MCTA Treasurer’s Manual

Appendix

A.           Introduction

Laws are enacted at each level of government (federal, state, and local). The intent of all enacted laws is to impose certain regulations on the manner by which a community is governed. While it is not neces­sary for a treasurer to be able to quote specific laws verbatim, it is important that each treasurer have a general understanding of the intent and the important points of each statute. Since treasurers are faced with the responsibility of making daily decisions which are consistent with the provisions of the Massachusetts General Laws, the treasurer should be knowledgeable about finding current laws and court decisions.

A municipal treasurer is elected or appointed for a term of a year or more. From the time that a treasurer takes office, it is his/her primary responsibility as custodian of a community’s assets to exercise due care in the management of such assets. Management of assets begins at the point of ownership (usually receipt) through the exchange of the asset for goods or services or other assets. Management includes func­tions of investing and converting, accounting for, and reporting on all of the community’s assets. There are municipal laws which have been enacted throughout the levels of government concerning asset management. In order to carry out his or her responsibilities to the people in the community, the treasurer must have knowledge of these laws and be in compliance with them.

B.           What are Municipal Laws?

Governments are regulated by a body of laws referred to as municipal laws. Municipal laws include not only the laws of the state, but also the laws of the city or town, which are called ordinances and bylaws. By definition, a bylaw is a local law or a municipal statute of a city or town. A municipal ordinance is a law or rule, enacted or adopted by a municipal corporation for the proper conduct of its affairs or the government of its inhabitants.

On the state level, municipal laws are found in the Massachusetts General Laws Annotated, which can be found in most libraries and munici­pal offices. Pamphlets which are located inside the back cover update the laws through the latest completed legislative session.

The intent of certain Massachusetts Annotated Laws has been clari­fied by decisions of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and the Appeals Court of Massachusetts. The context of each court case may be found in either of two sets of references. These references, which may be found in all law libraries, are the Massachusetts Decisions and the Massachusetts Edition of the North Eastern Reporter.

At the local level, municipal ordinances and bylaws are usually printed and are available to the public. The city or town clerk has on file certified copies of bylaws or ordinances that have been passed by the appropriate governing bodies. Town bylaws also need the approval of the attorney general.

Cities and towns also sponsor legislation on behalf of their par­ticular community which is acted upon by the state legislature. All pieces of legislation which are favorably acted upon can be found in the hardcover blue books entitled the Acts and Resolves which are published each year, or in West’s Legislative Services paperback series which is printed during each legislative session as a number of acts are passed. In both publications, the acts relative to a particular community can be found by looking under the name of the town in the index.

C.           Locating And Researching Municipal Laws

The most common municipal law references are the Annotated General Laws of Massachusetts. These hardcovered “Green Books,” as they are referred to, contain all of the Massachusetts General Laws, amended through the most recent legislative session. The last volumes include a master index which is organized by subject and indicates the applicable legal reference(s) by chapter, section, and clause.

It is often true that a treasurer can look up a statute or statutes in this manner and satisfy a question of how a certain problem should be handled. However, there are instances in which legal citations are vague and do not clear up the problem. When this happens, the treasurer should look at the end of the section where there are listings of court cases which have been tried before the Massachusetts Supreme Court and Appeals Court. A description of each decision is included in the Notes of Decisions.

Numbers and letters following the case name are “citations” to a case. They are shorthand keys to the books known as “reporters” which contain the cases. For example, the citation:

Board of Health of North Adams v. Mayor of North Adams

368 Mass. 554, 334 NE 2d 34 (1975)

tells where the case can be found. “368 Mass. 554” means that the case is located in Volume 368 of the Massachusetts Reports on page 554. “334 NE 2d 34” means that the case is also located on page 34 of the North Eastern Reporter, second edition, Volume 334. The case year is 1975. In the citation:

Commonwealth v. Hudson 315 Mass. 335, 339-341, 52 NE 2d

566 (1943)

“315 Mass. 335, 339-341” means that this case can be found in Volume 315 of the Massachusetts Reports on page 335, and that pages 339 through 341 should be noted with special interest. Most cases are only reported in one or two reporters. Opening notes usually summarize the decision, but they may be misleading. It is important always to read the entire decision.

If the case does not have citation numbers, it may still be located by checking the year of the case and then the index of the yearly re­porter. Citations of Supreme Court cases are usually listed under the appropriate statute in the Annotated General Laws of Massachusetts. There is also an index in the U.S. Supreme Court Digest that lists cases by name.

The Annotated General Laws of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Reports, and the North Eastern Reporter can be found in law libraries located in law schools, in federal, state, and city court houses, and in state offices.