Massachusetts · statute · Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 211B · 28 active provisions
Section 1. There shall be a trial court of the commonwealth which shall consist of the following departments: the superior court department, the housing court department, the land court department, the probate and family court department, the Boston municipal court department, the juvenile court department and district…
Section 2. There shall be 82 justices appointed to the superior court department, 15 justices appointed to the housing court department, 7 justices appointed to the land court department, 59 justices appointed to the probate and family court department, 30 justices appointed to the Boston municipal court department, 42…
Section 3. Any justice appointed to a department, or a division thereof, and assigned to another department, or division thereof, shall have and exercise all the powers and duties which a justice appointed to the department, or division thereof, in which said justice is sitting, has and may exercise.
Section 4. The salaries of the justices of the trial court shall be paid by the commonwealth. Each associate justice shall receive a salary of $207,855. The chief justice of the several departments shall receive a salary of $213,966. The chief justice of the trial court shall receive a salary of $220,160. The justices…
Section 5. The office of the chief justice of a department of the trial court, as provided in section 1, shall not be deemed a judicial office as comprehended under the provisions of Article I of Chapter III of Part the Second of the Constitution. Said office of chief justice shall be filled by appointment, from among…
Section 5A. The office of the deputy court administrator of a department of the trial court, as provided in section 1, shall be filled by appointment by the court administrator and the chief justice of each department of the trial court; provided, however, that said deputy court administrator shall not be a justice of…
Section 6. The office of the chief justice of the trial court, as provided in section 1, shall not be deemed a judicial office as comprehended under the provisions of Article I of Chapter III of Part the Second of the Constitution. Said office of chief justice of the trial court shall be filled by appointment, from amo…
Section 6A. There shall be an advisory board to assist the justices of the supreme judicial court, the chief justice of the trial court, and the court administrator. The board shall consist of the attorney general, or his designee, the executive director of the Massachusetts office of victim assistance and the followin…
Section 6B. There shall be an office of court management within the trial court, under the executive control of a court administrator, to support the judicial functions, performance and management of the trial court. Said court administrator shall be appointed by a majority vote of the justices of the supreme judicial…
Section 7. In the case of a vacancy in the office of chief justice of a department of the trial court due to the absence of said chief justice or due to his inability to perform his duties, the office of chief justice in such event shall be filled as provided in section 5. The temporary chief justice so appointed may h…
Section 8. There shall be an advisory committee on personnel standards. The membership of the committee shall consist of the following persons: the chief justice of the trial court or his designee; the chief justices of the trial court departments, or their designees; the court administrator or his designee, who shall…
Section 9. The chief justice of the trial court, in addition to his judicial duties and subject to the superintendence power of the supreme judicial court as provided in section 3 of chapter 211, shall have general superintendence of the judicial policy of the trial court, including, without limitation, the improvement…
Section 9A. The court administrator, subject to the superintendence power of the supreme judicial court as provided in section 3 of chapter 211 and in consultation with the chief justice of the trial court, shall have general superintendence of the administration of the trial court, including, without limitation, the i…
Section 9B. The chief justice of the trial court department shall provide training on the issue of domestic violence and sexual violence in the commonwealth, at least once biannually, to all appropriate court personnel of the municipal, district, probate and family, juvenile and superior courts throughout the commonwea…
Section 10. Subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section 3 of chapter 211, the chief justice and the deputy court administrator shall be responsible for the operation of their department, its clerks, other officers and employees subject to section 99 of chapter 276 and t…
Section 10A. A first justice, in addition to his judicial powers and duties as a justice of the trial court and in addition to his general powers of superintendence as first justice of a particular court within the trial court, shall, subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in…
Section 10B. (a) The exclusive authority to select and appoint assistant clerks in the district court, juvenile court, housing court and Boston municipal court shall be vested in the clerks of said courts and such authority shall not be subject to the review or approval of any other person, except as provided in this s…
Section 10C. The general superintendence and administrative authority of the chief justice of the trial court, court administrator, and the chief justices of the respective departments of the trial court and the first justices of particular courts shall not include the authority or power to exercise, supersede, limit,…
Section 10D. (a) Each applicant for initial appointment as a court officer within the trial court shall pass a written examination established and administered by the court administrator, after consultation with the personnel administrator, who shall determine the form, method and subject matter of such examination. Th…
Section 12. There shall be an office of court management within the trial court, under the executive control of a court administrator, to support judicial functions, performance and management of the trial court. Said court administrator shall be appointed by a majority vote of the justices of the supreme judicial cour…
Section 13. The first justice of each division or court within the superior, probate and family, land, housing, juvenile, Boston municipal and district court departments of the trial court of the commonwealth, or if there is no first justice the chief justice, shall periodically prepare and submit to the chief justice…
Section 14. (a) A retired justice of the trial court whose name has been placed on the list of retired justices pursuant to section sixty-five G of chapter thirty-two may be assigned by the chief justice for administration and management to perform, during his term of eligibility, such of the duties of a trial court ju…
Section 16. The chief justice for administration and management shall establish a judicial institute, to provide for the training of the judicial and nonjudicial personnel of the trial court, the appeals court and the supreme judicial court. Said institute shall perform and continually update a comprehensive analysis o…
Section 17. The court administrator, in consultation with the chief justice of the trial court shall have charge of the daily care, operation and routine maintenance of court facilities owned by the commonwealth, and of long-range planning and capital budget requests for such court facilities. In carrying out said duti…
Section 19. The chief justice of the trial court may establish and promulgate rules for a mandatory alternative dispute resolution program for civil actions within the trial court subject to the approval of the supreme judicial court, subject to appropriation; provided, however, that the parties to a dispute resolution…