Massachusetts law about town meetings

COVID-19

The following laws suspend some town meeting requirements during COVID-19:

• St. 2020, c. 53, §§ 2-4 
• St. 2020, c.92
• St.2021, c.20, §§ 8-9

Best bet

Citizen's Guide to Town Meetings, Secretary of the Commonwealth (2008)
"This booklet outlines the forms and procedures used in Massachusetts Town Meetings."

Massachusetts laws

Massachusetts Constitution, Amendment LXXXIX 
Draws the distinction between cities and towns, and allows for home-rule charters

MGL c.39  Municipal government: city government and town meetings

MGL c.43A  Standard Form of Representative Town Meeting Government

Rules of procedure

Most Massachusetts town meetings use one or both of the following:

Roberts Rules of Order

• Official site with ordering information as well as frequently asked questions about the rules
• 1915 edition online, Bartleby
• Print source from our law libraries
• Roberts Rules in plain English (print) 
  "Abbreviated essential parliamentary rules condensed from Robert's Rules of order newly revised."
• Roberts Rules of Order in the courts (print) provides citations to court cases about the rules

Town Meeting Time

• Mass. Moderators Association, ordering information
• Print source from our law libraries

Web sources

• About town meeting, Lexington
  • A nice explanation of how a representative town meeting works in one town
• Guide to citizens' petitions for town meetings, by James Lampke, Hull Town Counsel, 2013.
  A brief guide "intended to present in layman’s terms the process for citizens to petition Town Meeting."
• Town meeting overview, Andover
  • An introduction to the open town meeting process in one town

Last updated:	July 1, 2021