Supreme Judicial Court Rules  Agreement between the SJC and the State Archivist

ORDERED: That any papers, records, exhibits and artifacts which have been filed or deposited in or which are located in any court of the Commonwealth may be moved to the State Archives at Columbia Point in Boston, Massachusetts provided that the Administrative Assistant (G.L. c. 211, § 3A ) to the Supreme Judicial Court approves. G.L. c. 221, § 27A . The State Archivist shall be the custodian of all court papers, records, exhibits and artifacts maintained at the State Archives. The Supreme Judicial Court shall retain control of such papers, records, exhibits and artifacts under such conditions as shall be agreed to by the State Archivist and the Supreme Judicial Court.

Pursuant to the provisions of the order of the Supreme Judicial Court dated January 17, 1984, the State Archivist and the Administrative Assistant to the Supreme Judicial Court hereby agree to the following terms and conditions with respect to all judicial papers, records, exhibits and artifacts to be moved to the State Archives at Columbia Point in Boston, Massachusetts:

(1) Consistent with the Separation of Powers Clause (Article 30) of the Constitution of the Commonwealth, there shall be a separate judicial archives located within the space occupied by the State Archives. The Supreme Judicial Court acting through the Administrative Assistant to the Supreme Judicial Court, and the Judicial Records Committee of the Supreme Judicial Court, shall maintain control of all court papers, records, exhibits and artifacts moved to the State Archives. The State Archivist, as a member ex officio of the Judicial Records Committee of the Supreme Judicial Court, shall be the physical custodian of all court papers, records, exhibits and artifacts stored at the State Archives.

(2) Subject to appropriation, there shall be a curator of judicial records at the State Archives who shall be responsible for the administration of the judicial archives. The curator of judicial records shall be an employee of the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth. The job description of the curator of judicial records shall be subject to the approval of the Supreme Judicial Court.

In addition to the curator of judicial records, employees of the State Archivist shall be authorized to administer the judicial archives in a manner consistent with the policies established by the Supreme Judicial Court.

The State Archivist shall periodically report to the Administrative Assistant to the Supreme Judicial Court.

(3) The procedures for processing judicial records for entry into the State Archives shall be established by the Supreme Judicial Court in consultation with the State Archivist.

Upon the completion of construction of the State Archives and Records Center at Columbia Point, the State Archivist shall designate a single location in the State Archives portion of the building consisting of approximately 12,000 cubic feet of shelving space to be occupied by the judicial archives. The space shall be discrete and continuous. It shall be distinct from the non-judicial archival collections with adequate access to the public research room of the State Archives. If at some time in the future additional space is necessary for expansion of the judicial archives, the State Archivist shall make reasonable attempts to designate such additional space as may be necessary consistent with the need to maintain a separate judicial collection. To the extent possible, the State Archivist shall attempt to designate the additional space at a single location with discrete and continuous shelving as close to the initial judicial archives space as is feasible.

(4) The judicial archives initially shall consist of the following records:--(1) pre-1860 records of the predecessors of the Superior Court; (2) pre-1860 Supreme Judicial Court records and records of special courts such as admiralty; (3) cases of unique historical interest (e.g. the Sacco-Vanzetti records). Some of these records will be treated in the Supreme Judicial Court records preservation laboratory in the Suffolk County Courthouse prior to deposit in the State Archives. Other records will first be shipped to the State Archives to be stored prior to later treatment either in the Supreme Judicial Court laboratory or in the laboratory of the State Archives.

There shall be no prohibition on maintaining closed shelved materials in the judicial archives. Such materials, if any, shall be closed by direction of the Supreme Judicial Court.

The facilities of the State Archives, including the fumigation laboratory and special treatment facilities, shall be open to the judicial archives, subject to the control of the State Archivist. However, all conservation procedures performed on judicial records shall be subject to the approval of the Administrative Assistant to the Supreme Judicial Court. Endangered judicial records which cannot be treated in a timely fashion in the Supreme Judicial Court laboratory shall be given status in the State Archives laboratory consistent with the status given endangered non-judicial records.

(5) The State Archives shall maintain all judicial records in its custody with the same care and security as is provided for other archival documents held at the State Archives.

(6) This agreement may be amended by written agreement of the State Archivist and the Administrative Assistant to the Supreme Judicial Court. The Secretary of the Commonwealth and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court shall be notified of any proposed amendment to the agreement prior to the effective date of the amendment. The Secretary of the Commonwealth and the Supreme Judicial Court may prohibit or nullify any such change in the agreement or may otherwise jointly revise the terms of the agreement.