reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 81g - Applicability of Municipal Planning Laws to Municipal Powers Over Public Ways and Parks

Section 81G. Sections eighty-one A to eighty-one J, inclusive, shall not abridge the powers of the city council or the selectmen or any other municipal officer in regard to public ways or parks in any manner except as provided therein, nor shall they authorize the taking of land or the laying out or construction of any way or park shown on a map or plan, or the alteration, relocation or discontinuance thereof, except in accordance with the laws governing the same; provided, that, after a city or town has adopted an official map under section eighty-one E, no public way shall be laid out, altered, relocated or discontinued if such laying out, alteration, relocation or discontinuance is not in accordance with such official map as it then appears, unless the proposed laying out, alteration, relocation or discontinuance has been referred to the planning board established under section eighty-one A, and such board has reported thereon, or has allowed forty-five days to elapse after such reference, without submitting its report. After a city or town has adopted an official map under section eighty-one E, no person shall open a way for public use, except as provided in the subdivision control law, unless the location of such way is in accordance with such official map as it then appears, or has been approved by the planning board under the provisions of this section, and in either case, the grading, surfacing and drainage of such way has been approved by such board. Nothing in said sections shall render a city or town liable for damages, except such as may be sustained by entry upon land and other acts under section eighty-one B, by reason of changes in an official map under section eighty-one F, or by reason of the establishment of exterior lines under section eighty-one J.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 81gg - Powers of Planning Boards Established Under Prior Law; Severability Provision

Section 81GG. Any planning board having powers of subdivision control under corresponding provisions of earlier laws shall have all of the powers and be subject to all of the duties of a planning board with respect to subdivision control under sections eighty-one K to eighty-one FF, inclusive, without any further action by such city or town. If any provision of sections eighty-one K to eighty-one GG, inclusive, known as the subdivision control law, or in the administration thereof, shall be held to be unconstitutional, it shall not affect any other provision of said sections or the administration thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 81h - Part of Official Map; Laying Out, Altering or Relocating Public Ways

Section 81H. Upon final action by the proper authorities in laying out, altering or relocating a public way, or in discontinuing the whole or any part thereof, or in establishing or enlarging a public park, or closing thereof in whole or in part, the lines and notations showing such improvement, discontinuance or closing, as so established or effected, shall, without further action by the city council or the town meeting, be made a part of the official map, if any, of the city or town in which such public way or park is located.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 81i - Duties of Municipalities Having No Official Map in Respect to Construction of Ways; Reference to Planning Board

Section 81I. In a city or town having a planning board established under section eighty-one A but which has not adopted an official map no public way shall be laid out, altered, relocated or discontinued, unless the proposed laying out, alteration, relocation or discontinuance has been referred to the planning board of such city or town and such board has reported thereon, or has allowed forty-five days to elapse after such reference without submitting its report. Any city or town having a planning board established under section eighty-one A may, by ordinance, by-law or vote, provide for the reference of any other matter or class of matters to the planning board before final action thereon, with or without provision that final action shall not be taken until the planning board has submitted its report or has had a reasonable fixed time to submit such report. Such planning board shall have full power to make such investigations, maps and reports, and recommendations in connection therewith, relating to any of the subjects referred to it under this section, as it deems desirable.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 81j - Establishment and Discontinuance of Exterior Lines of Ways in Municipalities With Planning Boards; Damages for Injuries

Section 81J. A city or town which has a planning board under section eighty-one A may establish, in the manner provided for the laying out of city or town ways, the exterior lines of any way, the location of which has been approved under section eighty-one G or the subdivision control law; and thereafter no structure shall be erected or maintained between the exterior lines so established, except that buildings or parts of buildings existing at the time of the establishment of said lines may remain and be maintained to such extent and under such conditions as may be prescribed by such planning board. Lines established under this section may be discontinued in the manner provided for the discontinuance of a highway or a city or town way. Lines so established shall be placed on the official map, if any, of the city or town, without further action by the city council or town meeting, and shall be removed therefrom if discontinued. Any person injured in his property by the establishment of exterior lines under this section may recover damages so caused under chapter seventy-nine.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 81k - Designation of Subdivision Control Law

Section 81K. Sections eighty-one K to eighty-one GG, inclusive, shall be designated and may be known as ''the subdivision control law''. This designation shall, when apt, include corresponding provisions of earlier laws.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 81m - Purpose of Law

Section 81M. The subdivision control law has been enacted for the purpose of protecting the safety, convenience and welfare of the inhabitants of the cities and towns in which it is, or may hereafter be, put in effect by regulating the laying out and construction of ways in subdivisions providing access to the several lots therein, but which have not become public ways, and ensuring sanitary conditions in subdivisions and in proper cases parks and open areas. The powers of a planning board and of a board of appeal under the subdivision control law shall be exercised with due regard for the provision of adequate access to all of the lots in a subdivision by ways that will be safe and convenient for travel; for lessening congestion in such ways and in the adjacent public ways; for reducing danger to life and limb in the operation of motor vehicles; for securing safety in the case of fire, flood, panic and other emergencies; for insuring compliance with the applicable zoning ordinances or by-laws; for securing adequate provision for water, sewerage, drainage, underground utility services, fire, police, and other similar municipal equipment, and street lighting and other requirements where necessary in a subdivision; and for coordinating the ways in a subdivision with each other and with the public ways in the city or town in which it is located and with the ways in neighboring subdivisions. Such powers may also be exercised with due regard for the policy of the commonwealth to encourage the use of solar energy and protect the access to direct sunlight of solar energy systems. It is the intent of the subdivision control law that any subdivision plan filed with the planning board shall receive the approval of such board if said plan conforms to the recommendation of the board of health and to the reasonable rules and regulations of the planning board pertaining to subdivisions of land; provided, however, that such board may, when appropriate, waive, as provided for in section eighty-one R, such portions of the rules and regulations as is deemed advisable.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 81n - Territorial Extent of Law; Acceptance by Municipalities

Section 81N. Except as provided in section eighty-one EE, the subdivision control law shall be in effect in every city, except Boston, and every town, which prior to the first day of January, nineteen hundred and fifty-four, established a planning board as defined in section eighty-one L, or which after said date establishes a planning board under section eighty-one A unless such city or town by vote of its city council or town meeting at the time of establishment of such board shall vote not to accept the provisions of the subdivision control law. Any such city or town which shall have voted not to accept such provisions may thereafter accept such provisions in the manner provided in section four of chapter four, and any city or town having a board of survey, however established, may accept such provisions in such manner, and the subdivision control law shall be similarly in effect in such cities and towns. In any city or town which has not established a planning board under section eighty-one A, but which has a board of survey, however established, and has prior to the first day of January, nineteen hundred and fifty-four, accepted corresponding provisions of the subdivision control law, or shall after said date accept the provisions of the subdivision control law in such manner, the board of survey shall have all the powers and be subject to all the duties of a planning board relating to subdivision control. In every city and town in which the subdivision control law is in effect the provisions of sections eighty-one K to eighty-one GG, as the same may from time to time be in force, shall, notwithstanding any contrary or inconsistent provision of any general or special law, apply in such city or town irrespective of whether the board having such powers is established under section eighty-one A or under any other general or special law. The subdivision control law, however, shall not become effective in any city or town in which it was not in effect on the first day of January, nineteen hundred and fifty-four, until the planning board of such city or town shall have notified the register of deeds and the recorder of the land court that the city or town has accepted the provisions of the subdivision control law and that the planning board has adopted its rules and regulations as provided in section eighty-one Q and shall have furnished the said register and recorder with a copy of the vote of the city council or town meeting under which the provisions of the subdivision control law were accepted in such city or town, certified by the city or town clerk, and a copy of such rules and regulations certified by said clerk.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 81o - Regulation of New Subdivisions

Section 81O. No person shall make a subdivision of any land in any city or town in which the subdivision control law is in effect unless he has first submitted to the planning board of such city or town for its approval a plan of such proposed subdivision, showing the lots into which such land is to be divided and the ways already existing or which are to be provided by him for furnishing access to such lots, and the planning board has approved such plan in the manner hereinafter provided. After the approval of a plan the location and width of ways shown thereon shall not be changed unless the plan is amended accordingly as provided in section eighty-one W; but the number, shape and size of the lots shown on a plan so approved may, from time to time, be changed without action by the board, provided every lot so changed still has frontage on a public way or way shown on a plan approved in accordance with the subdivision control law of at least such distance, if any, as is then required by ordinance or by-law of said city or town for erection of a building on such lot, and if no distance is so required, has such frontage of at least twenty feet.
A plan shall be submitted under this section when delivered at a meeting of the board or when sent by registered mail to the planning board. If so mailed, the date of receipt shall be the date of submission of the plan.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 81p - Approval of Plans Not Subject to Control Law; Procedure

Section 81P. Any person wishing to cause to be recorded a plan of land situated in a city or town in which the subdivision control law is in effect, who believes that his plan does not require approval under the subdivision control law, may submit his plan to the planning board of such city or town in the manner prescribed in section eighty-one T, and, if the board finds that the plan does not require such approval, it shall forthwith, without a public hearing, endorse thereon or cause to be endorsed thereon by a person authorized by it the words ''approval under the subdivision control law not required'' or words of similar import with appropriate name or names signed thereto, and such endorsement shall be conclusive on all persons. Such endorsement shall not be withheld unless such plan shows a subdivision. If the board shall determine that in its opinion the plan requires approval, it shall within twenty-one days of such submittal, give written notice of its determination to the clerk of the city or town and the person submitting the plan, and such person may submit his plan for approval as provided by law and the rules and regulations of the board, or he may appeal from the determination of the board in the manner provided in section eighty-one BB. If the board fails to act upon a plan submitted under this section or fails to notify the clerk of the city or town and the person submitting the plan of its action within twenty-one days after its submission, it shall be deemed to have determined that approval under the subdivision control law is not required, and it shall forthwith make such endorsement on said plan, and on its failure to do so forthwith the city or town clerk shall issue a certificate to the same effect. The plan bearing such endorsement or the plan and such certificate, as the case may be, shall be delivered by the planning board, or in case of the certificate, by the city or town clerk, to the person submitting such plan. The planning board of a city or town which has authorized any person, other than a majority of the board, to endorse on a plan the approval of the board or to make any other certificate under the subdivision control law, shall transmit a written statement to the register of deeds and the recorder of the land court, signed by a majority of the board, giving the name of the person so authorized.
The endorsement under this section may include a statement of the reason approval is not required.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 81r - Waiver of Strict Compliance With Rules and Regulations

Section 81R. A planning board may in any particular case, where such action is in the public interest and not inconsistent with the intent and purpose of the subdivision control law, waive strict compliance with its rules and regulations, and with the frontage or access requirements specified in said law, and may, where the ways are not otherwise deemed adequate, approve a plan on conditions limiting the lots upon which buildings may be erected and the number of buildings that may be erected on particular lots and the length of time for which particular buildings may be maintained without further consent by the planning board to the access provided. The planning board shall endorse such conditions on the plan to which they relate, or set them forth in a separate instrument attached thereto to which reference is made on such plan and which shall for the purpose of the subdivision control law be deemed to be a part of the plan.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 81s - Submission of Preliminary Plan; Approval or Disapproval; Recording

Section 81S. In the case of a subdivision showing lots in a residential zone, any person, before submitting his definitive plan for approval, may submit to the planning board and to the board of health, a preliminary plan, and shall give written notice to the clerk of such city or town by delivery or by registered mail, postage prepaid, that he has submitted such plan.
In the case of a nonresidential subdivision, any person before submitting his definitive plan for approval shall submit to the planning board and the board of health, a preliminary plan, and shall give notice to the clerk of such city or town by delivery or by registered mail, postage prepaid, that he has submitted such plan.
In either case, if the notice is given by delivery, the city or town clerk shall, if requested, give a written receipt therefor. Within forty-five days after submission of a preliminary plan, each board shall notify the applicant and the clerk of the city or town, by certified mail, either that the plan has been approved, or that the plan has been approved with modifications suggested by the board or agreed upon by the person submitting the plan, or that the plan has been disapproved and in the case of disapproval, the board shall state in detail its reasons therefor. The planning board shall notify the city or town clerk of its approval or disapproval, as the case may be. Except as is otherwise provided, the provisions of the subdivision control law relating to a plan shall not be applicable to a preliminary plan, and no register or deeds shall record a preliminary plan.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 81t - Notice of Submission of Plan; Hearing

Section 81T. Every person submitting a definitive plan of land to the planning board of a city or town for its approval or for a determination that approval is not required shall give written notice to the clerk of such city or town by delivery or by registered mail, postage prepaid, that he has submitted such a plan. If the notice is given by delivery the clerk shall, if requested, give a written receipt therefor to the person who delivered such notice. Such notice shall describe the land to which the plan relates sufficiently for identification, and shall state the date when such plan was submitted and the name and address of the owner of such land; and the facts stated in such notice shall be taken by the city or town clerk as true, unless the contrary is made to appear. Before approval, modification and approval, or disapproval of the definitive plan is given, a public hearing shall be held by the planning board, notice of the time and place of which and of the subject matter, sufficient for identification, shall be given by the planning board at the expense of the applicant by advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation in the city or town once in each of two successive weeks, the first publication being not less than fourteen days before the day of such hearing or if there is no such newspaper in such city or town then by posting such notice in a conspicuous place in the city or town hall for a period of not less than fourteen days before the day of such hearing, and by mailing a copy of such advertisement to the applicant and to all owners of land abutting upon the land included in such plan as appearing on the most recent tax list; provided, however, that when the planning board is also the special permit granting authority for a special permit applicable to the plan, the planning board may hold the definitive plan public hearing together with the public hearing required by section 9 of chapter 40A and allow for the publication of a single advertisement giving notice of the consolidated hearing.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 81v - Final Approval of Plan; Endorsements; Certificate

Section 81V. In case of approval of a plan by action of the planning board, after the expiration of twenty days without notice of appeal to the superior court or the land court, or if appeal has been taken after the entry of a final decree of the court sustaining the approval of such plan, the planning board shall cause to be made upon the plan a written endorsement of its approval. In case of the approval of a plan by reason of the failure of the planning board to act within the time prescribed, the city or town clerk shall, after the expiration of twenty days without notice of appeal to the superior court or the land court, or, if appeal has been taken, after receipt of certified records of the superior court or the land court indicating that such approval has become final, issue a certificate stating the date of the submission of the plan for approval, the fact that the planning board failed to take final action and that the approval resulting from such failure has become final. The plan bearing such endorsement or the plan and such certificate, as the case may be, shall be delivered by the planning board, or, in the case of the certificate, by the city or town clerk, to the person who submitted such plan. Except as provided in section eighty-one E, the existence of an official map in a city or town shall not affect the operation of the subdivision control law therein.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 81w - Modification, Amendment or Rescission of Approval of Plan; Conditions

Section 81W. A planning board, on its own motion or on the petition of any person interested, shall have power to modify, amend or rescind its approval of a plan of a subdivision, or to require a change in a plan as a condition of its retaining the status of an approved plan. All of the provisions of the subdivision control law relating to the submission and approval of a plan of a subdivision shall, so far as apt, be applicable to the approval of the modification, amendment or rescission of such approval and to a plan which has been changed under this section.
No modification, amendment or rescission of the approval of a plan of a subdivision or changes in such plan shall affect the lots in such subdivision which have been sold or mortgaged in good faith and for a valuable consideration subsequent to the approval of the plan, or any rights appurtenant thereto, without the consent of the owner of such lots, and of the holder of the mortgage or mortgages, if any, thereon; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be deemed to prohibit such modification, amendment or rescission when there has been a sale to a single grantee of either the entire parcel of land shown on the subdivision plan or of all the lots not previously released by the planning board.
So far as unregistered land is affected, no modification, amendment or rescission of the approval of a plan nor change in a plan under this section shall take effect until (1) the plan as originally approved, or a copy thereof, and a certified copy of the vote of the planning board making such modification, amendment, rescission or change, and any additional plan referred to in such vote, have been recorded, (2) an endorsement has been made on the plan originally approved as recorded referring to such vote and where it is recorded, and (3) such vote is indexed in the grantor index under the names of the owners of record of the land affected. So far as registered land is affected, no modification, amendment or rescission of the approval of a plan nor change in a plan under this section shall take effect, until such modification, amendment or change has been verified by the land court pursuant to chapter one hundred and eighty-five, and in case of rescission, or modification, amendment or change not so verified, until ordered by the court pursuant to section one hundred and fourteen of said chapter one hundred and eighty-five.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 81z - Board of Appeals; Membership; Tenure; Removal; Vacancies; Jurisdiction

Section 81Z. A city or town in which the subdivision control law is in effect shall, by ordinance or by-law, provide for a board of appeals, which shall have jurisdiction to issue a permit for the erection of a building under section eighty-one Y. Such board of appeals may be the existing board of appeals under the local building or zoning ordinance or by-law; provided, that if the board of appeals under the local zoning ordinance or by-law in any city or town is also the planning board in such city or town, it shall not act as a board of appeals under the subdivision control law. The mayor or selectmen shall appoint the members of the board of appeals within three months of the adoption of the ordinance or by-law. Pending appointment of the members of the board of appeals the city council or selectmen shall act as a board of appeals. Any board of appeals newly established hereunder shall consist of at least three members, who shall be appointed in a city by the mayor subject to the confirmation of the city council, or in a town by the selectmen, for terms of such length and so arranged that the term of one member shall expire each year; and said board shall elect annually a chairman from its own members and a clerk. Any board so newly established may also act as a board of appeals under the local building or zoning ordinance or by-law, or under both.
Any member of such a board of appeals may be removed for cause by the appointing authority upon written charges and after a public hearing. Vacancies shall be filled for unexpired terms in the same manner as in the case of original appointments. Ordinances or by-laws adopted hereunder may provide for the appointment in like manner of associate members of the board of appeals; and the chairman of the board may designate any such associate member to sit on the board in case of the absence, inability to act or interest on the part of a member thereof, or in the event of a vacancy on said board may designate any such associate member to sit as a member of the board until said vacancy is filled in the manner provided in this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 82 - Authority to Establish Art Commissions

Section 82. Cities and towns which accept this section or have accepted corresponding provisions of earlier laws may, except where their charters make special provisions therefor, establish art commissions in accordance with the two following sections. In cities such acceptance shall be by the city council and in towns at an annual town meeting.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 83 - Appointment; Membership; Compensation; Tenure; Removal

Section 83. Within sixty days after the acceptance of the preceding section, the school committee, the board of trustees of the public library and the board of park commissioners, or the members of three similar boards designated by the town at the time of such acceptance, shall each send in writing to the mayor or the selectmen the names of two citizens of the town, and the mayor or selectmen shall, as soon as may be, appoint from the persons so nominated an art commission of three members to serve without compensation, one to serve until the first day of May succeeding the appointment, one to serve until one year from said first of May, and one to serve until two years from said first of May. Thereafter, prior to the first day of April in each year, the several boards designated shall each send in writing to the mayor or selectmen the name of one citizen of the town, and the mayor or selectmen shall, from the persons so nominated, appoint one member to serve for three years from the first day of May in that year or until a successor is qualified. The members so appointed may be removed in cities by a vote of two thirds of the city council and in towns by a vote of two thirds of the voters at an annual town meeting; and thereafter section eighty-two shall not apply to such city or town unless again accepted as provided therein.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 84 - Powers and Duties; Penalty

Section 84. In any town which has accepted section eighty-two or corresponding provisions of earlier laws, no municipal structure shall be erected, and no work of art or ornament or object of utility, except authorized structures of public service corporations and public watering troughs or drinking fountains not constituting works of art or ornament, shall be placed on any public ways or on any public lands other than cemeteries, and no work of art or object of decoration shall be placed in or upon any public or municipal building or be removed, relocated or altered, unless the design thereof or the action to be taken therewith shall have been approved in writing by the art commission, or unless said commission shall have failed to disapprove the same in writing within thirty days after its submission. Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 85 - Weighers, Measurers and Surveyors of Goods or Commodities; Appointment; Qualifications; Tenure; Removal

Section 85. The mayor or the selectmen, on the written request of any person engaged in buying, selling or transporting goods or commodities which require weighing, surveying or measuring, shall appoint weighers, measurers or surveyors of such goods or commodities, who shall be sworn before entering upon their duties, shall serve for one year, and may be removed at any time by the appointing authority. At least one such weigher, measurer and surveyor in each town shall not be engaged in the business of buying, selling or transporting the goods or commodities weighed, measured or surveyed by him, but no person shall be ineligible for appointment because of sex or because of residence elsewhere than in the town where appointed, notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary in any general or special act.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 86 - Powers and Duties; Penalty for Misrepresentation

Section 86. All persons appointed under section eighty-five shall keep accurate records, in the form prescribed by the director of standards, of all weighings, measurements or surveys made by them, which shall at all reasonable times be open to inspection by said director and his inspectors and by the local sealer of weights and measures. If any person so appointed shall wilfully misrepresent the weight, quantity or measurements of any goods weighed, measured or surveyed by him, he shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 87 - Applicability of Secs. 85 and 86 to Weighers, etc., of Particular Commodities

Section 87. The two preceding sections shall not affect the provisions of law for the appointment of weighers, measurers or surveyors of particular commodities.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 87a - Weighers and Measurers of Motor Vehicles and Trailers; Appointment

Section 87A. The director of standards, upon the written request of the colonel of state police, shall appoint any of those persons appointed under section ten of chapter twenty-two C as weighers and measurers of motor vehicles and trailers and of the loads of such vehicles and trailers. Before entering upon their duties, such weighers and measurers shall be sworn. Such officers shall serve as long as they have the powers of police officers or until said colonel shall in writing request the director to revoke such appointment.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 88 - Weighers of Fish

Section 88. The mayor of each city, and the selectmen of each town, where salt water fish are landed from vessels, shall annually appoint a public weigher of fish, to hold office for one year from the time of his appointment and until his successor is appointed, who shall be sworn to the faithful performance of his official duties and shall give bond, with sureties, in the sum of five thousand dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 89 - Deputy Weighers of Fish

Section 89. A public weigher of fish may appoint, subject to the approval of the mayor or the chairman of the selectmen, deputy weighers, for whose official conduct he shall be answerable, who shall be sworn, and from each of whom such weigher shall require a bond, with sureties, in the sum of one thousand dollars. The weigher and his deputies shall not be interested directly or indirectly in the buying or selling of fish.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 90 - Weighers of Fish; Penalty for Violation of Oath of Office

Section 90. A weigher or any of his deputies who violates his oath of office shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five nor more than one hundred dollars, and shall forfeit his office.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 90a - Interfering With Fish Weigher or Deputies; Penalty

Section 90A. Whoever hinders, or obstructs, or in any way interferes with a public weigher of fish or any of his deputies, in the performance of their official duties, shall be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 91 - Constables; Appointment and Removal in Cities

Section 91. In a city in which the city council accepts this section, or has accepted corresponding provisions of earlier laws, constables shall be appointed by the mayor for terms not exceeding three years. The mayor may, with the consent of the board of aldermen, remove a constable from office for gross misconduct.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 91b - Appointments; Qualifications; Application; Investigation

Section 91B. Constables shall not be appointed by mayors or selectmen under section ninety-one or ninety-one A except as hereinafter provided. A person desiring to be appointed as aforesaid shall make a written application therefor to the appointing authority stating his reasons for desiring such appointment and such information as may be reasonably required by said authority relative to his fitness for said office. Such application shall also contain a statement as to the moral character of the applicant signed by at least five reputable citizens of the city or town of his residence, one of whom shall be an attorney-at-law. The appointing authority shall also investigate the reputation and character of every applicant and his fitness for said office. The chief of police or other official having charge of the police shall upon request give the appointing authority all possible assistance in making such investigation. The office of constable shall be filled only by appointment of an applicant hereunder who is found by the appointing authority, after investigation as aforesaid, to be a person of good repute and character and qualified to hold said office.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 92 - Service of Civil Process

Section 92. A constable who has given bond to the town in a sum of not less than one thousand dollars, with sureties approved by the selectmen, conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties in the service of all civil processes committed to him, and has filed the same, with the approval of the selectmen endorsed thereon, with the town clerk, may within his town serve any writ or other process in a personal action in which the damages are not laid at a greater sum than two hundred dollars, and in replevin in which the subject matter does not exceed in value two hundred dollars, and any writ or other process under chapter two hundred and thirty-nine. A constable who has filed such a bond, in a sum of not less than five thousand dollars, may, within his town, also serve any such writ or other process in which the damages are laid at a sum not exceeding $7,000, and any process in replevin in which the subject matter does not exceed in value $7,000.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 93 - Remedies on Bond

Section 93. The town clerk shall note upon every bond given by a constable the time of filing. Any person injured by a breach of the condition thereof may, at his own expense, sue thereon in the name of the town, and the proceedings shall be the same as in an action by a creditor on an administrator's bond. The writ shall be endorsed by him and, if he is not a resident of the commonwealth, it shall also be endorsed by a responsible resident thereof. If judgment is for the defendant, execution shall issue for costs against the endorser as if he were a plaintiff of record.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 94 - Powers and Duties

Section 94. Constables may serve the writs and processes described in section ninety-two and warrants and processes in criminal cases, although their town, parish, religious society or district is a party or interested. They shall have the powers of sheriffs to require aid in the execution of their duties. They shall take due notice of and prosecute all violations of law respecting the observance of the Lord's day, profane swearing and illegal gaming. They shall serve all warrants and other processes directed to them by the selectmen of their town for notifying town meetings or for other purposes. They may serve by copy, attested by them, demands, notices and citations, and their returns of service thereof shall be prima facie evidence; but this provision shall not exclude the service thereof by other persons.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 95 - Territorial Jurisdiction

Section 95. A constable, in the execution of a warrant or writ directed to him, may convey prisoners and property in his custody under such process beyond the limits of his town, either to the justice who issued it or to the jail or house of correction of his county. If a warrant is issued against a person for an alleged crime committed within any town, any constable thereof to whom the warrant is directed may apprehend him in any place in the commonwealth.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 95a - Service of Civil Process Fees

Section 95A. Constables appointed under sections 91, 91A, and 91B or otherwise elected to serve as constables in a city or town shall periodically pay the city or town in which the constable is appointed or elected 25 per cent of all fees the constable collects for the service of civil process under the fee structure established in section 8 of chapter 262. This payment shall be made in installments to be deposited with the city or town treasurer not later than January 15, April 15, July 15 and October 15 of each year, but a constable having less than $500 to deposit at that time shall hold the share for deposit until the sooner of October 15 or the time when the amount due to the city or town under this section equals or exceeds $500. A treasurer receiving funds under this section shall deposit them into the general fund of the city or town, and they shall be expended, subject to appropriation by a majority vote of the city council in a city or by a majority vote of town meeting in a town, for any purpose which the city or town considers necessary.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 95b - Records of Service of Civil Process Fees

Section 95B. Each constable shall annually on or before April 15 file with the city or town treasurer an account signed under the penalties of perjury of all fees and money received by him under section 8 of chapter 262 for the service of civil process. Such account shall include an itemization of all civil process fees charged by the constable's civil process office, all revenue received from said fees and all amounts paid by the constable to any city or town treasurer on account of such civil process fees under section 95A.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 96 - Police Officers; Appointment; Tenure; Discharge

Section 96. In any town in which such appointments are not subject to chapter thirty-one, they shall be made annually or for a term of years not exceeding three years, as the selectmen shall determine, and the selectmen may remove such officers for cause at any time during such appointment after a hearing.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts › Section 96a - Persons Disqualified

Section 96A. No person who has been convicted of any felony or whose name is listed in the national decertification index or the database of decertified law enforcement officers maintained by the Massachusetts peace officer standards and training commission pursuant to chapter 6E shall be appointed as a police officer of a city, town or district.