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General Laws are subdivided into Parts, each of which contain Chapters, which in turn contain Sections. You can select a specific Chapter or Section alone, or in combination with the keyword.

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  • To find either horse OR bicycle (or both, not necessarily together as a phrase) simply separate words by spaces, or type this: horse OR bicycle )
  • To find both elementary AND education in the same result, type: elementary AND education
  • To get results with the exact phrase higher education use quotes to surround the phrase, as in: "higher education"
  • To search for taxi but not return results that also have taxicabs or licenses, use: taxi NOT taxicabs NOT license (or simplify as: taxi -taxicabs -licenses)
General Laws Index

You may also browse the General Laws by clicking on one of the Parts/Chapters bars in the General Laws Index list (note the multiple Chapters in each Part).




General Laws Index

Part
Description
Chapters
I ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT 1 - 182 II REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS 183 - 210 III COURTS, JUDICIAL OFFICERS AND PROCEEDINGS IN CIVIL CASES 211 - 262 IV CRIMES, PUNISHMENTS AND PROCEEDINGSIN CRIMINAL CASES 263 - 280 V THE GENERAL LAWS, AND EXPRESS REPEAL OF CERTAIN ACTS AND RESOLVES 281 - 282
General Laws are Session Laws or sections of Session Laws that are permanent in nature and of general application. General Laws are codified according to subject matter in a multi-volume publication entitled the General Laws of Massachusetts. The official version of the General Laws is now published every two years, with cumulative pamphlets released periodically. This site provides an unofficial version of the General Laws, available through the index below or search feature.
NOTICE: This is NOT the official version of the General Laws of Massachusetts. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the data provided, do not rely on this information without first checking the Official Edition of the General Laws of Massachusetts. If you are in need of legal advice or counsel, please consult a lawyer.

This site is periodically updated to reflect any changes made to the General Laws. This site includes all amendments to the General Laws passed through October 31, 2011, for laws enacted since that time, see the 2012 Session Laws.