Outside Section 15

Statewide Housing Court I

SECTION 15.   Section 1 of chapter 185C of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- The housing court department, established in section 1 of chapter 211B, shall be composed of:
(i) a western division consisting of the municipalities in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties;
(ii) a central division consisting of the municipalities in Worcester county and the municipalities of Ashland, Framingham, Hudson, Holliston, Hopkinton, Marlborough, Natick, Sudbury, Wayland and Sherborn;
(iii) a northeastern division consisting of the municipalities in Essex county and the municipalities of Acton, Ashby, Ayer, Bedford, Billerica, Boxborough, Burlington, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Dracut, Dunstable, Everett, Groton, Lexington, Lincoln, Littleton, Lowell, Malden, Maynard, Melrose, North Reading, Pepperell, Reading, Shirley, Stoneham, Stow, Tewksbury, Townsend, Tyngsborough, Wakefield, Waltham, Watertown, Westford, Weston, Wilmington, Winchester and Woburn and the jurisdiction known as Devens established in chapter 498 of the acts of 1993;
(iv) a southeastern division consisting of the municipalities in Barnstable, Bristol, County of Dukes and Nantucket counties and the municipalities of Carver, Duxbury, Halifax, Hanson, Hanover, Hingham, Hull, Kingston, Lakeville, Marion, Marshfield, Mattapoisett, Middleborough, Norwell, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Rochester, Rockland, Scituate and Wareham;
(v) a metro south division consisting of the municipalities in Norfolk county, except Brookline, and the municipalities of Abington, Bridgewater, Brockton, East Bridgewater, West Bridgewater and Whitman; and (vi) an eastern division consisting of the municipalities in Suffolk county and the municipalities of Arlington, Belmont, Brookline, Cambridge, Medford, Newton and Somerville.
 
 

Summary:
This section and the two succeeding sections expand the housing court's jurisdiction, so that the court would sit in all parts of the state. This section re-organizes the housing court's existing five divisions into six divisions,