Massachusetts Statutes

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 …

Section 1. As used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context requires otherwise, have the following meanings:— ''Commission'', to the commission on medicolegal investigation, established by section one hundred and eighty-four of chapter six. ''Office'', the o…

Section 10. The court shall report in writing when, where, and by what means the person met his death, the person's name, if known, and all material circumstances attending the death, and the name, if known, of any person whose unlawful act or negligence appears to have contribut…

Section 11. If a person charged by an inquest report with the commission of a crime is at large, the district court, upon the request of the district attorney, shall forthwith issue process for such person's arrest, returnable before any court or magistrate having jurisdiction.

Section 12. No embalming fluid, or any substitute therefor, shall be injected into the body of any person whose death is being investigated by the office until authorization from a representative of the office has first been obtained.

Section 13. After investigation or examination by the office, the body shall be released to the person with the proper legal authority to receive it, including the surviving spouse, the next of kin, or any friend of the deceased, who shall have priority in the order named. If upo…

Section 14. A medical examiner or forensic investigator designated by the chief medical examiner shall, on payment of a fee as determined from time to time by the secretary of public safety, which shall be not less than $75, view the body and make personal inquiry concerning the …

Section 15. A medical examiner responding to the scene of a death shall take charge of any money or other personal property of the deceased found on or near the body, or may request the police department to do so. The medical examiner or police department shall, unless such money…

Section 16. (a) The chief medical examiner shall file a report with the Food and Drug Administration's MedWatch Program any time the determined cause of death of an individual was due solely to the ingestion of a schedule II through schedule VI, inclusive, controlled substance, u…

Section 2. There shall be an office of chief medical examiner under the supervision and control of the chief medical examiner, which shall be within the executive office of public safety. Costs and expenses of the office shall be paid by the commonwealth. The chief medical examin…

Section 2A. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings:- ''Child'', a person under the age of 18. ''Fatality'', any death of a child. ''Local team'', a local child fatality review team established pursuant to subsection (c). ''Near fatality…

Section 2B. In the case of the death of a child under the age of 2, the chief medical examiner shall review and approve: (i) the findings and report of the medical examiner performing the autopsy to determine the cause of death; and (ii) any change to the autopsy report.

Section 3. It shall be the duty of any person having knowledge of a death which occurs under the circumstances enumerated in this paragraph immediately to notify the office of the chief medical examiner, or the medical examiner designated to the location where the death has occur…

Section 4. Upon notification of a death in the circumstances enumerated in section three, the chief medical examiner or his designee shall carefully inquire into the cause and circumstances of the death. If, as a result of such inquiry, the chief medical examiner or such designee…

Section 4A. If, after making inquiry pursuant to section four, the medical examiner is of the opinion that death may have resulted from injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident, and that the death occurred within four hours of such accident, that the deceased was the operat…

Section 5. All law enforcement officers, district medical examiners, hospitals and other medical facilities, and other state, county and local officials shall cooperate with the office of chief medical examiner in the investigation of medicolegal cases. The office of the chief me…

Section 6. (a) It shall be the duty of a person who discovers unmarked human remains, or who knowingly causes human remains to be disturbed through construction or agricultural activity, to immediately notify the office of the chief medical examiner. (b) The medical examiner shal…

Section 7. If, during the course of investigation, the medical examiner is of the opinion that the death may have been caused by the act or negligence of another, he shall at once notify the district attorney within whose district the deceased was found or, if such act or neglige…

Section 8. The chief medical examiner or his designee may request the attorney general or the district attorney to direct that an inquest be held. The attorney general or district attorney may, regardless of whether or not action has been taken by the office of the chief medical …

Section 9. If the court determines that the inquest relates to an accidental death upon a conveyance regulated by the department of telecommunications and energy, the court shall cause a transcript of the inquest proceedings, after review and written approval by the court, and th…

Section 1. In civil actions the prevailing party shall recover his costs, except as otherwise provided.

Section 10. If a judgment for costs upon a nonsuit, discontinuance or dismissal remains unsatisfied, the court in which a subsequent action for the same cause is brought may order proceedings therein to be stayed until such costs have been paid, and may further order that the act…

Section 11. If double or treble costs are allowed, the witness fees, the costs of taking depositions, of procuring evidence and of copies and all court dues, shall be taxed and recovered singly, and the remainder only of the taxable costs shall be doubled or trebled.

Section 13. In civil actions or other proceedings in which no provision is expressly made by law, the costs shall be wholly in the discretion of the court, but no greater amount shall be taxed therein than is allowed for similar charges in actions in which costs are expressly pro…

Section 14. In civil actions and in proceedings which are instituted by, or in the name of, the commonwealth, and not at the relation, in behalf, or for the use, of a private person, the commonwealth shall be liable for costs as is an individual.

Section 15. A private person at whose relation, for whose use or in whose behalf an action or proceeding is commenced in the name of the commonwealth or of the attorney general shall be liable for costs, as if it had been begun in his own name.

Section 16. If a judgment for costs is rendered against the commonwealth, the treasurer of the county to which the costs in such case would have been paid had the judgment been in favor of the commonwealth shall pay it upon the production of an attested copy thereof; but if the c…

Section 17. If costs are taxed for the commonwealth, no fees shall be taxed or allowed for the travel of the attorney general or any attorney for the commonwealth.