# Massachusetts H 4214: An Act relative to the appointment of the police chief in the city of Fall River

Massachusetts H 4214, An Act relative to the appointment of the police chief in the city of Fall River, is a 194th General Court (2025-2026) House bill sponsored by Carole A. Fiola (Democratic), Michael J. Rodrigues (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-01-29 (Signed by the Governor, Chapter 10 of the Acts of 2026); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4214-194
- As of: 2026-11-01
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Massachusetts H 4214
- State: Massachusetts
- Session: 194th General Court (2025-2026)
- Title: An Act relative to the appointment of the police chief in the city of Fall River
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2025-06-09
- Last action: 2026-01-29, Signed by the Governor, Chapter 10 of the Acts of 2026
- Sponsors: Carole A. Fiola (Democratic), Michael J. Rodrigues (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Subjects: Public Service, House Steering, Policy and Scheduling
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 1 (9 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 1

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Fall River police chief now under civil service: mixed, low. The law places the Fall River Police Chief job under Massachusetts civil service rules on passage. The Mayor still appoints the Chief, and for up to three years the Chief’s contract terms follow Section 1080 of Chapter 41. The Chief is the head of the department and the appointing authority for all…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Carole A. Fiola (Democratic), House
- Sponsor: Michael J. Rodrigues (Democratic), Senate

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-11-14 | committee | Committee Favorable: Joint Committee on Public Service | pass | 9 | 0 |   |

## Actions (15)

- 2026-01-29: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 10 of the Acts of 2026
- 2026-01-20: Enacted and laid before the Governor (Senate)
- 2026-01-20: Enacted (House)
- 2026-01-15: Read third (title changed) and passed to be engrossed (Senate)
- 2026-01-15: Taken out of the Orders of the Day (Senate)
- 2025-12-22: Read, rules suspended, read second and ordered to a third reading (Senate)
- 2025-12-18: Read third and passed to be engrossed (House)
- 2025-11-24: Read second and ordered to a third reading (House)
- 2025-11-24: Rules suspended (House)
- 2025-11-24: Committee reported that the matter be placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting (House)
- 2025-11-19: Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling (House)
- 2025-09-17: Hearing rescheduled to 09/17/2025 from 01:00 PM-02:00 PM in B-2 and Virtual<br> <span style="color: blue; font-style: italic;">Hearing updated to New End Time</span> (legislature)
- 2025-09-05: Hearing scheduled for 09/17/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in B-2 (legislature)
- 2025-06-12: Senate concurred (Senate)
- 2025-06-09: Referred to the committee on Public Service (House)

## Bill text

- Chapter 10 of the Acts of 2026, 2026-01-29: [PDF](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H4214.pdf)

## Related bills

- H 4585: An Act authorizing the town of Auburn to offer expanded senior property tax abatements (signed)
- H 5435: An Act authorizing the town of Topsfield to continue to employment of police chief Neal Hovey (passed senate)
- H 5515: An Act to increase the value of estates eligible for abatements pursuant to M.G.L. chapter 59, section 5, clauses seventeenth D and forty-first C in the town o… (passed house)
- H 3909: An Act authorizing the Provincetown year-round market rate rental housing trust to acquire year-round housing occupancy restrictions (signed)
- H 5429: An Act providing injured on duty compensation to Chelmsford firefighter Nicholas Spinale (second reading)
- H 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the position of firefighter in the town of Dudley (signed)

## Sources
- [Chapter 10 of the Acts of 2026 (PDF)](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H4214.pdf)

## Related
- [H 4585: An Act authorizing the town of Auburn to offer expanded senior property tax aba…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4585-194)
- [H 5435: An Act authorizing the town of Topsfield to continue to employment of police ch…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5435-194)
- [H 5515: An Act to increase the value of estates eligible for abatements pursuant to M.G…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5515-194)
- [H 3909: An Act authorizing the Provincetown year-round market rate rental housing trust…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H3909-194)
- [H 5429: An Act providing injured on duty compensation to Chelmsford firefighter Nichola…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5429-194)
- [H 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the p…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5520-194)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4214-194 (as of 2026-11-01).