OVERVIEW

The Massachusetts House Legislative Districts (2002) datalayer reflects the state House of Representatives district boundaries as defined by Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 57: Section 4. These 160 districts are those used in the Fall 2002 elections. Names of elected officials are up-to-date as of March 2008. The names of the statewide datalayers are HOUSE02_POLY (polygons) and HOUSE02_ARC (arcs). This replaces the older HOUSE93 layer.

Staff at the Massachusetts House of Representatives developed this layer with its contracor, Caliper Corp. (Newton, MA) using Maptitude for Redistricting software. MassGIS appended the 1:100,000 coastline and state outline and added the representative name and party attributes. Final election results were obtained from a "Return of Votes" report (in PDF format) from the Secretary of State.

The polygon attribute table has the following items:

ITEM NAME		WDTH / TYPE		DESCRIPTION
REP_DIST		40 / C		Name of the district
REPDISTNUM		3 / I		Unique number for each district
REP_FIRST		14 / C		First name of representative
REP_LAST		25 / C		Last name of representative
REP_PARTY		3 / C		Political party of representative
REP		40 / C		Rep.'s full name and party

Note: The REPDISTNUM item is also found in the Census 2000 Blocks layer, where it may be used for relating demographic information to House districts.

In the arc attribute table, the item OUTLINE is coded as follows:

• 0  =  Internal district boundaries
• 1  =  State
• 2  =  Coastline

Massgis maintains the layer and will make updates as needed. In March 2003 the boundary between Rep. Gifford's district and that of Rep. deMacedo was adjusted. In June 2003 the attributes were updated for the 5th Norfolk district following the special election won by Joseph Driscoll, who filled the open seat vacated by Joseph Sullivan.

In April 2004 the boundaries of several districts in the metropolitan Boston area were modified, after the changes were approved by the legislature. Additionally, the attributes were changed for the Ninth Norfolk district, which is currently vacant (formerly held by Scott P. Brown, who is now the senator for the Norfolk, Bristol, and Middlesex district).

In January 2005 attribute updates were made to reflect changes based on the November 2004 elections. In February 2005 attributes for the 3rd Berkshire district were modified following the resignation of Rep. Peter Larkin. In April 2005 attributes were edited following the results of special elections in the 12th Suffolk, 18th Suffolk, and 3rd Berkshire districts. In October 2005 the 27th Middlesex district was coded as being OPEN (Rep. Jehlen filled an open Senate seat).

In February 2006 attributes were updated as these representatives filled the corresponding seats: Virginia M. Coppola (R) - 1st Bristol; Denise Provost (D) - 27th Middlesex; Robert Rice (D) - 2nd Worcester. In April 2006 Rep. Cheryl A. Rivera's last name was changed to Coakley-Rivera. In May 2006 attributes for the 28th Middlesex district were changed following the death of Rep. Edward G. Connolly.

In January 2007 attribute updates were made to reflect changes based on the November 2006 elections. In May 2007 two attribute changes were made based on special elections in the 11th Norfolk and 14th Worcester districts.

In March 2008 attributes were modified after the results of special elections.

NOTE (5/4/06): An error exists in the House layer in the vicinity of Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain, Boston. It has been brought to our attention that several streets, indeed a small neighborhood, have been included in the 15th Suffolk District as opposed to where they belong, in the 11th Suffolk. This error occurred because base information that assigned block groups into Wards and Precincts was somehow miscoded, and thus the Wards and Precincts data that was used at the State House to create the House layer are also in error. Until MassGIS can locate accurate linework for this area, we cannot change what the House has engrossed as their official map.

This layer, along with the Mass. Senate Districts, may be viewed online with the Legislative District Browser.

Last Updated 3/24/2008
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