerks of said court as provided for in section 53.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 79 - Salaries of Clerks

Section 79. The salaries of the clerks of the district court department shall be 81.57 per cent of the salary of the chief justice of said department and shall be paid, subject to appropriation, by the commonwealth.
The clerks in the district court department shall devote their entire time during ordinary business hours to their respective duties and shall not, directly or indirectly, engage in the practice of law.
The clerks in the district court department appointed to said position prior to January first, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and serving continuously thereafter shall be entitled to thirty days vacation and thirty days sick leave in each calendar year. Any such clerk may accumulate vacation and sick leave not used in any such year; provided, however, that the number of vacation days so accumulated shall not exceed sixty and the total amount of sick leave shall not exceed one hundred and eighty days; and provided, further, that no additional such days shall be accumulated after said January first except in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the court administrator pursuant to section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B. All other clerks in the district court department shall be entitled to vacation leave and sick leave in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the court administrator pursuant to said section eight.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 80 - Compensation of Assistant Clerks; Practice of Law

Section 80. The salaries of the first assistant clerks of the district court divisions as designated pursuant to section ten shall be eighty-three and one-half percent of the salaries of the clerks of said divisions as provided for in section seventy-nine and shall be paid, subject to appropriation, by the commonwealth. The salaries of the assistant clerks of the district court divisions shall be seventy-seven percent of the salaries of the clerks of said divisions as provided for in section seventy-nine, and shall be paid, subject to appropriation, by the commonwealth.
The assistant clerks of the district court department shall devote their entire time during ordinary business hours to their respective duties and shall not, directly or indirectly, engage in the practice of law.
The assistant clerks of the district court department appointed to said position prior to January first, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven and serving continuously thereafter shall be entitled to thirty days vacation and thirty days sick leave in each calendar year. Any such clerk may accumulate vacation and sick leave not used in any such year; provided, however, that the number of vacation days so accumulated shall not exceed sixty and total amount of sick leave shall not exceed one hundred and eighty days; and provided, further, that no additional sick days shall be accumulated after said January first except in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the court administrator pursuant to section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B. All other assistant clerks of said department shall be entitled to vacation leave and sick leave in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the court administrator pursuant to said section eight.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 80a - Boston Municipal Court Department; Salaries of Secretary and Assistant Secretary to Justices

Section 80A. The secretary and assistant secretary to the justices of the Boston municipal court department shall receive from the commonwealth in full for all services performed by them such salaries as shall be fixed by the justices of said department.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 81 - Traveling Expenses

Section 81. A justice of a division of the district court department upon certificate of the chief justice for the district court department shall quarterly be reimbursed by the commonwealth for the traveling expenses incurred by him when sitting at the order of said chief justice in a division other than the division to which he was appointed.
If sessions of a division of the district court department are held in more than one town in its district, the chief justice of the district court shall designate in which town the clerk's main office shall be established, and the justices, clerk, assistant clerks, court officers and probation officers of such division shall each be allowed by the commonwealth traveling expenses necessarily incurred when required to hold or attend sessions of said division at any town in the district other than the town in which said main office is so established, such expenses to be computed either from the town where such office is established to such other town, or from his place of residence within such district to such other town, whichever is the shorter distance; provided, however, that a justice or a special justice appointed to the district court in Dukes county or the district court in Nantucket county shall receive his actual expenses for travel by land, sea or air from his residence on the mainland to such county office.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 218 - District Courts › Section 84 - Computation of Compensation

Section 84. Justices and clerks whose salaries are fixed in this chapter shall be paid at the same rate for any part of a year, and in computing the rate by the day of the compensation of justices and clerks of district courts, Sundays and legal holidays shall not be included in the days on which the courts are open for business.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 220 - Courts and Naturalization › Section 2 - General Powers

Section 2. The courts of the commonwealth and the justices thereof shall have and exercise all the powers necessary for the performance of their duties. They may issue all writs, warrants and processes and make and award judgments, decrees, orders and injunctions necessary or proper to carry into effect the powers granted to them, and, if no form for such writ or process is prescribed by statute, they shall frame one in conformity with the principles of law and the usual course of proceedings in the courts of the commonwealth.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 220 - Courts and Naturalization › Section 3 - Conservators of Peace; Powers of Justices

Section 3. The justices of the supreme judicial court and of the superior court, justices and special justices of district courts, by virtue of their offices, and justices of the peace shall be conservators of the peace throughout the commonwealth and as such may, upon view of an affray, riot, assault or battery, without a warrant in writing, command the assistance of every sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable and police officer and of all other persons present for its suppression and for the arrest of all persons concerned therein as provided in chapters two hundred and seventy-five and two hundred and seventy-six. Persons so arrested shall be taken before a district court or trial justice for examination.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 220 - Courts and Naturalization › Section 4 - First Day of Sitting; Designation

Section 4. In writs, processes, records and judicial proceedings, civil or criminal, the day on which any sitting is to commence may be designated as the first, second or other Monday, or other day in the week, as the case may be, of the month in which the sitting commences.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 220 - Courts and Naturalization › Section 5 - Change of Time and Place of Court; Notice

Section 5. If it is unsafe or inexpedient to hold a court at the time and place appointed, a justice of the court may appoint another time and place within the same county for holding the same. Such adjournment shall be made by an order in writing, signed by the justice or justices, and served by public proclamation by the person to whom it is directed in the shire town or as near thereto as is safe, and also by publication in such newspaper or in such other manner as is required in the order.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 220 - Courts and Naturalization › Section 6 - Business Days; Exceptions

Section 6. The divisions of the departments of the trial court shall always be open and the business thereof, or of a justice thereof, may be transacted at any time, except that such business shall not be transacted on a Saturday or Sunday or on a legal holiday unless it relates to an application which, in the opinion of the justice to whom it is made, is of pressing necessity or for the purpose of instructing or discharging a jury, receiving a verdict or adjourning; provided that, if the convenience of the public so requires, the divisions shall be open for the transaction of business on such Saturdays, not legal holidays and during such hours thereof as the administrative justice of the department may determine. This section shall not prevent the exercise of the jurisdiction of any magistrate in criminal cases to preserve the peace or arrest offenders. The provisions of section nine of chapter four shall apply in the case of the closing of a court on any Saturday to the same extent as if such Saturday were a legal holiday.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 220 - Courts and Naturalization › Section 8 - Purchase of Claims by Attorney and Court Officers, etc., Prohibited; Penalty

Section 8. No attorney, justice of the peace, sheriff, deputy sheriff or constable shall, directly or indirectly, buy or be interested in buying, or, directly or indirectly, lend or advance or agree to lend or advance any money or other goods, or give or promise any valuable consideration whatever to any person, as an inducement to place, or in consideration of having placed, in the hands of any person any bond, note, book debt or right of action for collection, with intent to make for himself any gain from the fees arising from such collection by legal proceedings. Violations of this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty nor more than five hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 220 - Courts and Naturalization › Section 9 - Criers

Section 9. Clerks or assistant clerks of courts, sheriffs or their deputies, as the court may direct, shall perform the duties of criers, without additional compensation; and any officer may adjourn the court by order thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 220 - Courts and Naturalization › Section 10 - Judge, etc.; Interest of Town in Suit or Proceeding

Section 10. No person shall be disqualified from acting as judge, magistrate, appraiser or officer of any kind in a suit or proceeding in which a town is interested by reason of his interest as an inhabitant thereof. No juror shall be disqualified by reason of being an inhabitant of Boston.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 220 - Courts and Naturalization › Section 11 - United States Judicial Officer; Ineligibility for Certain Offices

Section 11. No person who holds a judicial office under the laws of the United States shall hold any judicial office of this commonwealth, except that of trial justice or justice of the peace.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 220 - Courts and Naturalization › Section 12 - Referee in Bankruptcy; Ineligibility for Certain Offices

Section 12. No person who holds the office of referee in bankruptcy shall at the same time hold any judicial office, except that of justice of the peace, nor the office of clerk or assistant clerk of any court, or register or assistant register of probate and insolvency.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 220 - Courts and Naturalization › Section 13 - Exclusion of Minors as Spectators From Court Room

Section 13. Any court may exclude minors as spectators from the court room during the trial of any cause, civil or criminal, if their presence is not necessary as witnesses or parties.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 220 - Courts and Naturalization › Section 13a - Contempt Cases; Rights of Defendant

Section 13A. Any person who shall wilfully disobey any lawful process, order, judgment or command of the court in any action in which injunctive relief is sought in any matter involving or growing out of a labor dispute, as defined in section twenty C of chapter one hundred and forty-nine, by doing any act or thing in or by such process, order, judgment or command forbidden to be done by him, if the act or thing so done by him is of such character as to constitute also a criminal offense under the laws of the commonwealth shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial for his said contempt by an impartial jury of the county wherein it shall have been committed; provided, that this right shall not apply to contempts committed in the presence of the court or so near thereto as to interfere directly with the administration of justice or apply to the misbehavior, misconduct or disobedience of any officer of the court in respect to the orders or process of the court.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 220 - Courts and Naturalization › Section 13b - Contempt Cases; Demand for Retirement of Justice Sitting

Section 13B. The defendant in any proceeding for contempt of court in such a case may file with the court a demand for the retirement of the justice sitting in such case, if the contempt arises from an attack upon the character or conduct of such justice and the attack occurred elsewhere than in the presence of the court or so near thereto as to interfere directly with the administration of justice. Upon the filing of any such demand, prior to the hearing in the contempt proceeding, the justice shall thereupon proceed no further, but another justice shall be assigned by the chief justice of the court.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 220 - Courts and Naturalization › Section 14 - Commitment for Contempt; Service of Process

Section 14. Commitments for contempt of court may be made to any jail in the commonwealth; and processes issued in proceedings relative to alleged contempt may be served in any county by any sheriff or deputy sheriff to whom they are directed.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 220 - Courts and Naturalization › Section 14a - Time Within Which Certain Decisions to Be Rendered

Section 14A. An associate justice of the superior court, who has reserved his decision in a case heard by him without a jury, shall render his decision within four months from the date when the hearing was closed, or within such further time as the chief justice of said court may grant, upon a request in writing by such justice within said period, containing a full report of his reasons for not having rendered his decision and for requesting an extension of time for rendering his decision. A justice or special justice of a district court, other than the municipal court of the city of Boston, who has reserved his decision in a case heard by him, shall render his decision within a like period, or within such further time as the presiding justice of the appellate division of the court in which the case was heard may grant, upon a like request in writing, made by such justice or special justice within said period. An associate or special justice of the municipal court of the city of Boston, who has reserved his decision in a case heard by him, shall render such decision within a like period, or within such further time as the chief justice of said court may grant, upon a like request in writing, made by such associate or special justice within said period.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 221 - Clerks, Attorneys and Other Officers of Judicial Courts › Section 1 - Clerk of Court for Commonwealth; Appointment; Term, Etc.

Section 1. The justices of the supreme judicial court shall appoint the clerk of the supreme judicial court for the commonwealth for a term of five years from the date of his appointment, and may appoint an assistant clerk of said court for a term of three years from the first day of January next after his appointment, and may remove him.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 221 - Clerks, Attorneys and Other Officers of Judicial Courts › Section 2 - Duties

Section 2. The clerk shall attend all sessions of the court, preserve all the files and papers thereof, keep a docket record of all questions transferred, and of all petitions, complaints or other processes presented to the court, and enter thereon the names of the parties in full and of the counsel who appear in their behalf, and a brief description of the nature of the action or proceeding. He shall also record thereon accurate minutes of all orders, decrees or directions of the court in each case, transmit forthwith to the clerks of courts in the several counties all rescripts made or ordered by the court and the papers which belong to the supreme judicial court or the superior court in each case, and receive and keep safely all papers transmitted to him by the clerks of the courts. He shall make copies of all papers on file in said court and of the docket record thereof, if desired, and certify them under the seal of the court. He shall issue such writs or other processes as the court orders, shall charge the fees provided by law for like services for clerks of courts, and if no express fee is provided, he shall receive a fair compensation for the services required of him in analogy to like services for which a compensation is fixed by law. He shall annually, before the last Wednesday of December, account with and pay over to the state treasurer all fees received by him.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 221 - Clerks, Attorneys and Other Officers of Judicial Courts › Section 3 - Election of Clerks; Term

Section 3. There shall be a clerk for the supreme judicial court for the county of Suffolk, and two clerks for the superior court of said county, one for civil and one for criminal business; and in each of the other counties a clerk of the courts who shall act as clerk of the supreme judicial court, of the superior court and of the county commissioners. All of said officers shall hold office for six years beginning with the first Wednesday of January following their election and until their successors are qualified.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 221 - Clerks, Attorneys and Other Officers of Judicial Courts › Section 4 - First Assistant Clerks; Appointment

Section 4. The justices of the supreme judicial court shall appoint for a term of three years from the date of their appointment, and may remove, first assistant clerks of courts for the counties of: Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Worcester and in Suffolk, a first assistant clerk of the supreme judicial court.
First assistant clerks of courts except in Suffolk county shall act as assistant clerks of the supreme judicial court, the superior court department and the county commissioners.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 221 - Clerks, Attorneys and Other Officers of Judicial Courts › Section 5 - Assistant Clerks; Appointment

Section 5. In addition to the assistant clerks provided for in section four, the clerks of the courts for the following counties may, subject to the approval of the court administrator as to compliance with personnel standards promulgated pursuant to section 8 of chapter 211B, appoint assistant clerks with the same powers and duties. Said appointments shall be as follows:
Barnstable, 2 assistant clerks
Bristol, 9 assistant clerks
Essex, 11 assistant clerks
Hampden, 12 assistant clerks
Nantucket, 1 assistant clerk
Norfolk, 11 assistant clerks
Middlesex, 26 assistant clerks
Plymouth, 6 assistant clerks
Worcester, 11 assistant clerks
Suffolk, (a) superior court department, by the clerk of the superior court department for criminal business, 22 assistants; (b) superior court department, by the clerk of the superior court department for civil business, 26 assistants; (c) supreme judicial court, by the clerk of the supreme judicial court for said county, a second assistant clerk, designated from his office force and a third assistant clerk, designated from his office force.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part III - Courts, Judicial Officers and Proceedings in Civil Cases › Title I - Courts and Judicial Officers › Chapter 221 - Clerks, Attorneys and Other Officers of Judicial Courts › Section 5a - Assistant and First Assistant Clerks; Practice of Law

Section 5A. The assistant clerks appointed under the provisions of sections four and five of this chapter shall devote their entire time during business hours to their respective duties and shall not, directly or indirectly, engage in the practice of law.