Chapter 37

Section 1. A sheriff shall be elected in each county, as provided in section one hundred and fifty-nine of chapter fifty-four, for six years, beginning with the first Wednesday of January following his election, and until his successor is qualified.

Section 10. A sheriff shall not be arrested upon mesne process or execution in a civil action. If judgment is rendered against him, either in his official or private capacity, the execution shall issue against his goods, chattels and land, but not against his body. If such execut…

Section 11. Sheriffs and their deputies shall serve and execute, within their counties, all precepts lawfully issued to them and all other process required by law to be served by an officer. They may serve process in cases wherein a county, city, town, parish, religious society o…

Section 12. They may serve by copy, by them attested, demands, notices and citations not required by law to be served by an officer, and their returns of service thereof shall be prima facie evidence.

Section 13. They may require suitable aid in the execution of their office in a criminal case, in the preservation of the peace, in the apprehending or securing of a person for a breach of the peace and in cases of escape or rescue of persons arrested upon civil process.

Section 14. They may execute precepts in their hands at the time of their removal from office; and, upon a vacancy in the office of sheriff, every deputy in office under him, having a writ or precept in his hands, shall have the same authority to serve, execute and return the sam…

Section 15. If a sheriff is a party to a suit or other proceeding, any writ, precept or process therein, required to be served or executed by a sheriff or deputy sheriff, shall be served or executed by the sheriff of an adjoining county, or his deputy.

Section 16. Sheriffs, by themselves or by their deputies may attend any session of the supreme judicial and superior courts in their respective counties, as may be requested by the chief justice of the trial court, and when required, meetings of the county commissioners. Notwiths…

Section 17. The salaries of sheriffs shall be paid by their respective counties and shall, except as hereinafter provided, be in full compensation for all services rendered both as sheriff and as superintendent or keeper of the jail or house of correction. If a sheriff elects to …

Section 2. A sheriff, before performing any official act, shall be sworn and prior to being sworn, and thereafter, at intervals of not more than one year, so long as he continues to hold such office, shall give to the state treasurer a bond in such amount and with such sureties a…

Section 21. The sheriff of Nantucket county shall be entitled to receive from the county his actual traveling expenses incurred in the transportation of prisoners to and from jails and other penal institutions; and the sheriff of each other county, except Suffolk, shall be entitl…

Section 21A. For the purposes of paying the salary and travel expenses of a sheriff pursuant to sections 17 and 21, the commonwealth shall pay said salary and travel expenses whenever the sheriff is an employee of the commonwealth; provided, that said travel expenses shall be rei…

Section 22. Each sheriff shall keep an account of all fees and money received by virtue of his office, and, except as otherwise provided, shall annually, on or before June fifteenth, render to the county treasurer a sworn account thereof and, except as provided in section sevente…

Section 24. The sheriffs of the several counties, and their respective deputies, shall be responsible under the provisions of this section for the transportation of prisoners or other persons in their custody including, but not limited to, the following: (a) prisoners or other pe…

Section 25. The cost of transportation required by section twenty-four shall be borne by the commonwealth. The secretary of administration and finance shall make an annual request for an appropriation for the purpose of funding said section twenty-four and, subject to such approp…

Section 26. The sheriff shall issue to every full-time deputy employed by the sheriff an identification card bearing the deputy's photograph and identifying information. The secretary of public safety and security may adopt regulations relative to the form, content and issuance o…

Section 3. A sheriff may appoint deputies, who shall be sworn before performing any official act.

Section 4. He shall appoint a special sheriff, who shall be sworn and shall give such bond to the sheriff as he may require for the faithful discharge of his duties. A special sheriff shall have the authority of a deputy sheriff. Upon his qualification, the sheriff shall send a w…

Section 5. If, by reason of illness, absence, interest or otherwise, the sheriff is unable to perform his official duties, they shall be performed by the special sheriff, and compensation therefor, if not otherwise provided for, shall be paid by the sheriff. During a vacancy in t…

Section 7. A sheriff neglecting or refusing to give bond as required in section eighteen of chapter thirty shall forfeit one hundred and fifty dollars for each month's neglect, at the suit of the attorney general. The superior court shall forthwith certify the fact of such neglec…

Section 8. The holder of a judgment against a sheriff or his estate, for a cause which constitutes a breach of the condition of his official bond, or a person who has obtained an allowance of such claim against his estate, if settled as insolvent, may, at his own expense, prosecu…

Section 9. The state treasurer shall deliver an attested copy of the official bond of any sheriff to any person applying and paying therefor, which shall be received as competent evidence in a case relating to the bond; but if the execution of the bond is disputed, the court may …