Amendment #1176 to H4200

Expansion of the Housing Court

Representatives Walsh of Framingham, Vincent of Revere, Durant of Spencer, Heroux of Attleboro, Hecht of Watertown, Gentile of Sudbury, Garballey of Arlington, Rogers of Cambridge, Smizik of Brookline, Sannicandro of Ashland, Khan of Newton, McMurtry of Dedham, Dykema of Holliston, Farley-Bouvier of Pittsfield, Ultrino of Malden, Vieira of Falmouth, Toomey of Cambridge, Mannal of Barnstable, McGonagle of Everett, Coppinger of Boston, Tosado of Springfield, Gonzalez of Springfield, Holmes of Boston, Roy of Franklin, Malia of Boston, Peake of Provincetown, Provost of Somerville, Barber of Somerville and Decker of Cambridge move to amend the bill by adding the following sections: 

Section 1 : 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, 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 .

Section 2: Section 4 of said chapter 185C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the second, third, fourth, and fifth paragraphs and inserting in the place thereof the following 5 paragraphs:-

The eastern division of the housing court department shall hold at least 1 sitting each week in Suffolk county and at least 1 sitting each week in Middlesex county. The court, with the consent of the chief justice of the trial court, shall also sit in any other courthouse facilities as the chief justice of the housing court department may consider expedient or convenient.

The central division of the housing court department shall hold at least 1 sitting each week in the city of Worcester, at least 1 sitting each week in Middlesex county, at least 1 sitting each week in northern Worcester county and at least 1 sitting each week in southern Worcester county. The court, with the consent of the chief justice of the trial court, shall also sit in any other courthouse facilities as the chief justice of the housing court department may consider expedient or convenient.

The northeastern division of the housing court department shall hold at least 2 sittings each week in Essex county and at least 2 sittings each week in Middlesex county. The court, with the consent of the chief justice of the trial court, shall also sit in any other courthouse facilities as the chief justice of the housing court department may consider expedient or convenient.

The southeastern division of the housing court department shall hold at least 3 sittings each week in Bristol county, at least 1 sitting each week in Plymouth county and at least 1 sitting each week in Barnstable county. The court, with the consent of the chief justice of the trial court, shall also sit in such other courthouse facilities as the chief justice of the housing court department may consider expedient or convenient.

The metro south division of the housing court department shall hold at least 1 sitting each week in Norfolk county and at least 1 sitting each week in Plymouth county. The court, with the consent of the chief justice of the trial court, shall also sit in any other courthouse facilities as the chief justice of the housing court department may consider expedient or convenient.

Section 3: Section 8 of said chapter 185C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- There shall be 2 justices appointed for the western division, 2 justices appointed for the central division, 2 justices appointed for the northeastern division, 2 justices appointed for the metro south division, 2 justices appointed for the southeastern division, 2 justices appointed for the eastern division and 3 circuit justices who shall sit in any of the divisions as determined by the chief justice of the housing court department.

Section 4: Section 1 of chapter 211B of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 7, the figure “378” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 383.

Section 5: Section 2 of said chapter 211B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 2, the figure “10” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 15.

Section 6:  Sections 1-5, shall take effect as of January 1, 2017.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #1176 to H4200

Expansion of the Housing Court