Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. The county commissioners of Hampshire county are hereby authorized to renovate and repair, furnish and equip the Hampshire county courthouse and Hall of Records.

Said renovations shall contain court rooms and facilities for the superior court, the probate court, and the district court, and shall house offices of the clerk of the superior court, the register of deeds, the register of probate, the clerk of the district court, the district attorney, the probation offices of said courts, the county extension service, the maintenance department, the county treasurer, the county commissioners, the law library, and offices for other present and future county agencies and departments.

SECTION 2. For the purposes set forth in section one, the treasurer of said county, with the approval of the county commissioners, may borrow from time to time upon the credit of the county such sums as may be necessary, not exceeding in the aggregate, one million five hundred thousand dollars, and may issue bonds or notes of the county thereof, which shall bear on their face the words, Hampshire County Court House Building Loan, Act of 1989. Each authorized issue shall constitute a separate loan and such loans shall be payable not more than ten years from their dates. The bonds or notes shall be signed by the county treasurer and countersigned by a majority of the executive committee of the county commission. The county may sell said securities at public or private sale, upon such terms and conditions as the county commissioners may deem proper, but not for less than their par value. Indebtedness incurred hereunder shall, except as herein provided, be subject to chapter thirty-five of the General Laws.

SECTION 3. If the county is allotted a grant by the commonwealth or any agency or department thereof for the purposes authorized in section one, the county may incur debt that is required primarily to pay that proportion of the expense for which reimbursement is to be received from the commonwealth, such reimbursement first having been agreed upon by the commonwealth or such agency or department, in order to provide the necessary funds to meet the expense for which reimbursement is to be made, the treasurer of the county may, with the approval of commissioners, incur debt and issue notes therefor for a period not exceeding two years from their dates, and may refund the same from time to time; provided, however, that no loan shall be so refunded unless the commissioners shall certify in writing filed in the office of the treasurer, where it shall be open to inspection by the public, that at the time such loan is refunded, the county remains entitled to receive reimbursement in an amount at least equal to the amount of the refunding loan. The proceeds of such reimbursement shall be applied to the discharge of the loan, without the necessity of further appropriation. In the event the county shall no longer be entitled to receive reimbursement in an amount sufficient to pay all or any portion of a loan issued under this section at the time such loan matures, the loan shall be paid from revenue funds of the county to the extent it can no longer be refunded under this section. A payment made by the county as provided in this section shall be reported by the treasurer to the commissioners, who shall include the amount so reported in the determination of the next annual assessment unless the county has otherwise made provision therefor. The loan authorization in section two shall be reduced by any grants received. Any grants received after the permanent financing authorized by section two shall be set aside and used solely for the payment of principal on the permanent financing.

SECTION 4. Chapter one hundred and twenty-six of the acts of nineteen hundred and seventy-seven is hereby repealed.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect upon its passage.