Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 41C of chapter 7 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 34, the word "The", and inserting in place thereof the following:- Except as otherwise provided in section three of chapter two hundred and eleven, the.

SECTION 1A. Section 4 of chapter 29A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first two sentences and inserting in place thereof the following sentences:- The judicial branch may lease buildings and land owned by a county, city, or town to provide suitable quarters and space for court facilities and necessary related activities such as parking. The judicial branch may, in the alternative, lease such buildings and land from other public or private entities as the interest of the efficient and cost-effective administration of justice requires.

SECTION 1B. Section 24 of chapter 90 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 106 to 108, the words "subject to the right to appeal pursuant to section twenty-seven A of said chapter two hundred and eighteen".

SECTION 1C. Said section 24 of said chapter 90, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 473, the words "in the superior court".

SECTION 2. The definition of "Appellate division" in section 1 of chapter 90C of the General Laws, inserted by section 155 of chapter 138 of the acts of 1991, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 3, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 3. The definition of "Scheduled assessment" in said section 1 of said chapter 90C, inserted by section 159 of said chapter 138, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 2, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 4. Clause (b) of the fifth paragraph of section 2 of said chapter 90C, as amended by section 160 of said chapter 138, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 10, the word "administrative", and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 5. Section 3 of said chapter 90C, as amended by section 161 of said chapter 138, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 8, 10, 28 and 37, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following word:- chief, and by striking out, in line 38, the word "administrative".

SECTION 6. Section 7A of said chapter 90C, as appearing in section 163 of said chapter 138, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 7. Subsection D of section 23 of chapter 119 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 41 to 45, inclusive, the words "the Boston juvenile court, the Worcester juvenile court, the Bristol county juvenile court and the Springfield juvenile court and from any juvenile session of a district court of the commonwealth or from any superior civil court of the commonwealth" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- any division of the juvenile court department.

SECTION 8. Section 24 of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 1 to 5, inclusive, the words "Boston juvenile court, the Worcester juvenile court, the Bristol juvenile court, and the Springfield juvenile court or the juvenile sessions of any district court of the commonwealth, except the municipal and district courts located within the territorial limits of said juvenile courts" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- The divisions of the juvenile court department.

SECTION 9. Section 27 of said chapter 119, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 10 and 11, the words "division of the district court department or the division of the juvenile court department" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- district court or juvenile court.

SECTION 10. Section 39E of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 1 to 5, inclusive, the words "juvenile courts of Boston, Worcester, Springfield, and Bristol county or the juvenile session of any district court, except the municipal and district courts within Suffolk county, the central district court of Worcester, the district court of Springfield and the district courts within Bristol county," and inserting in place thereof the following words:- divisions of the juvenile court department.

SECTION 11. The second paragraph of said section 39H of said chapter 119, as appearing in section 1 of chapter 519 of the acts of 1991, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 4, the words "district court, or the juvenile court" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- division of the juvenile court department.

SECTION 12. Section 39I of said chapter 119, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 3 to 6, inclusive, the words "district courts for the county where the hearing is held, as designated by the chief justice for the district court department, except as provided in section fifty-seven of chapter two hundred and eighteen" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- juvenile court department for the county where the hearing is held, as designated by the chief justice of the juvenile court department.

SECTION 13. Said section 39I of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 18, the words ", or in a district court juvenile session,".

SECTION 14. Section 51C of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 3, the words "or the district court".

SECTION 15. Section 52 of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the definition of "Court" and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-

"Court", a division of the juvenile court department.

SECTION 16. Section 55A of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 2, the words "the district court department or of",- and by striking out, in line 10, the words "district and".

SECTION 17. Section 56 of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 4 to 7, inclusive, the words "district courts for the county where the hearing is held, as designated by the chief justice for the district court department, except as provided in section fifty-seven of chapter two hundred and eighteen" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- juvenile courts for the county where the hearing is held, as designated by the chief justice for the juvenile court department,- by striking out, in line 18, the word "district" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- trial,- by striking out, in line 22, the words "district and",- and by striking out, in lines 53 to 55, inclusive, the words "administrative justices for the district court department and the juvenile court department shall arrange for the sittings of the jury sessions of their respective departments" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- chief justice for the juvenile court department shall arrange for the sittings of the jury sessions of the juvenile court department.

SECTION 18. Section 56 of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 17, the word "appeals" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- jury trials.

SECTION 19. Said section 56 of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 47 to 49, inclusive, the words "the superior court shall make available jurors from the pool of jurors for the jury sessions in the superior court" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- jurors shall be provided by the office of the jury commissioner in accordance with the provisions of chapter two hundred and thirty-four A,- and by striking out, in line 53, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 20. Section 58 of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 37 and 38, the words "the district court, including in that term a division of the juvenile court department," and inserting in place thereof the following words:- a division of the juvenile court department.

SECTION 20A. Section 61 of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 36 and 37, and lines 53 and 54, the words "and section eighteen of chapter two hundred and seventy-eight" in each instance.

SECTION 21. Section 63 of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh sentences and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- The divisions of the juvenile court department shall, within their respective territorial limits, have exclusive jurisdiction over complaints alleging violations of this section.

SECTION 22. Section 72 of said chapter 119, as amended by section 7 of chapter 488 of the acts of 1991, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 1 and 15, the words "Courts shall continue to have jurisdiction in their juvenile sessions" and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following words:- The divisions of the juvenile court department, shall continue to have jurisdiction,- and by striking out, in line 21, the words "court in its juvenile session" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- division of the juvenile court department.

SECTION 23. Paragraph (a) of section 20 of chapter 120 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the second sentence.

SECTION 24. Section 7 of chapter 123 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "court", in lines 2 and 10, in each instance, the following words:- or the division of the juvenile court department.

SECTION 25. Section 8 of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "court", in lines 2, 7, 34 and 42, in each instance, the following words:- or the division of the juvenile court department.

SECTION 26. Section 8B of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "court", in line 6, the following words:- or the division of the juvenile court department.

SECTION 27. Said section 8B of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 57, the words "probate court" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- juvenile court department,- and by inserting after the word "court", in line 59, the following words:- or juvenile court department.

SECTION 28. Paragraph (b) of section 9 of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "court", in lines 10 and 33, in each instance, the following words:- or a division of the juvenile court department.

SECTION 29. Section 12 of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "justice", in lines 60 and 64, in each instance, the following words:- or a justice of the juvenile court department.

SECTION 30. Section 35 of said chapter 123, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "court", in line 13, the following words:- or any division of the juvenile court department.

SECTION 31. Section 7 of chapter 150E of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 8, the words "administrative justice" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- justice for administration and management.

SECTION 32. Said section 7 of said chapter 150E, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 22, the words "administrative justice", and inserting in place thereof the following words:- justice for administration and management.

SECTION 33. Chapter 185 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 2, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 2. The land court department shall consist of four associate justices appointed to the land court department. The justice as provided under section one of chapter two hundred and eleven B as the chief justice for the land court department, in addition to his judicial powers and duties, shall, subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section three of chapter two hundred and eleven and the administrative authority of the office of the chief justice for administration and management, be the administrative head of the land court department, and shall also have the power, authority and responsibility of a chief justice as set forth in section ten of chapter two hundred and eleven B. Said chief justice shall serve as the chief justice of that department for a five-year term and shall be eligible to be reappointed to serve additional five-year terms. Said chief justice may be removed from his position as chief justice when it is determined by the chief justice for administration and management to be in the best interests of the administration of justice.

SECTION 34. Said chapter 185 is hereby further amended by striking out section 6, as amended by section 521 of chapter 133 of the acts of 1992, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 6. The governor, with the advice and consent of the council, shall appoint a recorder, who shall hold office during good behavior, but subject, however, to retirement under the provisions of any applicable general or special law relative to retirement systems. Said recorder shall have responsibility for the internal administration of his office, including personnel, staff services and record-keeping. The chief justice or the recorder may submit any dispute that arises between said chief justice and said recorder, concerning the management and administration of the recorder's office, the duties, powers and obligations of the recorder or a member of the recorder's staff, or the interpretation of the personnel standards provided for under section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B, to the chief justice for administration and management, who shall, within thirty days, determine the matter. The decision of the chief justice for administration and management shall be binding on the parties. The recorder shall not be involuntarily separated from service as such except in the manner provided by section four of chapter two hundred and eleven. He shall attend the sessions of the court, keep a docket of all causes, and affix the seal of the court to all processes or papers requiring it. The recorder may, subject to the approval of the chief justice for administration and management as to compliance with personnel standards promulgated pursuant to section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B, appoint deputy recorders, a first assistant clerk and an assistant clerk of the land court department and may designate, with like approval, two employees, having the title of deputy assistant clerk, who shall, under his direction, perform the duties of clerk of court. The recorder shall have the same powers as a clerk-magistrate in the superior court department of the trial court insofar as such powers relate to civil matters and shall have the authority to hear and rule on petitions for tax foreclosure and for redemption from tax titles pursuant to chapter sixty.

SECTION 35. Said chapter 185 is hereby further amended by striking out section 7, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 7. The recorder shall be under the direction of the chief justice of the land court division and shall have the custody and control of all papers and documents filed with him in any complaint for registration, action or proceeding in said court, and shall carefully number and index them. Said papers and documents may be kept in Boston in the recorder's office, which shall be near the land court. He may, with the approval of the chief justice of the land court department, employ necessary assistants and messengers.

SECTION 36. Section 10A of said chapter 185, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 2, the words "administrative justice" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- chief justice of the land court department.

SECTION 37. Section 11 of said chapter 185, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 2, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 38. Section 12 of said chapter 185, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the words "administrative justice for" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- chief justice of,- and by striking out, in lines 5 and 7, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following word:- chief.

SECTION 39. Said chapter 185 is hereby further amended by striking out section 13, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 13. Upon request of the chief justice, the sheriff of any county other than Suffolk shall assign a deputy to attend the sittings of the land court department in that county. The chief justice for administration and management shall appoint two officers for attendance upon the sessions of said court in Suffolk county.

SECTION 40. Said chapter 185 is hereby further amended by striking out section 13A, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 13A. At the trial of any issue of fact in the land court department the first justice may appoint a stenographer, who shall be sworn and shall attend the trial or such part thereof as the first justice may direct, and perform like duties and receive the same compensation therefor as a stenographer appointed by the superior court who is not on salary; and the sums so payable for his attendance at court and for any transcript of his notes or part thereof furnished to the first justice by his direction shall be paid by the commonwealth, upon the certificate of the chief justice of the land court.

SECTION 41. Section 14 of said chapter 185, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- The salaries of the recorder, deputy recorder, chief title examiner, title examiners, and assistant clerks of the land court department shall be paid by the commonwealth in accordance with the job classification and pay plan established, subject to appropriation, by the chief justice for administration and management.

SECTION 42. Chapter 185C of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 4, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 4. The division of the housing court department for Hampden county shall hold its sittings in the courthouse facilities of the superior court department within said county and, with the consent of the chief justice for administration and management, and in such other courthouse facilities within said county as the chief justice of the housing court department may deem to be expedient or convenient.

The division of the housing court department for the city of Boston shall hold its sittings in the Suffolk county courthouse and, with the consent of the chief justice for administration and management, in such other courthouse facilities within the city of Boston as the chief justice of the housing court department may deem to be expedient or convenient.

The division of the housing court department for Worcester county shall hold its sittings in the facilities of the Worcester county courthouse in the city of Worcester and at regular and frequent intervals in a district courthouse in the northern and southern areas of said county, but in no event less frequently than once per week in each of said northern and southern areas. The court, with the consent of the chief justice for administration and management shall also sit in such other courthouse facilities within said county as the chief justice of the housing court department may deem to be expedient or convenient.

The northeastern division of the housing court department shall hold its sittings in the courthouse facilities located in the city of Lawrence and at regular and frequent intervals at the courthouse facilities in the city of Salem, including at least one sitting each week in Salem, including one sitting each week in the city of Lowell, and also at least one sitting each week in the courthouse facilities in either the city of Lynn or the city of Peabody or the city of Haverhill. The court, with consent of the chief justice for administration and management shall also sit in such other courthouse facilities as the chief justice of the housing court department may deem to be expedient or convenient.

The southeastern division of the housing court department shall hold its sittings in the courthouse facilities located in the city of Taunton and at regular and frequent intervals at the courthouse facilities in the cities of Brockton, Fall River and New Bedford; provided, however, that said southeastern division shall hold at least two sittings each week in Plymouth county and two sittings each week in Bristol county. The court, with the consent of the chief justice for administration and management shall also sit in such other courthouse facilities as the chief justice of the housing court department may deem to be expedient or convenient.

SECTION 43. Said chapter 185C is hereby further amended by striking out section 5, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 5. The divisions of the housing court department shall always be open and the business thereof, or of a justice thereof, may be transacted at any time; but such business shall not, except as provided in section six of chapter two hundred and twenty, be transacted on Saturday or Sunday or on a legal holiday unless it relates to an application which, in the opinion of the justice to whom it is made, is of pressing necessity; provided, however, that, if the convenience of the public so requires, the courts shall be open for the transaction of business on such Saturdays, not legal holidays, and during such hours thereof as the chief justice of the housing court department may determine.

SECTION 44. Said chapter 185C is hereby further amended by striking out section 7, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 7. The chief justice of the housing court department shall from time to time make general rules and forms of procedure, which, before taking effect, shall be approved by the supreme judicial court or a justice thereof.

SECTION 45. Said chapter 185C is hereby further amended by striking out section 8, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 8. There shall be one justice appointed for the Hampden county division, one justice appointed for the Worcester county division, one justice appointed for the northeastern division, one justice appointed for the southeastern division, and two justices appointed for the city of Boston division of the housing court department. The chief justice of the housing court department, subject to the approval of the chief justice for administration and management, shall designate one justice to be the first justice of each court; provided, however, that appropriate consideration shall be given to seniority, length of service at that particular court, and managerial ability. Said first justice shall be the administrative head of that particular court and shall have the power, authority and responsibility of a first justice as set forth in section ten A of chapter two hundred and eleven B; provided, however, that clerks shall have responsibility for the internal administration of his office, including personnel, staff services and record keeping. A first justice or a clerk of the court may submit any dispute that arises between said first justice and said clerk concerning the management and administration of the office of the clerk, the duties, powers and obligations of the clerk, or a member of their staff, or the interpretation of the personnel standards provided for under section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B, to the chief justice of the department. Any person aggrieved by a decision of a chief justice under this paragraph may appeal said decision to the chief justice for administration and management, who shall, within thirty days, hear and determine the matter. Each first justice so appointed shall serve as the first justice of that court for a five-year term and shall be eligible to be reappointed to serve additional five-year terms at that particular court. Any first justice may be removed from his position as first justice when it is determined by the chief justice of the housing court department to be in the best interests of the administration of justice. Any first justice who is removed from his position as first justice by the chief justice of the housing court department may appeal the removal to the chief justice for administration and management.

SECTION 46. Said chapter 185C is hereby further amended by striking out section 8A, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 8A. The justice as provided under section one of chapter two hundred and eleven B as the chief justice for the housing court department, in addition to his judicial powers and duties shall, subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court provided in section three of chapter two hundred and eleven B, and subject to the administrative authority of the chief justice of administration and management, be the administrative head of the housing court department, and shall also have the power, authority and responsibility of a chief justice as set forth in section ten of chapter two hundred and eleven B. Said chief justice shall serve as the chief justice of that department for a five-year term and shall be eligible to be reappointed to serve additional five-year terms. Said chief justice may be removed from his position as chief justice when it is determined by the chief justice for administration and management to be in the best interests of the administration of justice.

SECTION 47. Said chapter 185C is hereby further amended by striking out section 9, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 9. There shall be a clerk, appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the council, for each of the housing courts. Said clerks shall hold office during good behavior, subject however, to retirement under the provisions of any general or special law relative to retirement systems. The clerk appointed for the Hampden county division shall reside in Hampden county. Said clerks shall have responsibility for the internal administration of their respective offices, including personnel, staff services and record keeping. The chief justice, a first justice or a clerk of the housing court may submit any dispute that arises between said chief justice or said first justice and said clerk of court, concerning the management and administration of the clerk's office, the duties, powers and obligations of the clerk-magistrate or a member of the clerk-magistrate's staff, or the interpretation of the personnel standards provided for under section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B, to the chief justice for administration and management, who shall, within thirty days, hear and determine the matter. The decision of the chief justice for administration and management shall be binding on the parties.

SECTION 48. Said chapter 185C is hereby further amended by striking out section 9A, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 9A. The salaries of the clerks and assistant clerks of the housing court department appointed under the provisions of sections nine and eleven shall be paid by the commonwealth in accordance with the job classification and pay plan established, subject to appropriation, by the chief justice for administration and management.

Said clerks and assistant clerks shall devote their entire time during business hours to their respective duties and shall not, directly or indirectly, engage in the practice of law.

SECTION 49. Said chapter 185C is hereby further amended by striking out section 10, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 10. In case of the illness or absence of a clerk, the chief justice of the housing court department may appoint a temporary clerk to act until the clerk resumes his duties.

SECTION 50. Section 11 of said chapter 185C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 4, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 51. Section 12 of said chapter 185C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 4, the words "administrative justice" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- chief justice of the housing court department.

SECTION 52. Section 13 of said chapter 185C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 7, the words "administrative justice" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- chief justice of the housing court department.

SECTION 53. Said chapter 185C is hereby further amended by striking out section 14, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 14. The clerk, temporary clerk and assistant clerks or one of them for each division shall attend all sessions of the housing court department and shall keep a record of all its proceedings. The clerk of each division shall have the care and custody of all the records, books and papers appertaining to, or filed or deposited in, his office. The clerk of each division shall make and issue writs and processes, shall make returns of the housing court department, tax bills of costs and receive fines, forfeitures, fees and costs accruing from the civil and criminal business of the housing court department including fees for blanks and copies. The clerk of each division shall have such other powers and duties as the first justice of the particular division may, subject to the approval of the chief justice of housing court department from time to time order.

The clerk and assistant clerks of each division of the housing court department may sign process issued by the housing court department and housing court department records, documents or other legal papers or copies thereof made or issued by such other clerk or an assistant clerk in conformity with law, except search warrants and process authorizing arrests or commitments, by imprinting thereon a facsimile of the signature of the clerk or assistant clerk; and such facsimile signatures shall have the same validity as their written signatures.

SECTION 54. Said chapter 185C is hereby further amended by striking out section 16, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 16. The first justice of a particular housing court may appoint, subject to appropriation and subject to the approval of the chief justice of the housing court department, such number of housing specialists as he may from time to time determine. Said first justice may designate one of them as chief housing specialist for the court. All housing specialists shall hold office at the pleasure of said chief justice, subject, however, to retirement under the provisions of any applicable general or special law relative to retirement systems. All housing specialists shall be knowledgeable in the maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation of dwelling units; the problems of landlord and tenant as they pertain to dwelling units; the types of funds and services available to assist landlords and tenants in the financing and resolution of such problems; the federal and state laws, rules and regulations pertaining to the maintenance, repair and rehabilitation of such units; and the financing and resolution of such problems. The housing specialists shall have such powers and perform such duties as said chief justice shall from time to time prescribe. Every housing specialist shall be sworn by the chief justice of the housing court, who shall, upon administering the oath, forthwith make return of such act with the date thereof to the state secretary.

SECTION 55. Said chapter 185C is hereby further amended by striking out section 18, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 18. At the trial of any issue of fact, the justice presiding at the trial shall provide for a proper recording system which shall record the proceedings. The cost of said recording system shall be paid by the commonwealth upon the certificate of the chief justice for administration and management. Each clerk of the housing court department may procure law books and blank books, blanks, stationery and other incidentals required by the divisions of the housing court department as the chief justice for administration and management may approve.

SECTION 56. Said chapter 185C is hereby further amended by striking out section 20, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 20. Any civil action within the jurisdiction of the housing court department which is pending in another court department may be transferred to the housing court department by any party thereto.

Whenever cross actions between the same parties or two or more actions, including for the purposes hereof other department proceedings, arising out of or connected with the same housing accommodation are pending, one or more in the housing court department, the district court department, the probate and family court department, or in the superior court department, the chief justice of the housing court or the first justice upon motion of any party to any of such actions, may order that the action or actions pending in the district court department and in the probate and family court department and in the superior court department with all papers relating thereto, be transferred to the housing court department; and such action or actions shall thereafter proceed in the housing court department as though originally entered there.

SECTION 57. Said chapter 185C is hereby further amended by striking out section 23, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 23. The bond of any receiver appointed by a division of the housing court department shall be payable to the commonwealth and shall otherwise be in such form as the chief justice of the housing court department shall require. Such bond may be enforced in the name of the commonwealth by the treasurer of the commonwealth, or by any person interested therein and authorized by the chief justice of the housing court department, after notice to said treasurer, to take such action. The housing court department shall have exclusive original jurisdiction of actions on such bonds. Any sums recovered shall be paid over or administered as a justice of the housing court department directs.

SECTION 58. Section 1 of chapter 201 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the first sentence the following sentence:- The district or juvenile court may, when it appears necessary or convenient, appoint guardians of minors if the person who is the subject of the petition is a minor and there is a proceeding before such district or juvenile court.

SECTION 59. Section 1 of chapter 210 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-

The district or juvenile court may, if it appears necessary or convenient, exercise the powers authorized by this chapter, but only in respect to a pending proceeding before such district or juvenile court.

SECTION 60. Section 2A of chapter 211 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "court", in line 1, the following words:- in consultation with the chief justice for administration and management.

SECTION 61. Section 3 of said chapter 211, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "administration", in lines 15 and 16, the following words:- ; provided, however, that general superintendence shall not include the authority to supersede any general or special law unless the supreme judicial court, acting under its original or appellate jurisdiction finds such law to be unconstitutional in any case or controversy; and provided, further that general superintendence also shall not include the authority or power to exercise or supersede any of the powers, duties and responsibilities of the chief justice for administration and management, as established by section one of chapter two hundred and eleven B, in any general or special law except under extraordinary circumstances leading to a severe, adverse impact on the administration of justice; provided, that the majority of the supreme judicial court shall issue a written order that sets forth the basis for a finding that, absent such action, there would be a severe and adverse impact on the administration of justice in the commonwealth.

SECTION 62. Section 4 of said chapter 211, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 7, the words "and insolvency".

SECTION 63. Said chapter 211 is hereby further amended by striking out section 26, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 26. A majority of the supreme judicial court, in consultation with the chief justice for administration and management shall design and implement a program for performance evaluation of judges. The sole purpose of said program shall be the improvement of the performance of individual judges and of the judiciary as a whole and, notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, all information compiled by said program shall be confidential. Said court may consult with individuals and organizations and may contract for technical assistance for the purpose of said program to the extent it deems necessary.

SECTION 64. Said chapter 211 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 26 the following two sections:-

Section 26A. The program for performance evaluation, as described in section twenty-six of this chapter, shall include, but not be limited to, a questionnaire, to be designed and implemented by the supreme judicial court. Said questionnaires shall be given to attorneys, parties and jurors appearing before a judge in each trial and in addition to each trial, in a representative sample of cases, so they may evaluate the performance of the judge. The questionnaire shall include, but not be limited to, questions relative to the judge's performance, demeanor, judicial management skills, legal ability, attentiveness, bias and degree of preparedness. Completed questionnaires shall be returned to the supreme judicial court, unsigned, within thirty days of the completion of the case or trial and all responses shall remain confidential. The data collected from each questionnaire shall be compiled and once the data has been compiled, the questionnaire from which the data was collected shall be destroyed.

The chief justice for administration and management shall establish the method and means by which the questionnaires shall be distributed, collected, verified and compiled.

Judges with one to four years service shall be evaluated every twelve to eighteen months and judges with more than four years service shall be evaluated every eighteen to thirty-six months. A minimum of twenty-five responses shall be compiled before a judge is evaluated. The supreme judicial court, or their designees, shall conduct the evaluation of a judge. When an evaluation of an individual judge is complete, it shall be made available to that judge and discussed with him.

Section 26B. The majority of the supreme judicial court shall establish judicial evaluation standards which individual judges must achieve during the evaluation process and shall design and implement programs for judges to attend who fail to achieve judicial evaluation standards. The majority of the supreme judicial court shall also establish disciplinary procedures for judges who do not complete programs implemented for judges who fail to achieve judicial evaluation standards.

SECTION 65. Said chapter 211 is hereby further amended by adding the following section:-

Section 28. The chief justice of the supreme judicial court may grant a leave of absence for study, research, teaching, or such other reason as said chief justice deems appropriate to the improved administration of justice, to a justice of said court, said leave to be for a period not to exceed one year. Any justice who takes an approved leave of absence shall not receive pay during the period of the leave of absence; provided, however, that time spent on leave of absence shall be credited to the justice for retirement purposes; provided, further, that for the purposes of eligibility for life insurance and health plans available under chapter thirty-two A, said justice shall be considered an active employee. The chief justice, in approving such leaves, shall consider the speedy dispatch of judicial business. The chief justice, in consultation with all the justices, shall establish and promulgate standards governing the approval of such leaves including procedures for the submission and disposition of requests for leave.

No leave of absence under this section shall be granted prior to the seventh year of service or within one year of retirement. A justice granted a leave of absence under this section shall not be eligible to take another leave of absence until the expiration of seven years following his return to judicial duties.

All statutory requirements and rules of court pertaining to justices shall continue to be applicable to a justice while he is on leave of absence pursuant to this section.

SECTION 66. Section 10 of chapter 211A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 8 and 10, the word "jury" and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the word:- criminal.

SECTION 67. Section 16 of said chapter 211A is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-

(d) During the temporary disability of the chief justice or an associate justice of the appeals court, a majority of the justices of the supreme judicial court may designate a justice appointed to the trial court to perform such duties of the office of associate justice of the appeals court as may be necessary to ensure the speedy dispatch of judicial business; provided, however, that any such trial court justice so appointed shall receive a salary commensurate with the salary of the justice or chief justice of the appeals court who is so disabled; and, provided further, that nothing contained herein shall be construed to limit the right of such disabled justice to receive his full salary, health or disability benefits or retirement benefits if otherwise provided by law.

SECTION 68. Section 17 of said chapter 211A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "purposes", in line 10, the following words:- ; provided, further, that for the purposes of eligibility for life insurance and health plans available under chapter thirty-two A, said judge shall be considered an active employee.

SECTION 69. Chapter 211B of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 1, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 1. There shall be a trial court of the commonwealth which shall consist of the following departments: the superior court department, the housing court department, the land court department, the probate and family court department, the Boston municipal court department, the juvenile court department and district court department. The trial court, as an administrative unit, shall consist of no more than three hundred and forty-one justices and special justices. There shall be selected as hereinafter provided, a chief justice for administration and management and a chief justice for each of the departments of the trial court.

SECTION 70. Said chapter 211B is hereby further amended by striking out section 2, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 2. There shall be seventy-six justices appointed to the superior court department, six justices appointed to the housing court department, four justices appointed to the land court department, forty-three justices appointed to the probate and family court department, eleven justices appointed to the Boston municipal court department, thirty-three justices appointed to the juvenile court department, and one hundred and sixty-eight justices and special justices appointed to the district court department. Except in the case of circuit justices, said appointments, in the case of the housing court departments, the probate and family court department, the juvenile court department, and the district court department, shall be made to a particular division within the department and a justice so appointed shall be considered a justice of the department for that division.

SECTION 71. Section 4 of said chapter 211B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 4, 15, 17 and 42, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following word:- chief.

SECTION 72. Said chapter 211B is hereby further amended by striking out section 5, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 5. The office of the chief justice of a department of the trial court, as provided in section one, shall not be deemed a judicial office as comprehended under the provisions of Article I of Chapter III of Part the Second of the Constitution. Said office of chief justice shall be filled by appointment, from among the justices appointed to the particular department, by the chief justice for administration and management. A chief justice shall hold said office for a term of five years, and shall be eligible to be reappointed for additional five-year terms. A chief justice, so appointed, may be removed from that office prior to the expiration of his term upon a determination by the chief justice for administration and management that such removal is in the best interests of the administration of justice.

SECTION 73. Said chapter 211B is hereby further amended by striking out section 6, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 6. The office of the chief justice for administration and management of the trial court, as provided in section one, shall not be deemed a judicial office as comprehended under the provisions of Article I of Chapter III of Part the Second of the Constitution. Said office of chief justice for administration and management shall be filled by appointment, from among the justices of the trial court departments, by a majority of the justices of the supreme judicial court. The chief justice for administration and management shall hold said office for a term of five years, and shall be eligible to be reappointed for additional five-year terms. The chief justice for administration and management shall be removed by a majority of the justices of the supreme judicial court only for cause in the nature of malfeasance, misfeasance or nonfeasance. The chief justice for administration and management shall retain his commission as associate justice of the trial court, or of a predecessor court to which he was appointed, while serving as chief justice for administration and management, and may continue to perform such judicial duties as he may have exercised as associate justice, and such other responsibilities as otherwise provided by law.

SECTION 74. Section 7 of said chapter 211B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

Section 7. In the case of a vacancy in the office of chief justice of a department of the trial court due to the absence of said chief justice or due to his inability to perform his duties, the office of chief justice in such event shall be filled as provided in section five. The temporary chief justice so appointed may hold said office until the incumbent shall resume his duties and subject to the chief justice for administration and management, but in no event longer than six months. A temporary chief justice shall be eligible to serve a consecutive full term as chief justice.

SECTION 75. The second paragraph of said section 7 of said chapter 211B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 11, 12, 14-15, 16, 18-19, 20, 21, and 24, the words "administrative justice" and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following words:- justice for administration and management.

SECTION 76. Said chapter 211B is hereby further amended by striking out section 8, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 8. There shall be an advisory committee on personnel standards. The membership of the committee shall consist of the following persons: the chief justice for administration and management or his designee who shall serve as chair of the committee, the chief justices of the trial court departments, a clerk of courts, a district court clerk and a register of probate, all of whom shall be designated by said chief justices and the commissioner of probation.

The committee shall advise the chief justice for administration and management who shall establish and promulgate standards for the appointment, performance, promotion, continuing education and removal of all personnel within the trial court, except judges, clerks and registers of probate, and shall furnish copies of such standards to all divisions or places for holding sessions within the department of the trial court.

Any appointment that is governed by standards promulgated under the provisions of this section shall forthwith be certified in writing for compliance with such standards to the chief justice for administration and management. The chief justice for administration and management shall have the power to reject any such appointment within fourteen days after receipt of the certification of compliance by the appointing authority but such power to reject any such appointment shall be limited to non-compliance with the standards for appointment.

Any appointment made by a joint authority shall require a majority of such authority, as provided by section six of chapter four.

An officer or employee whose appointment is subject to the provisions of this section may be removed for cause by the appointing authority. Every removal of an officer or employee whose appointment was subject to the provisions of this section shall be reviewed by the committee, and no such removal shall be final until approved by the committee. If any such officer or employee has served three full years in a position, appointment to which is subject to the provisions of this section, he shall have the right to appear personally before the committee before said committee reaches its decision as to whether or not to affirm his removal. The committee shall also advise the chief justice for administration and management in the establishment of salaries and pay scales of all court personnel unless otherwise provided by statute.

The members of said committee shall be allowed their necessary expenses including clerical expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.

SECTION 77. Said chapter 211B is hereby further amended by striking out section 9, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 9. The chief justice for administration and management in addition to his judicial duties and subject to the superintendence power of the supreme judicial court as provided in section three of chapter two hundred and eleven, shall have general superintendence of the administration of the trial court, including, without limitation, the improvement of the administration of such courts and the securing of their proper and efficient administration.

The chief justice for administration and management shall be the administrative head of the trial court of the commonwealth. The chief justice for administration and management shall periodically prepare and submit to the chief justice of the supreme judicial court an estimate, in detail, for the ordinary maintenance of the entire trial court, and all revenue therefrom, as provided in clause (5) of the first paragraph of section three of chapter twenty-nine. Said estimate shall include judicial salaries and the salaries of all officers and employees within the trial court and shall include estimates of all sums which the commonwealth is obligated to pay under the provisions of chapter twenty-nine A.

In order to achieve the ends stated in this section, the chief justice for administration and management shall be responsible for the management of court personnel, facilities, administration, security, and court business and shall have the authority necessary to carry out these responsibilities including, but not limited to, the following:-

(i) the responsibility, upon the request of the supreme judicial court, to provide financial management assistance to said court including review of the budget requests and information as submitted by the department chiefs, to make recommendations thereon and otherwise to assist the court in its budgetary preparations;

(ii) the responsibility to provide planning and policy-making functions, including the implementation of such planning and policy-making decisions;

(iii) the responsibility to provide the departments of the trial court with technical assistance concerning recordkeeping, auditing and computers, and with support services, such as computerized legal research, stenographic, electronic and video recordation methods and telephone-based interpretation services;

(iv) the responsibility consistent with section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B to provide personnel management, including promulgation of job classifications, establishment of system wide personnel policies and hiring practices and the authority to act as collective bargaining agent on behalf of the trial court;

(v) the authority to approve expenditures for all libraries maintained by the departments of the trial court;

(vi) the authority to coordinate the development and maintenance of, and technical assistance for, information systems;

(vii) the responsibility to provide facilities management, including provision of maintenance, equipment and security, the responsibility to coordinate with the division of capital planning and operations regarding construction, leasing, repair and designing of facilities, and the responsibility to plan for reallocation of court jurisdictional lines; this provision is to be construed in conjunction with section six of chapter twenty-nine A and section seventeen of chapter two hundred and eleven B;

(viii) the responsibility to monitor and to assist in the case processing and case flow management capabilities of the trial court departments;

(ix) the power, upon request by the supreme judicial court, to review the record and make recommendations in any appeals by justices against whom disciplinary actions have been taken by any chief justice;

(x) the responsibility to hear, for final determination, appeals by justices claiming to be aggrieved by an order of a chief justice assigning or transferring said justice to a particular court other than that to which he was appointed;

(xi) the responsibility to hear, for final determination, appeals by first justices who have been removed by chief justices;

(xii) the authority to hear and resolve interdepartmental disputes or disagreements between or among the chief justices of the various departments of the trial court, including but not limited to, (1) transferring personnel in order to facilitate the efficient administration of justice, (2) transferring cases in order to facilitate the efficient administration of justice and (3) making adjustments in the scheduling and location of court sessions in order to facilitate the efficient administration of justice;

(xiii) the responsibility to provide administrative management to the office of the jury commissioner;

(xiv) the responsibility to establish, manage and implement a mandatory emergency judicial response system for all judges, except when the chief justice for administration and management determines that the participation by a particular judge would create a hardship for such judge;

(xv) the responsibility to provide recommendations regarding management of the judicial recall process;

(xvi) the responsibility to supervise the implementation of the continuing education programs for judicial and nonjudicial personnel;

(xvii) the responsibility to perform all other administrative functions or duties the chief justice for administration and management deems necessary;

(xviii) the power to appoint such personnel as the chief justice for administration and management may deem necessary for the office of the chief justice for administration and management; the power to discipline, supervise and define the duties of such personnel, and the power to dismiss such personnel;

(xix) the power, where there are pending in different departments of the trial court cases involving the same party or the same issue, and where a request for consolidation is made to the chief administrative justice to consolidate such cases for hearing by one justice, and to assign said justice to sit as a justice of other departments and exercise the powers of justices of other departments, in order to dispose of such cases with efficient use of judicial resources;

(xx) upon the joint request of the chief justices of two or more departments of the trial court, authorize the transfer of cases from one department to another;

(xxi) the power to assign a justice appointed to any department of the trial court to sit in any other department of the court, for such period or periods of time as he deems will best promote the speedy dispatch of judicial business, provided, however, that,

(a) prior to making such assignments, said chief justice for administration and management shall ascertain the respective preferences of the justices of the trial court as to the department or departments, if any, including the department to which he is appointed, to which each such justice desires to be assigned and, in making such assignments to any department of said court shall, to the extent consistent with the effective administration of justice, including the maintenance of the respective specialized functions of the land, housing, probate and family, and juvenile court departments, the administrative responsibilities of any justice, and the speedy dispatch of judicial business in each of the several departments of the trial court, assign to any department on a basis of first priority justices who have expressed as aforesaid their preferences for assignment thereto;

(b) a justice, if aggrieved for cause by an order of the chief justice for administration and management assigning him to sit in a particular location or department of the court other than that to which he was appointed may appeal the order of said chief justice for administration and management to the supreme judicial court, which shall forthwith hear and determine the matter;

(c) a chief justice shall notify the chief justice for administration and management of, and may report to the supreme judicial court, any order made by said chief justice for administration and management pursuant to this paragraph which, in the opinion of such chief justice, impairs the orderly operation of his department;

(xxii) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, when necessary to ensure the proper administration of justice, transfer employees of the trial court to serve where needed; impose discipline on such officers and employees, including dismissal and suspension with or without pay; provided, however, that the chief justice for administration and management may, upon reasonable notice, temporarily transfer nonjudicial personnel among the various departments, divisions and places for holding court, and in no event shall any such transfer be more than a reasonable distance from the place where such personnel is employed unless the employee so transferred shall consent thereto; provided, further, that such transfer of the employee shall not be for more than ninety days, but such transfer may be extended for three consecutive ninety-day periods, provided that notice is given to the house and senate committees on ways and means upon each extension, including the employee's position, duties, and reason for the transfer, but such transfer shall not exceed three hundred and sixty consecutive days. The first justice of the court to where the employee is transferred shall provide the first justice of the court to where the employee is permanently assigned with appropriate personnel records and records of activities, including records necessary for the payment of compensation; and provided, however, that this provision shall not apply to a clerk or clerk-magistrate, whether elected or appointed by the governor, register of probate or recorder;

(xxiii) (a) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the chief justice for administration and management may, for the period July first through April thirtieth of any fiscal year, transfer funds from any item of appropriation of any trial court department to any other item of appropriation within the same trial court department; provided, that said transfers shall be made in accordance with schedules submitted to the house and senate committees on ways and means; provided further, that no such transfer shall occur until said schedules have been approved by said committees; provided further, that said schedules shall include the reasons for the necessity of such transfers with reference to actual and projected expenditures throughout the trial court for the fiscal year.

(b) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the chief justice for administration and management may, for the period May first through June thirtieth of any fiscal year, transfer an amount not to exceed sixty-five thousand dollars from any item of appropriation of any trial court department to any other item of appropriation within the same trial court department; provided, that any funds transferred from an (AA) subsidiary, as defined in the schedule of subsidiary accounts, established by the house and senate committees on ways and means pursuant to section twenty-seven of chapter twenty-nine of the General Laws, as amended, of any item of appropriation may only be transferred to the (AA) subsidiary of any other item of appropriation within the same department of the trial court; provided further, that in no case may funds be transferred into an (AA) subsidiary of any item of appropriation other than from another (AA) subsidiary of any item of appropriation within the same department of the trial court;

(xxiv) establish procedures, subject to the rule-making power of the justices of the supreme judicial court, for the assignment of matters coming before the trial court which do not warrant the use of a judge to other appropriate personnel, including clerk-magistrates, mediators, and arbitrators, and authorize such personnel to review, hear, and dispose of such matters, subject to appropriate judicial review;

(xxv) the chief justice for administration and management shall make a written report on the state of the trial court at the conclusion of each fiscal year and shall deliver said report, together with recommendations to the supreme judicial court by September first each year. The supreme judicial court shall then make a written report on the state of the court system and the judiciary for said fiscal year and shall deliver the report together with recommendations to the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, on or before October first of each year. Said reports shall include, but not be limited to an account of all transfers of appropriated funds among line items and a schedule of all personnel transferred within the judicial system. Such reports shall be a matter of public record;

(xxvi) said chief justice for administration and management may assign any personnel from the office of said chief justice for administration and management to any department within the trial court and shall insure, subject to appropriation, that the chief justices have adequate staff for the purpose of assisting such justices in the performance of their duties as administrative heads of the trial court departments;

(xxvii) the chief justice for administration and management shall be authorized to visit any department or any division or any place for holding court within such a department. The chief justice for administration and management may from time to time call conferences of any or all of the chief justices of the departments;

(xxviii) the chief justice for administration and management shall review all appointments and dismissals governed by standards promulgated under the authority of section eight for noncompliance with such standards and shall rescind any such appointment or dismissal that does not comply with said standards.

(xxix) the chief justice for administration and management shall be provided with offices in Suffolk county at the expense of the commonwealth but only after said chief justice for administration and management has not found sufficient office space in any facility owned by the commonwealth at an appropriate distance from the Suffolk county courthouse;

(xxx) any dispute arising between a chief justice of a department or a first justice of a division, and a clerk of court, concerning the management and administration of the clerk's office, the duties, powers and obligations of the clerk's staff, or the interpretation of the personnel standards provided for under section eight, shall be submitted to the chief justice for administration and management in writing by the clerk, clerk-magistrate, chief justice, or first justice. The chief justice for administration and management shall, within thirty days of receipt of the written notification of such dispute conduct a hearing in order to determine the matter. The decision of the chief justice for administration and management shall be binding on the parties;

(xxxi) the chief justice for administration and management shall establish uniform guidelines and policies to further minority employment within the judicial system;

(xxxii) notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the chief justice for administration and management, in order to provide for the speedy administration of justice in the counties of Dukes and Nantucket, shall designate, from time to time, justices sitting in the division of the district court department for either of said counties as justices of the superior court department sitting in either of said counties, with power to grant injunctive relief to the same extent as a justice appointed to the superior court department;

(xxxiii) the responsibility to administer, subject to appropriation, a reserve fund for the purpose of providing secretarial and administrative support staff and services to the justices of the superior court department of the trial court;

(xxxiv) the responsibility to review and make recommendations regarding the expeditious clearing of outstanding warrants throughout the courts of the commonwealth.

(xxxv) the power to appoint, subject to appropriation and the applicable collective bargaining agreement, up to one hundred associate probation officers; provided, that appropriate consideration shall be given to assigning said officers within a reasonable distance from their homes; and provided further, upon completion of two full years of service as an associate probation officer, he shall be deemed qualified for appointment as a regular probation officer;

(xxxvi) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the authority to suspend any particular session of the trial court; move sessions so that the availability of court personnel is consistent with the needs of individual courts; transfer cases and matters from a court to any other court, consolidate cases, and make such periodic adjustments in the scheduling and locations of court sessions as are deemed necessary for the proper administration of justice;

(xxxvii) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the authority to establish the hours during which the courts of the commonwealth shall be open, including Saturday and evening sessions, and to further establish flexible work schedules, provided, however, that no employee shall be required to work more hours during a week than is provided by the relevant collective bargaining agreement;

(xxxviii) The chief justice for administration and management may delegate his responsibilities and powers hereunder and as otherwise provided by law to a chief justice, justice, regional justice, first justice, presiding justice, court officer, clerk, or any employee of his department, for such period of time and with such limitations as he may impose, whenever in his opinion such delegation of authority will expedite the judicial business of the trial court.

(xxxix) The responsibility to assist the supreme judicial court in exercising its rule making power to eliminate as judicial functions those functions performed by judges which could be performed by non-judicial personnel.

SECTION 78. Said chapter 211B is hereby further amended by inserting after section 9 the following section:-

Section 9A. All court officers appointed at any time, including messengers appointed pursuant to section thirty-one of chapter two hundred and seventeen, whether appointed prior to or after January first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three, to any department of the trial court shall be employees of the chief justice for administration and management who shall have the authority to appoint, dismiss, define the duties of, assign, transfer and discipline said court officers within the trial court departments as he deems necessary for the administration of justice and for public safety. Such court officers shall, when required, attend the sessions of the court, shall preserve order, provide security, and may serve warrants, mittimuses, precepts, and orders and processes of the court, and shall perform such other duties as chief administrative justices for administration and management may assign.

In the municipal court of the Roxbury district and in the municipal court of the Dorchester district one court officer shall be designated by the first justice of each said court with the approval of the chief justice for administration and management as chief court officer and one as assistant chief court officer. In the district court of Chelsea, in the municipal court of the West Roxbury district, in the East Boston district court and in the municipal court of the South Boston district one court officer shall be designated by the first justice of each said court as chief court officer, with the approval of the chief justice for administration and management. In the Boston juvenile court, one court officer shall be designated by the first justice of said court as chief court officer and two as assistant chief court officers with the approval of the chief justice for administration and management. In the municipal court of the city of Boston, the chief justice of the Boston municipal court department, with the approval of the chief justice for administration and management, shall designate one court officer as chief court officer and two as assistant chief court officers of said court for criminal business and one court officer as chief court officer and one as assistant chief court officer of said court for civil business. In the district court of Brockton one court officer shall be designated by the justice of said court as chief court officer. Such court officers shall, while on duty, wear uniforms approved by the chief justice for administration and management, which shall be furnished at the expense of the commonwealth.

Each court officer shall give bond for faithful performance of his duties in the sum of one thousand dollars payable to the General Fund, with sufficient sureties, approved by the chief justice for administration and management.

SECTION 79. Said chapter 211B is hereby further amended by striking out section 10, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 10. A chief justice in addition to his judicial powers and duties as a justice of the trial court shall subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section three of chapter two hundred and eleven and the administrative authority of the chief justice for administration and management, be the administrative head of his department, its clerks, other officers and employees subject to section ninety-nine of chapter two hundred and seventy-six and the appropriate collective bargaining agreement. A chief justice shall have the following power, authority and responsibility:

(i) The power to appoint, discipline, evaluate, transfer and define the duties of all non-judicial personnel within his department including special masters, court reporters, law clerks, temporary clerks and other support personnel consistent with the provisions of section eight and ten A; provided, however, that a chief justice shall not have the power to appoint non-judicial personnel serving in the office of a clerk, recorder or register, but shall have the authority to discipline said clerks, recorders and registers and all other personnel in the offices of said clerks, recorders or registers, upon the raising of any dispute between a first justice and a clerk, recorder or register. Any person aggrieved by any decision of a chief justice under this paragraph may appeal such decision to the chief justice for administration and management; provided, further, that no person holding a commission as a clerk of court, whether elected or appointed, a register of probate or a recorder shall be assigned under the provisions of this paragraph outside the department, division or court to which he is elected or appointed without his consent. Any clerk aggrieved by any transfer or assignment of himself or personnel of his office under this paragraph shall appeal to the chief justice for administration and management who shall forthwith hear and determine the matter;

(ii) the power to assign or to transfer justices appointed to his department of the trial court to any particular court within that department for such period or periods of time as the chief justice deems necessary; the chief justice shall also have the power to appoint regional justices and to define their duties. Any justice aggrieved by an order of the chief justice assigning or transferring him to a particular court other than that to which he was appointed, may appeal the assignment or transfer to the chief justice for administration and management who shall forthwith determine the matter;

(iii) The authority, prior to making assignments or transfers referred to in paragraph (ii) of this section, to ascertain, if the chief justice so desires, the respective preferences of the justices as to which court or courts, if any, they wish to be assigned or transferred. A justice, claiming to be aggrieved by an order of the chief justice assigning or transferring him to a particular court other than that to which he was appointed, may appeal the assignment or transfer to the chief justice for administration and management who shall forthwith hear and determine the matter;

(iv) The power to suspend any particular session in any court within his department; the power to move sessions so that the availability of court personnel is consistent with the needs of individual courts; and the power to transfer cases and matters from a court to any other court within his department, to consolidate cases, and to make such periodic adjustments in the scheduling and locations of court sessions as are deemed necessary for the proper administration of justice;

(v) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, when necessary to ensure the proper administration of justice, transfer employees of his department to serve where needed; impose discipline on such officers and employees, including dismissal and suspension with or without pay; provided, however, that said chief justice may, upon reasonable notice, temporarily transfer nonjudicial personnel within his department, divisions and places for holding court, and in no event shall any such transfer be more than a reasonable distance from the place where such personnel is employed unless the employee so transferred shall consent thereto; provided, further, that such transfer of the employee shall not be for more than ninety days, but such transfer may be extended for three consecutive ninety-day periods, provided that notice is given to the house and senate committees on ways and means upon each extension, including the employee's position, duties, and reason for the transfer, but such transfer shall not exceed three hundred and sixty consecutive days. The first justice of the court to where the employee is transferred shall provide the first justice of the court to where the employee is permanently assigned with appropriate personnel records and records of activities, including records necessary for the payment of compensation; and provided, however, that this provision shall not apply to a clerk or clerk-magistrate, whether elected or appointed by the governor, register of probate or recorder;

(vi) the authority to visit any court within his department.

(vii) the authority to call conferences of any or all of the justices within his department;

(viii) the responsibility to compile a comprehensive written report of the operation of his department of the trial court at the conclusion of each calendar year, and shall deliver said report together with his recommendations to the chief justice for administration and management on or before March first of the ensuing year. The chief justices shall make such additional reports as may from time to time be required by the chief justice for administration and management;

(ix) the responsibility to perform such further administrative duties as may from time to time be assigned by the chief justice for administration and management;

(x) the responsibility, annually, to prepare and submit to the chief justice for administration and management a budget estimate, in detail, for the ordinary maintenance of his department of the trial court, and all revenue therefrom, as provided in clause (5) of the first paragraph of section three of chapter twenty-nine. Said budget estimate shall include judicial salaries and the salaries of employees within said department and shall include estimates of all sums which the commonwealth is obligated to pay under the provisions of chapter twenty-nine A;

(xi) the authority, upon receipt of an appropriated sum, to administer that appropriation;

(xii) the responsibility for the administrative management of the personnel, staff services and business of their departments, including financial administration and budget preparation, record-keeping, information systems and statistical controls, purchasing, planning, construction, case flow management, assignments of sittings of the justices of their respective departments, including justices not appointed thereto but assigned, for the time being therein. Each justice may delegate his responsibilities and powers hereunder and as otherwise provided by law to a justice, regional justice, first justice, court officer, clerk, or any employee of his department, for such period of time and with such limitations as he may impose, whenever in his opinion such delegation of authority will expedite the judicial business of the department; provided, however, that in the exercise or delegation of his powers, he shall in all cases act in a manner consistent with the policies and procedures established by the chief justice for administration and management;

(xiii) The power to set the days and hours during which courts within his department shall be open for business;

(xiv) The responsibility to sit and perform judicial duties, within his department, during the course of the calendar year;

(xv) The power to discipline any justice assigned or appointed to his department who refuses or fails to comply with any order concerning the performance of his duties as justice or any other lawful order of the chief justice of his department; provided, the chief justice shall also have the power to require any justice assigned or appointed to his department to participate in a judicial enhancement program in response to any action of such justice which brings the judiciary into disrepute, which lowers the public confidence in the judiciary or which impedes the administration of justice. A justice who is disciplined by the chief justice may appeal the imposition of discipline to the chief justice for administration and management. Any justice aggrieved by decision of the chief justice for administration and management may appeal said decision to the supreme judicial court. Consistent with the provisions of chapter two hundred and eleven C, all proceedings, documents, and other matters relating to such discipline shall at all times be confidential and not open to the public unless the justice appealing the disciplinary action agrees that the same shall not be confidential, or unless the supreme judicial court determines that it is in the public interest for any such proceeding, document, or other matter relating to such discipline to be made public. All disciplinary action imposed by a chief justice, whether consensual or not, shall be reported to the supreme judicial court by the chief justice;

(xvi) The responsibility to sit and perform judicial duties, within his department, during the course of the calendar year; and

(xvii) Any clerk aggrieved by any transfer or assignment of himself or personnel of his office under this section shall have the right to appeal to the chief justice for administration and management who shall forthwith hear and determine the matter.

(xviii) the power, notwithstanding any law to the contrary, to transfer cases between courts consistent with the efficient distribution of caseload and workload within said department;

Whenever the term "chief justice" or "administrative justice" appears in any general or special law, it shall mean the chief justice described in section one for the department to which, in context, reference is made. The chief justice shall be provided with suitable offices. He may appoint a court administrator and also such other personnel as he may require and may make such other expenditures for printing, transportation of papers and documents and for other expenses as are incidental to his duties.

SECTION 80. Said chapter 211B is hereby further amended by inserting after section 10 the following section:-

Section 10A. A first justice, in addition to his judicial powers and duties as a justice of the trial court and in addition to his general powers of superintendence as first justice of a particular court within the trial court, shall, subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section three of chapter two hundred and eleven and the administrative authority of the chief justice of the first justice's department of the trial court, be the administrative head of his court; provided, however, that clerks, recorders and registers shall have responsibility for the internal administration of their respective offices, including personnel, staff services and record keeping. A first justice or a clerk, recorder or register of the court may submit any dispute that arises between said first justice and said clerk, recorder or register, concerning the management and administration of the office of the clerk, recorder, or register, the duties, powers and obligations of the clerk, recorder, or register, or a member of their staff, or the interpretation of the personnel standards provided for under section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B, to the chief justice of the department. Any person aggrieved by a decision of a chief justice under this paragraph may appeal said decision to the chief justice for administration and management, who shall, within thirty days, hear and determine the matter. A first justice shall also have the following power, authority and responsibility within his court:

(i) the power, subject to the approval of the chief justice of his department, to appoint, dismiss, discipline, supervise, assign, evaluate, transfer and define the duties of all non-judicial personnel within his court, including special masters, court reporters, law clerks and other support personnel; except personnel in the office of the clerk, recorder or register; provided any such non-judicial personnel aggrieved by any action under this paragraph may appeal to the chief justice of the department who shall forthwith hear and determine the matter. Any person aggrieved by a decision of a chief justice under this paragraph may appeal said decision to the chief justice for administration and management, who shall, within thirty days, hear and determine the matter.

(ii) the power, subject to the approval of the chief justice of his department, to supervise and assign duties to all justices appointed to or assigned to his court; and to authorize such justices to delegate the calling of the list to the clerk of the court where appropriate to the administration of justice.

(iii) the responsibility to bring to the attention of the chief justice of his department all disputes concerning all clerks, recorders and registers, or their personnel, appointed to or assigned to his court; provided any person aggrieved by any action under this paragraph, may appeal to the chief justice of the department who shall forthwith hear and determine the matter. Any person aggrieved by a decision of a chief justice under this paragraph may appeal said decision to the chief justice for administration and management, who shall, within thirty days, hear and determine the matter.

(iv) The power, subject to the approval of the chief justice of his department, to supervise and assign duties to all justices appointed to or assigned to his division; and

(v) The first justice shall periodically prepare and submit to the chief justice of his department an estimate, in detail, for the ordinary maintenance of the division or place for holding court, and all revenues therefrom as provided in clause (5) of the first paragraph of section three of chapter twenty-nine. Said estimate shall include estimates of all sums which the commonwealth is obligated to pay under the provisions of chapter twenty-nine A, together with any information which the chief justice may require. In turn, the chief justice shall periodically prepare and submit to the chief justice for administration and management an estimate, in detail, for the ordinary maintenance of the first paragraph of section three of chapter twenty-nine. Said estimate shall include salaries of all officers and employees within the office and shall include estimates of all sums which the commonwealth is obligated to pay under the provisions of chapter twenty-nine A, together with any other information which the chief justice for administration and management may require.

SECTION 81. Section eleven of said chapter two hundred and eleven B is hereby repealed.

SECTION 82. Said chapter 211B is hereby further amended by striking out section 12, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 12. There may be an administrator for the trial court of the commonwealth appointed by the chief justice for administration and management to serve at the pleasure of said chief justice. Said court administrator shall receive a salary to be fixed by the chief justice for administration and management and subject to appropriation. The court administrator shall perform such duties and responsibilities as the chief justice for administration and management may from time to time designate. The court administrator shall be quartered in the office of the chief justice for administration and management.

The chief justice may appoint such other personnel as are necessary for the administration of the trial court. Said personnel shall receive salaries to be fixed by the chief justice for administration and management and subject to appropriation.

SECTION 83. Section 13 of said chapter 211B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 1, 4 and 27, in each instance, the following words "or presiding",- and by striking out, in lines 5, 6, 14 and 30, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following word:- chief.

SECTION 84. Section 14 of said chapter 211B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 3 and 4, the words "administrative justice of the trial court" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- justice for administration and management.

SECTION 85. Section fifteen of chapter two hundred and eleven B of the General Laws is hereby repealed.

SECTION 86. Said chapter 211B is hereby further amended by striking out section 16, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 16. The chief justice for administration and management shall establish a judicial institute, to provide for the training of the judicial and nonjudicial personnel of the trial court, the appeals court and the supreme judicial court. Said institute shall perform and continually update a comprehensive analysis of the training needs of such personnel, and ensure that such needs are met through programs of the institute provided directly or by contract or through programs of other institutions. Programs of the institute shall include but not be limited to pre-service training for judges through seminars and through a mentor judge program, and frequent in-service training for judges and clerks, and continuing education for all court personnel. The institute shall be provided with suitable offices in the Suffolk county courthouse or elsewhere. The chief justice for administration and management may, within the limits of the amount appropriated therefor, appoint an executive director for said institute and such professional staff, clerks and assistants as it may require and may make such expenditures as may be necessary to execute effectively the functions of said institute. The chief justice for administration and management may further appoint an advisory committee for the purpose of assisting him in matter pertaining to the institute. The composition of the committee, the terms of its members, and the scope of its responsibilities shall be determined by the chief justice for administration and management.

SECTION 87. Said chapter 211B is hereby further amended by striking out section 17, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 17. The chief justice for administration and management shall have charge of the daily care, operation and routine maintenance of court facilities owned by the commonwealth, and of long-range planning and capital budget requests for such court facilities.

In carrying out said duties with respect to court facilities, the chief justice for administration and management shall be governed by statutes applicable to facilities management and capital planning and budget requests by state agencies, including but not limited to: sections thirty-eight A to forty-three L, inclusive, of chapter seven; sections seven A to seven K, inclusive, and sections twenty-six A and twenty-six B of chapter twenty-nine; and sections forty-four A to forty-four M, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and forty-nine. Notwithstanding any other general or special law to the contrary, the chief justice for administration and management shall assign and allocate space occupied by the judicial branch in court facilities owned or leased by the commonwealth, and the commissioner of capital planning and operations shall assign and allocate space in such facilities which said chief justice determines is not needed by the judicial branch; provided, however, that the chief justice for administration and management shall resolve any disputes regarding the assignment and allocation of space. In carrying out said duties with respect to court facilities, the chief justice for administration and management shall regularly consult with the court facilities council established in section six of chapter twenty-nine A.

The chief justice for administration and management may charge a county, city or town an occupancy fee for the use of any portion of court facilities owned by the commonwealth. The amount of any such occupancy fee shall be limited to the cost of maintenance, repairs, and utilities attributable to the proportion of the usable floor space of such court facility occupied by such county, city or town. In the event the parties are unable to agree on the amount of the occupancy fee, the director of court facilities in the division of capital planning and operations shall, after hearing if requested by either party, establish such fee. All such fees shall be paid into the General Fund of the commonwealth. The chief justice for administration and management of the trial court, acting jointly with the commissioner of capital planning and operations, may terminate the occupancy of a portion of such court facilities by a town, city or county only after a process of negotiation with such town, city or county, and only after giving such town, city or county at least one year's advance notice of such proposed termination.

SECTION 88. Section eighteen of said chapter two hundred and eleven B is hereby repealed.

SECTION 89. Said chapter 211B is hereby further amended by striking out section 19, as most recently amended by section 37 of chapter 145 of the acts of 1991, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 19. A chief justice of the trial court may, subject to the approval of the chief justice for administration and management, grant a leave of absence for study, research, teaching, or such other reason as said chief justice deems appropriate to the improved administration of justice, to a judge of said department, said leave to be for a period not to exceed one year. Any judge who takes an approved leave of absence shall not receive pay during the period of the leave of absence; provided, however, that time spent on leave of absence shall be credited to the judge for retirement purposes; provided, further, that for the purposes of eligibility for life insurance and health plans available under chapter thirty-two A, said judge shall be considered an active employee. The chief justice for administration and management, in approving such leaves, shall consider the speedy dispatch of judicial business, including reassignment of judges pursuant to section nine. The chief justice for administration and management, in consultation with the chief justices of the departments of the trial court, shall establish and promulgate standards governing the approval of such leaves including procedures for the submission and disposition of requests for leave.

No leave of absence under this section shall be granted prior to the seventh year of service or within one year of retirement. A judge granted a leave of absence under this section shall not be eligible to take another leave of absence until the expiration of seven years following his return to judicial duties.

All statutory requirements and rules of court pertaining to judges shall continue to be applicable to a judge while he is on leave of absence pursuant to this section.

SECTION 90. Said chapter 211B is hereby further amended by striking out section 19, as most recently amended by section 89 of this act, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 19. The chief justice for administration and management may establish and promulgate rules for a mandatory alternative dispute resolution program for civil actions within the trial court subject to the approval of the supreme judicial court; provided, however, that the parties to a dispute resolution shall not be bound by the results thereof. The chief justice for administration and management shall supervise and establish standards for the implementation of such program and shall further implement a program of certification for all personnel conducting alternative dispute resolution programs in the courts of the commonwealth.

The chief justice of administration and management shall establish a pilot program of alternative dispute resolution within the counties of Bristol, Worcester and Suffolk under his direct supervision. Pursuant to said pilot program, he shall be responsible to fund, coordinate, and evaluate activities of the trial court within said counties to screen and refer cases to alternative dispute resolution. Within said counties, the chief justice for administration and management shall, no later than twelve months from the date of filing any civil litigation which involves a contract claim, tort claim, equitable remedy dispute or other litigation the trial court may determine to be appropriate, be screened for referral to a qualified alternative dispute resolution program. Screening should enable litigants or their attorneys to select among options which include self-directed settlement negotiation, case evaluation, mediation, non-binding arbitration, expert fact finding and binding arbitration. The chief justice for administration and management shall monitor and evaluate the cost, impact and effectiveness of activities undertaken to screen and refer cases to alternative dispute resolution and report annually to the general court on his findings. The annual report should identify unmet needs and promising opportunities for additional screening and referral activities and recommend legislative actions required to implement these activities.

SECTION 91. Chapter 212 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 1, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 1. The superior court department of the trial court of the commonwealth, established by section one of chapter two hundred and eleven B, shall consist of seventy-six justices appointed to the department. The justice as provided under section one of chapter two hundred and eleven B as the chief justice for the superior court department, in addition to his judicial powers and duties, shall, subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section three of chapter two hundred and eleven and the administrative authority of the chief justice for administration and management, be the administrative head of the superior court department, and shall also have the power authority and responsibility of a chief justice as set forth in section ten of chapter two hundred and eleven B. A chief justice shall hold said office for a term of five years, and shall be eligible to be reappointed for additional five-year terms. A chief justice, so appointed, may be removed from that office prior to the expiration of his term upon a determination by the chief justice for administration and management that such removal is in the best interests of the administration of justice.

Wherever the words "superior court", or wherever in this chapter the word "court" is used in that context, they shall refer to the superior court department of the trial court, and the words "justice of the superior court", or the word "justice", in context, shall mean an associate justice of the trial court appointed to the superior court department.

SECTION 92. Section 2 of said chapter 212, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 3, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 93. Section 14A of said chapter 212, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 2, 9, 17, 18 and 24, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following word:- chief.

SECTION 94. The second paragraph of section 14A of said chapter 212 is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 22 to 24, the words "presiding justice for any county or for any group of counties. Such presiding justice shall serve at the pleasure of said administrative justice." and inserting in place thereof the following:- first justice for any county or for any group of counties; provided, however, that appropriate consideration shall be given to seniority, length of service in that particular county or group of counties and managerial ability. Said first justice shall be the administrative head of the court for that particular county or group of counties and shall have the powers enumerated in section ten A of chapter two hundred and eleven B; and as administrative head of the court, said first justice shall be responsible for the management of the courthouse and shall have authority over all personnel employed by the superior court department; provided, however, that clerks shall have responsibility for the internal administration of their respective offices, including personnel, staff services and record keeping. A first justice or a clerk of the court may submit any dispute that arises between said first justice and said clerk concerning the management and administration of the office of said clerk the duties, powers and obligations of the clerk or a member of his staff, or the interpretation of the personnel standards provided for under section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B, to the chief justice of the department. Any person aggrieved by a decision of a chief justice under this paragraph may appeal said decision to the chief justice for administration and management, who shall, within thirty days, hear and determine the matter.

Each first justice so appointed shall serve as the first justice of that court for a five-year term and shall be eligible to be reappointed for additional five-year terms at that particular court. Any first justice may be removed during any five-year term from his position as first justice when it is determined by the chief justice of the superior court department to be in the best interests of the administration of justice. Any first justice who is removed during a five-year term from his position as first justice by the chief justice of the superior court department may appeal the removal to the chief justice for administration and management.

SECTION 95. Section 19 of said chapter 212, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 3, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 96. Section 20A of said chapter 212, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 10, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 97. Section 21 of said chapter 212, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 98. Section 23 of said chapter 212, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 99. Section 54 of said chapter 215, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the words "administrative justice" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- justice for administration and management.

SECTION 100. Section 55 of said chapter 215, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 101. Said chapter 215 is hereby further amended by striking out section 62, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 62. The court shall be held by one of the justices, and when so held shall have and exercise all the power and jurisdiction committed to said court. The chief justice, after consultation with the chief justice for administration and management of the trial court, shall make such assignments for the attendance of a justice at the several times and places appointed for holding the court as will be most convenient as will insure the prompt performance of its duties.

SECTION 102. Section 2 of said chapter 217, as amended by section 1 of chapter 409 of the acts of 1991, is hereby further amended by striking out the second sentence, and inserting in place thereof the following:- The chief justice of the probate and family court department shall designate one justice to be the first justice of a particular court; provided that appropriate consideration shall be given to seniority, length of service in that particular court and managerial ability. Said first justice shall have the powers enumerated in section ten A of chapter two hundred and eleven B and shall be the administrative head of that particular court and shall have authority over all personnel employed therein; provided, however, that registers shall have responsibility for the internal administration of their respective offices, including personnel, staff services and record keeping. A first justice or a register of the court may submit any dispute that arises between said first justice and said register concerning the management and administration of the office of the register, the duties, powers and obligations of the register, or a member of their staff, or the interpretation of the personnel standards provided for under section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B, to the chief justice of the department. Any person aggrieved by a decision of a chief justice under this paragraph may appeal said decision to the chief justice for administration and management, who shall, within thirty days, hear and determine the matter.

Each first justice so appointed shall serve as first justice of that court for a five-year term and shall be eligible to serve additional five-year terms in that particular court. Any first justice may be removed from his position as first justice when it is determined by the chief justice of the probate and family court department to be in the best interests of the administration of justice. Any first justice who is removed from his position as first justice by the chief justice of the probate and family court department may appeal the removal to the chief justice for administration and management.

SECTION 103. Said chapter 217 is hereby further amended by striking out section 3B, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 3B. There shall be an associate justice of the trial court appointed in Hampshire county, hereinbefore known as the special judge of probate and insolvency in the county of Hampshire, who shall be and perform the duties of a full-time circuit justice in said county or such other county as the chief justice may designate, and when so assigned shall receive from the commonwealth the expenses incurred by him. Upon such designation, the registry of the court to which said circuit justice is assigned shall certify upon the records of the court, and to the comptroller, the number of days, the dates upon which, and the occasions for which, the circuit justice performed his duties. Nothing in this section shall be construed to establish a new judicial position nor abolish the tenure of the incumbent special judge of probate and insolvency.

SECTION 104. Section 3C of said chapter 217 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 4, as so appearing, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 105. Said chapter 217 is hereby further amended by striking out section 6B, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 6B. No justice, circuit justice or special justice sitting in a probate and family court shall be interested in, or be benefitted by, the fees or emoluments which may arise in any matter pending before any probate court or which may arise in any suit or action pending in any court of this commonwealth where the subject matter or cause of action is founded upon or derived from proceedings begun in any of the probate courts nor shall he, except as otherwise provided, be appointed or act as executor, administrator, guardian, conservator, trustee under a will, commissioner, appraiser or assignee of or upon an estate within the jurisdiction of any probate court; nor shall he be interested in the fees or emoluments arising from any of said trusts. Full-time justices, or circuit justices provided for under this chapter, shall devote their entire time during ordinary business hours to their duties and shall not, directly or indirectly, engage in the practice of law. The judge of probate for Dukes county and the judge of probate for Nantucket county shall sit in the probate and family court for any other county upon designation thereto by the chief justice for said department pursuant to section eight, and when so assigned shall receive from the commonwealth the expenses incurred by them.

SECTION 106. Said chapter 217 is hereby further amended by striking out section 8, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 8. The justice provided for under the provisions of section one of chapter two hundred and eleven B as the chief justice for the probate and family court department, in addition to his judicial powers and duties, shall, subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section three of chapter two hundred and eleven and the administrative authority of the chief justice for administration and management, be the administrative head of the probate and family court department and shall also have the power, authority and responsibility of a chief justice as set forth in section ten of chapter two hundred and eleven B. A chief justice shall hold said office for a term of five years, and shall be eligible to be reappointed for additional five-year terms. A chief justice, so appointed, may be removed from that office prior to the expiration of his term upon a determination by the chief justice for administration and management that such removal is in the best interests of the administration of justice. The chief justice may establish forms for the annual reports of the work of the registers of the several courts; and said registers shall annually on or before October first prepare and file with the chief justice reports of the work of said courts during the preceding court year, and said reports shall also be filed with the chief justice for administration. Said chief justice of the probate and family court shall also have the powers and duties described in section ten of chapter two hundred and eleven B and section forty-two of this chapter; except that none of the powers herein described or referred to shall be construed as authorizing said chief justice to alter or affect the provisions of sections fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty or sixty-two of chapter two hundred and fifteen.

SECTION 107. Section 8A of said chapter 217, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 108. Section 15 of said chapter 217, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 5, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 109. Section 23 of said chapter 217, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- The first justice of each court of the probate and family court department may, with the approval of the chief justice of the probate and family court, appoint for a term of three years, and may, with the approval of said chief justice, remove, a first assistant register of probate.

SECTION 110. Said section 23 of said chapter 217, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 8, the word "judge" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- first justice.

SECTION 111. Section 23A of said chapter 217, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- In addition to the first assistant registers of probate provided for in section twenty-three, the first justices of the respective courts of the probate and family court department for the following counties may, with the approval of the chief justice of the probate and family court appoint, and may, with the approval of the said chief justice, remove, assistant registers with the same powers and duties.

SECTION 112. Section 27 of said chapter 217, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- An assistant register shall perform his duties under the direction of the register, and shall pay over to the register all fees and amounts received as such assistant.

SECTION 113. Section 28 of said chapter 217, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first two sentences and inserting in place thereof the following two sentences:- The first justice of the Suffolk county court may, subject to the approval of the chief justice, appoint a clerk, and may, with the approval of the justice, remove him. Said first justice may, subject to like approval, designate four employees as deputy assistant registers with the same powers as assistant registers and may, with the approval of the chief justice, revoke any such designation.

SECTION 114. Section 29 of said chapter 217, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first two sentences and inserting in place thereof the following two sentences:- The first justice of the Middlesex county court may, with the approval of the chief justice, appoint a clerk who may administer such oaths required in probate proceedings as are not prescribed by law to be administered by the judge or register, and shall perform such clerical and other duties as may be required by the first justice, with the approval of the chief justice, and he may be removed by the first justice with the approval of the chief justice. Said first justice may, with the approval of the chief justice, designate two employees as deputy assistant registers with the same powers as assistant registers and may revoke any such designation with the approval of the chief justice.

SECTION 115. Section 29A of said chapter 217, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first two sentences and inserting in place thereof the following two sentences:- The first justice of the Dukes county court may, with the approval of the chief justice, appoint a clerk who may administer such oaths required in probate proceedings as are not prescribed by law to be administered by the judge or register, and shall perform such clerical and other duties as may be required by the first justice, with the approval of the chief justice, and who may be removed by the first justice with the approval of the chief justice. Said first justice may, with the approval of the chief justice, designate one employee as deputy assistant register and may revoke any such designation with the approval of the chief justice.

SECTION 116. Section 29B of said chapter 217, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first two sentences and inserting in place thereof the following two sentences:- The first justice for the Nantucket county court may, with the approval of the chief justice, appoint a clerk who may administer such oaths required in probate proceedings as are not prescribed by law to be administered by the judge or register, and shall perform such clerical and other duties as may be required by the first justice, with the approval of the chief justice, and who may be removed by the first justice with the approval of the chief justice. Said first justice may, with the approval of the chief justice, designate one employee as deputy assistant register and may revoke any such designation with the approval of the chief justice.

SECTION 117. Section thirty-one of said chapter two hundred and seventeen is hereby repealed.

SECTION 118. Section 35A of said chapter 217, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 4 and 5, the words "administrative justice of the trial court" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- chief justice for administration and management.

SECTION 119. Section 35B of said chapter 217, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 4, the words "chief administrative justice of the trial court" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- chief justice for administration and management.

SECTION 120. Section 42 of said chapter 217, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 9, lines 14 and 15, and in line 17, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following word:- chief.

SECTION 121. Chapter 218 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 1, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 1. The district court department, established under section one of chapter two hundred and eleven B, shall consist of divisions, one for each of the judicial districts hereinafter enumerated, and whenever the words "district court", "municipal court" or "court" are used in this chapter, unless the context refers exclusively to the municipal court of the city of Boston or a juvenile court, or some other clearly contrary intent, such words shall refer to a division of the district court department. Unless the context refers only to a person appointed to the municipal court of the city of Boston or to a juvenile court, the words "justice" and "special justice" shall mean, respectively, an associate justice and a special justice of the trial court appointed to a division of the district court department; and the words "clerk" or "clerk of court" shall mean the clerk of such court; and the words "assistant clerk," "deputy assistant clerk," "temporary clerk" or "temporary assistant clerk" shall mean, respectively, an assistant clerk, deputy assistant clerk, temporary clerk or temporary assistant clerk of such court.

The judicial districts of the Boston municipal court department and of the several divisions of the district court department shall continue to comprise the following cities, towns, wards and territory, in the following counties, respectively. `tuc Barnstable

The first district court of Barnstable, held at Barnstable and Falmouth; Barnstable, Bourne, Yarmouth, Sandwich, Falmouth and Mashpee. The second district court of Barnstable, held at Orleans; Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans, Brewster, Chatham, Harwich and Dennis. Cases of delinquent children under sections fifty-two to eighty-four, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and nineteen, and petitions brought under sections twenty-four and thirty-nine E of chapter one hundred and nineteen, are excepted from the jurisdiction of all of the above courts of this county. `tuc Berkshire

The district court of northern Berkshire, held at Adams, North Adams and Williamstown; Adams, North Adams, Williamstown, Clarksburg, Florida, New Ashford, Cheshire, Savoy, Hancock, and Windsor; the district court of central Berkshire exercising concurrent jurisdiction in Windsor and Hancock.

The district court of central Berkshire, held at Pittsfield; Pittsfield, Hancock, Lanesborough, Peru, Hinsdale, Dalton, Washington, Richmond, Lenox, Becket and Windsor; the district court of southern Berkshire exercising concurrent jurisdiction in Lenox and Becket and the district court of northern Berkshire exercising concurrent jurisdiction in Windsor and Hancock.

The district court of southern Berkshire, held at Great Barrington and Lee; Sheffield, Great Barrington, Egremont, Alford, Mount Washington, Monterey, New Marlborough, Stockbridge, West Stockbridge, Sandisfield, Lee, Tyringham, Otis, Lenox, Becket; the district court of central Berkshire exercising concurrent jurisdiction in Lenox and Becket.

Cases of delinquent children under sections fifty-two to eighty-four, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and nineteen, and petitions brought under sections twenty-four and thirty-nine E of said chapter one hundred and nineteen, are excepted from the jurisdiction of all of the above courts of this county. `tuc Bristol

The first district court of Bristol, held at Taunton; Taunton, Rehoboth, Berkley, Dighton, Seekonk, Easton and Raynham.

The second district court of Bristol, held at Fall River; Fall River, Somerset, Swansea, Freetown and Westport; the third district court of Bristol exercising concurrent jurisdiction in Freetown and Westport.

The third district court of Bristol, held at New Bedford; New Bedford, Fairhaven, Acushnet, Dartmouth, Freetown and Westport; the second district court of Bristol exercising concurrent jurisdiction in Freetown and Westport.

The fourth district court of Bristol, held at Attleboro; Attleboro, North Attleborough, Mansfield and Norton. Cases of delinquent children under sections fifty-two to eighty-four, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and nineteen, and petitions brought under sections twenty-four and thirty-nine E of said chapter one hundred and nineteen, are excepted from the jurisdiction of all of the above courts of this county. `tuc Dukes County

The district court of Dukes County, held at Oak Bluffs, Edgartown and Tisbury; Dukes County.

Cases of delinquent children under sections fifty-two to eighty-four, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and nineteen, and petitions brought under sections twenty-four and thirty-nine E of said chapter one hundred and nineteen, are excepted from the jurisdiction of the above court of this county. `tuc Essex

The first district court of Essex, held at Salem; Salem, Beverly, Danvers, Hamilton, Middleton, Topsfield, Wenham and Manchester.

The second district of Essex, held at Ipswich; Ipswich. The central district court of northern Essex, held at Haverhill;

Haverhill, Groveland, Georgetown, Boxford, and West Newbury; the district court of Newburyport exercising concurrent jurisdiction in West Newbury.

The district court of eastern Essex, held at Gloucester; Gloucester, Rockport and Essex.

The district court of southern Essex, held at Lynn; Lynn, Swampscott, Saugus, Marblehead and Nahant.

The district court of Lawrence, held at Lawrence and Methuen; Lawrence, Andover, North Andover and Methuen.

The district court of Newburyport, held at Newburyport; Amesbury, Merrimac, Newbury, Newburyport, Rowley, Salisbury and West Newbury; the central district court of northern Essex exercising concurrent jurisdiction in West Newbury.

The district court of Peabody, held at Peabody; Peabody and Lynnfield.

Cases of delinquent children under sections fifty-two to eighty-four, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and nineteen, and petitions brought under sections twenty-four and thirty-nine E of said chapter one hundred and nineteen, are excepted from the jurisdiction of all of the above courts of this county. `tuc Franklin

The district court of Franklin, held at Greenfield, and at Turners Falls in Montague; Franklin county, except Orange, Erving, Warwick, Wendell and New Salem. Sessions may also be held at Shelburne Falls in Shelburne and Buckland at such times and places as the justice of said court may determine.

The district court of eastern Franklin, held at Orange; Athol, Orange, Erving, Warwick, Wendell and New Salem. Said court shall be held in Athol at least one day each week of the year. Cases of delinquent children under sections fifty-two to eighty-four, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and nineteen, and petitions brought under sections twenty-four and thirty-nine E of said chapter one hundred and nineteen, are excepted from the jurisdiction of all of the above courts of this county. `tuc Hampden

The district court of eastern Hampden held at Palmer; Palmer, Brimfield, Hampden, Monson, Holland, Wales, Wilbraham and Ludlow.

The district court of western Hampden, held at Westfield and Chester; Westfield, Chester, Granville, Southwick, Russell, Blandford, Tolland and Montgomery.

The district court of Chicopee, held at Chicopee; Chicopee.

The district court of Holyoke, held at Holyoke; Holyoke.

The district court of Springfield held at Springfield; Springfield, West Springfield, Agawam, Longmeadow and East Longmeadow.

Cases of delinquent children under sections fifty-two to eighty-four, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and nineteen, and petitions brought under sections twenty-four and thirty-nine E of said chapter one hundred and nineteen, are excepted from the jurisdiction of all of the above courts of this county. `tuc Hampshire

The district court of Hampshire, held at Northampton, Amherst, Cummington, South Hadley, Huntington and Easthampton; Hampshire county, except Belchertown, Granby and Ware. The district court of eastern Hampshire, held at Ware; Ware, Granby and Belchertown and any violation of law committed on land of the metropolitan district commission comprising the Quabbin reservation or used for the supply or protection of the Quabbin reservoir.

Cases of delinquent children under sections fifty-two to eighty-four, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and nineteen, and petitions brought under sections twenty-four and thirty-nine E of said chapter one hundred and nineteen, are excepted from the jurisdiction of all of the above courts of this county. `tuc Middlesex

The district court of central Middlesex held at Concord; Concord, Acton, Bedford, Carlisle, Lincoln, Maynard, Stow and Lexington.

The first district court of northern Middlesex, held at Ayer; Ayer, Dunstable, Groton, Pepperell, Townsend, Ashby, Shirley, Westford, Littleton and Boxborough.

The first district court of eastern Middlesex, held at Malden; Malden, Wakefield, Melrose, and Everett.

The second district court of eastern Middlesex, held at Waltham; Waltham, Watertown and Weston.

The third district court of eastern Middlesex, held at Cambridge; Cambridge, Arlington and Belmont.

The fourth district court of eastern Middlesex, held at Woburn; Woburn, Winchester, Burlington, Wilmington, Stoneham, Reading and North Reading.

The first district court of southern Middlesex, held at Framingham; Framingham, Ashland, Holliston, Sudbury, Wayland and Hopkinton.

The district court of Lowell, held at Lowell; Lowell, Tewksbury, Billerica, Dracut, Chelmsford and Tyngsborough.

The district court of Marlborough, held at Marlborough; Marlborough and Hudson.

The district court of Natick, held at Natick; Natick and Sherborn.

The district court of Newton, held at Newton; Newton. The district court of Somerville, held at Somerville; Somerville and Medford.

Cases of delinquent children under sections fifty-two to eighty-four, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and nineteen, and petitions brought under sections twenty-four and thirty-nine E of said chapter one hundred and nineteen, are excepted from the jurisdiction of all of the above courts of this county. `tuc Nantucket

The district court of Nantucket, held at Nantucket; Nantucket county.

Cases of delinquent children under sections fifty-two to eighty-four, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and nineteen, and petitions brought under sections twenty-four and thirty-nine E of said chapter one hundred and nineteen, are excepted from the jurisdiction of the above court of this county. `tuc Norfolk

The district court of northern Norfolk, held at Dedham; Dedham, Dover, Norwood, Westwood, Medfield, Needham and Wellesley.

The district court of East Norfolk, held at Quincy; Quincy, Randolph, Braintree, Cohasset, Weymouth, Holbrook and Milton; and, in criminal cases, concurrently with the second district court of Plymouth, that part of Scituate described in chapter three hundred and ninety-four of the acts of nineteen hundred and twelve. Arrests and service of process in such cases may be made by an officer qualified to serve criminal process in Cohasset. This provision shall not increase the judicial district of said court of the purposes of section seventy-eight.

The district court of southern Norfolk, held at Stoughton; Stoughton, Avon, Canton and Sharon.

The district court of Western Norfolk, held at Wrentham; Franklin, Walpole, Foxborough, Medway, Millis, Norfolk, Wrentham and Plainville. The municipal court of Brookline, held at Brookline; Brookline.

Cases of delinquent children under sections fifty-two to eighty-four, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and nineteen, and petitions brought under sections twenty-four and thirty-nine E of said chapter one hundred and nineteen, are excepted from the jurisdiction of all of the above courts of this county. `tuc Plymouth

The second district court of Plymouth, held at Hingham; Hingham, Rockland, Hull, Hanover, Scituate, and Norwell.

The third district court of Plymouth, held at Plymouth; Plymouth, Kingston, Plympton, Pembroke, Duxbury, Halifax, Hanson and Marshfield.

The fourth district court of Plymouth, held at Wareham; Middleborough, Wareham, Lakeville, Marion, Mattapoisett, Rochester and Carver.

The district court of Brockton, held at Brockton; Brockton, Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, Whitman, Abington and West Bridgewater. Said court may adjourn to the Massachusetts correction institution at Bridgewater, whenever the public convenience seems to the first justice to render such adjournment expedient.

Cases of delinquent children under sections fifty-two to eighty-four, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and nineteen, and petitions brought under sections twenty-four and thirty-nine E of said chapter one hundred and nineteen, are excepted from the jurisdiction of all of the above courts of this county. `tuc Suffolk

The municipal court of the city of Boston, held at Boston; wards six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, sixteen, seventeen and eighteen of Boston as they existed on February first, eighteen hundred and eighty-two; and in criminal cases, concurrently with the municipal courts of the Roxbury and Brighton district, the second and third district courts of eastern Middlesex, and the district court of Newton, respectively, so much of the Charles river basin, as defined in section two of chapter five hundred and twenty-four of the acts of nineteen hundred and nine, as affected by chapter two hundred and forty-five of the General Acts of nineteen hundred and sixteen as is within the districts of said courts.

The municipal court of the Brighton district, held at Brighton in Boston; ward twenty-five of Boston as it existed on February first, eighteen hundred and eighty-two.

The municipal court of the Charlestown district held at Charlestown in Boston: wards three, four and five of Boston as they existed on February first, eighteen hundred and eighty-two; provided that in criminal matters said court shall have exclusive jurisdiction in that part of said wards which is under the care, custody and control of the lower basin division of the metropolitan district commission and in so much of the Charles river basin, as defined in section two of chapter five hundred and twenty-four of the acts of nineteen hundred and nine as affected by chapter two hundred and forty-five of the General Acts of nineteen hundred and sixteen as is within the district of said court.

The district court of Chelsea, held at Chelsea; Chelsea and Revere.

The municipal court of the Dorchester district, held at Dorchester in Boston; ward twenty-four of Boston as it existed on February first, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, and the territory comprised within the limits of precinct twelve of ward thirteen of Boston as it existed on November second, nineteen hundred and forty-eight.

The East Boston district court, held at East Boston in Boston; Winthrop and wards one and two of Boston as they existed on March first, eighteen hundred and eighty-six; provided that said court shall have territorial jurisdiction in matters that arise in the Sumner tunnel, so-called, and Lieutenant William F. Callahan, Jr. tunnel, including any property, toll plazas and approach roads thereto under the ownership, care, custody and control to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority as provided by chapter five hundred and ninety-eight of the acts of nineteen hundred and fifty-eight.

The municipal court of the Roxbury district, held at Roxbury in Boston; wards nineteen, twenty, twenty-one and twenty-two of Boston as they existed on February first, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, excepting ward ten, save as hereinafter provided, as it existed on February first, nineteen hundred and seventy-six; provided, however, that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, said court shall have jurisdiction over matters arising in precincts one, six and seven of ward ten.

The municipal court of the South Boston district, held at South Boston in Boston; wards thirteen, fourteen and fifteen of Boston as they existed on February first, eighteen hundred and eighty-two.

The municipal court of the West Roxbury district, held at West Roxbury in Boston; ward twenty-three of Boston as it existed on February first, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, the territory comprised within the limits of the former town of Hyde Park which was annexed to Boston by chapters four hundred and sixty-nine and five hundred and eighty-three of the acts of nineteen hundred and eleven, and ward ten, except precincts one, six and seven of said ward ten, as existing on February first, nineteen hundred and seventy-six.

Cases of delinquent children under sections fifty-two to eighty-four, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and nineteen, and petitions brought under sections twenty-four and thirty-nine E of said chapter one hundred and nineteen, are excepted from the jurisdiction of all of the above courts of this county. The juvenile court located in the city of Boston, heretofore known as the Boston juvenile court, shall have territorial jurisdiction provided in section fifty-seven, and with respect to children in Suffolk county, shall have exclusive jurisdiction of petitions brought under said sections twenty-four and thirty-nine E of said chapter one hundred and nineteen. `tuc Worcester

The central district court of Worcester, held at Worcester; Worcester, Auburn, Millbury, Paxton, West Boylston, Holden, Rutland, Barre and Oakham.

The first district court of northern Worcester, held at Gardner; Gardner, Petersham, Phillipston, Royalston, Templeton, Hubbardston and Westminster.

The first district court of eastern Worcester, held at Westborough and Grafton; Westborough, Grafton, Southborough, Northborough and Shrewsbury.

The second district court of eastern Worcester, held at Clinton; Clinton, Berlin, Bolton, Boylston, Harvard, Lancaster and Sterling.

The first district court of southern Worcester, held at Southbridge and Webster; Southbridge, Webster, Sturbridge, Charlton, Dudley and Oxford.

The second district court of southern Worcester, held at Uxbridge; Uxbridge, Blackstone, Douglas, Northbridge, Millville and Sutton.

The third district court of Southern Worcester, held at Milford; Milford, Mendon, Upton, Bellingham and Hopedale.

The district court of western Worcester, held at North Brookfield; East Brookfield, Brookfield, Spencer, North Brookfield, West Brookfield, Warren, Hardwick, Leicester, and New Braintree. Said court may adjourn to any town within its district other than North Brookfield whenever the public convenience seems to the presiding justice to render such adjournment expedient.

The district court of Fitchburg, held at Fitchburg; Fitchburg, Ashburnham and Lunenburg.

The district court of Leominster, held at Leominster; Leominster and Princeton.

The district court at Winchendon, held at Winchendon; Winchendon.

Cases of delinquent children under sections fifty-two to eighty-four, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and nineteen, and petitions brought under sections twenty-four and thirty-nine E of said chapter one hundred and nineteen, are excepted from the jurisdiction of all of the above courts of this county.

Each division of the district court department may be referred to by the name of the principal place for the holding of said court.

SECTION 122. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 6, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 6. In each district court, as provided in section one, one appointment of associate justice of the trial court shall be made; except that the courts corresponding to the district court of Brockton, the first district court of Barnstable, the second district court of Bristol, the third district court of Bristol, the district court of Springfield, the municipal court of the Dorchester district, the first district court of eastern Middlesex and the first district court of southern Middlesex, so-called, shall have two justices each; and the courts corresponding to the municipal court of the Roxbury district, the third district court of eastern Middlesex and the central district court of Worcester, so-called, shall have three justices each.

Except as provided by section two of chapter one thousand and ninety of the acts of nineteen hundred and seventy-one, of section two of chapter three hundred and fifty-six of the acts of nineteen hundred and seventy-three, of section two of chapter nine hundred and fifty-nine of the acts of nineteen hundred and seventy-three, and of section two of chapter five hundred and twenty-two of the acts of nineteen hundred and seventy-six, there shall be appointed in each court an additional number of justices equivalent to the number of justices provided for said court in the first paragraph, which additional number shall correspond to the number of special justices authorized on January thirty-first, nineteen hundred and seventy-six for a district court having substantially the same territorial jurisdiction as said court; provided that in no event shall the total number of justices and special justices in the district court department hereby exceed one hundred and sixty-eight; and provided further that such appointments made under this paragraph shall be made to those courts where vacancies first occur in the office of special justice after February first, nineteen hundred and seventy-six, and thereafter where vacancies occur in positions authorized under this paragraph.

The chief justice of the district court department shall have the power to appoint the first justice of each of the various courts within the district court department, subject to the approval of the chief justice for administration and management, and to define his duties; provided, however, that appropriate consideration shall be given to seniority, length of service at that particular division, and managerial ability. Each first justice so appointed shall serve as the first justice of that court for a five-year term and shall be eligible to be reappointed for additional five-year terms at that particular court. Any first justice may be removed from his position as first justice, when it is determined by the chief justice of the district court department to be in the best interests of the administration of justice. Any first justice who is removed from his position as first justice by the chief justice of the district court department may appeal such removal to the chief justice for administration and management.

Citations, orders of notice, writs, executions and all other processes issued by the clerk of the court shall bear the teste of the first justice thereof or the chief justice of the department.

The first justice shall be the administrative head of his court and shall have the powers enumerated in section ten A of chapter two hundred and eleven B. As administrative head of his court, said first justice shall be responsible for the management of the courthouse and shall have control over all personnel employed therein; provided, however, that the clerk shall have responsibility for the internal administration of his office, including personnel, staff services and record keeping. A first justice or a clerk of the court may submit any dispute that arises between said first justice and said clerk concerning the management and administration of the office of the clerk, the duties, powers and obligations of the clerk, or a member of their staff, or the interpretation of the personnel standards provided for under section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B, to the chief justice of the department. Any person aggrieved by a decision of a chief justice under this paragraph may appeal said decision to the chief justice for administration and management, who shall, within thirty days, hear and determine the matter.

The clerk of each district court may appoint assistant clerks and temporary assistant clerks.

A special justice in the district court department or the juvenile court department who does not serve full-time in accordance with the provisions of section six A, section fifty-eight B or fifty-eight C shall be paid by the commonwealth for each day's services at the rate by the day of the salary of a justice of the court where he is assigned.

If a justice is absent on Saturday or absent due to an assignment in another court or department within the trial court, no such deduction shall be made therefor from vacation time or sick leave accumulated. During the calendar year of the taking office of a justice no such deduction shall be made for the absence of the justice on that proportion of thirty days corresponding to the proportion of said calendar year remaining after his taking office as justice, nor in addition for the absence of the justice by reason of illness or physical disability for the said proportion of thirty days.

Subject to the provisions of section forty, the special justices in the district court department shall sit and in addition perform such other duties as special justices in such other courts on such occasions as ordered by the chief justice for the district court department; and in such other departments of the trial court as authorized by law.

SECTION 123. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 6A, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 6A. (a) Any special justice of a district court holding office on January first, nineteen hundred and seventy-six may, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (c), certify in writing to the chief justice for the district court department that upon said certificate becoming effective said special justice shall devote full-time during ordinary business hours to the duties of his office and shall not engage directly or indirectly in the practice of law. Said certificate shall become effective at such time as the chief justice for the district court may direct, but in no case later than July first, nineteen hundred and seventy-nine; provided, however, that no special justice shall become full-time before another who has filed a certificate before him; and provided, further, that a certificate may not be withdrawn after it has been filed.

(b) Upon said certificate becoming effective, said special justice shall be subject to the following provisions: (1) he shall devote full-time during ordinary business hours to the duties of his office, and shall not engage directly or indirectly in the practice of law; (2) he shall be paid the salary provided for justices of the trial court who are required to devote full-time to their duties, said salary to be paid from the same sources and in the same manner as the salary of other justices of the district courts, and travel and expense allowances to the same extent as is provided for justices of the district courts; (3) he shall sit by assignments of the chief justice for the district court in the district court to which he was appointed, in district courts in the county in which the district court to which he was appointed is located or in which he resides or in a county adjacent to either of them, and, in instances where exigent circumstances require, in district courts in other counties, and he shall perform such other duties as are assigned him by said chief justice. He shall be assigned to sit as proximate as reasonably practicable to the district court to which he was appointed, consistent with the public interest in the effective administration of justice; and he shall sit in such other courts and in such manner as the law provides for justices and special justices of the district courts; (4) except as otherwise provided in this section he shall have the same powers, duties, rights and privileges, including the power to hear and decide civil actions, as a justice of a district court who is required to devote full-time to his duties and who is not the administrative head of his court; and (5) as provided in the preceding section six, he shall be eligible to be a first justice.

(c) The certificate provided for in paragraph (a) may be filed with the chief justice for the district court at any time before May thirty-first, nineteen hundred and seventy-nine.

(d) The provisions of section six with regard to vacation and sick leave, including the provisions relative to accumulation, shall be deemed applicable to all justices and special justices who serve full-time in accordance with the provisions of this section. During the calendar year in which his certificate is made effective a special justice shall be entitled to the number of absences for vacation and sick leave corresponding to the proportion of said year remaining after said certificate becomes effective.

Notwithstanding any provisions of the general laws to the contrary, (1) for the purposes of determining pension responsibilities a special justice appointed, or first appointed, as the case may be, to his office prior to January second, nineteen hundred and seventy-five who serves full-time in accordance with the provisions of this section shall not be subject to the provisions of section sixty-five D of chapter thirty-two; and (2) for purposes of determining the pension rights of a special justice who serves full-time in accordance with the provisions of this section any special justice may elect to waive the provisions of section sixty-five B of chapter thirty-two and his full-time service shall be deemed the service of a justice of a district court, other than the chief justice, and said special justice shall be entitled to the same credit for his part-time service, if any, as a special justice as is provided in section sixty-five A of chapter thirty-two for a justice of a district court who has previously served as a special justice; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed to alter the pension rights and responsibilities applicable to a special justice who does not file a certificate under the provisions of this section.

(e) Any special justice holding office on January first, nineteen hundred and seventy-six who does not file a certificate under the foregoing provisions shall, after July first, nineteen hundred and seventy-nine, be precluded from engaging directly or indirectly in the practice of law.

(f) Except as provided in paragraph (e) nothing in this section shall affect the powers, duties, rights and privileges of any special justice who is holding his office on January first, nineteen hundred and seventy-six and who does not file a certificate under the provisions of paragraph (a).

(g) Any special justice who assumes office after January first, nineteen hundred and seventy-six shall devote full-time during ordinary business hours to the duties of his office and shall not engage directly or indirectly in the practice of law, and shall also be subject to so much of the other provisions of paragraphs (b) and (d) as are applicable.

(h) Nothing in this section shall be construed to establish a new judicial position nor to abolish the tenure of any incumbent special justice of a district court.

(i) Nothing in this section shall be construed to interfere with the existing administrative powers and duties of a first justice in a district court.

SECTION 124. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 8, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 8. Each district court shall have a clerk, except that the municipal court of the city of Boston shall have two clerks as provided in section fifty-three. All such clerks shall be appointed by the governor and shall serve subject to retirement under the provisions of any applicable general or special law relative to retirement systems. Each clerk appointed prior to January first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three under the authority of this section and serving continuously thereafter shall be entitled to thirty days vacation and thirty days sick leave not used in any such year; provided, however, that the total amount of vacation days so accumulated shall not exceed sixty and the total amount of sick leave so accumulated shall not exceed one hundred and eighty days; and provided, further, that no additional such days shall be accumulated on or after said January first except in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the chief justice for administration and management pursuant to section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B. All other clerks appointed under the authority of this section shall be entitled to vacation leave and sick leave in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the chief justice for administration and management pursuant to said section eight of said chapter two hundred and eleven B.

SECTION 125. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 9, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 9. In the case of the absence, death or removal of a clerk of a court of the district court department, the chief justice of the district court department may appoint a temporary clerk, to act until the clerk resumes his duties or until the vacancy is filled.

A temporary clerk shall be paid by the commonwealth for each day's service an amount equal to the rate by the day of the compensation of the clerk of such court as established in the salary schedule set forth in section seventy-nine; but compensation so paid to a temporary clerk for service, in excess of the number of days of vacation accumulated by the clerk as provided in section eight in any one year, shall be deducted by the state treasurer from the salary of the clerk; provided, however, that if a clerk is absent, due to his illness or physical disability, for a period not exceeding the number of days of sick leave he has accumulated pursuant to said section eight, no such deduction shall be made. Such thirty days sick leave or any portion thereof not used in any year may be accumulated, but shall, in any event not exceed one hundred and eighty days in any consecutive six-year period. If the person so appointed holds an office or position, the salary or compensation for which is paid out of the treasury of the commonwealth, or of a county, or a municipality, he shall not receive the salary of both office or positions during the period of such temporary service.

SECTION 126. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 10, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 10. The clerk of a district court may, subject to the approval of the chief justice for administration and management as to compliance with personnel standards promulgated pursuant to section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B, appoint one or more assistant clerks for whose official acts the clerk shall be responsible, who shall be paid by him unless salaries payable by the commonwealth are authorized in this section or in section fifty-three. In courts having one or more assistant clerks, the clerk may designate one as the first assistant clerk. An assistant clerk with salaries payable by the commonwealth may be appointed in courts the judicial districts of which have, according to the national or state census last preceding, a population of sixty thousand or more, and in the following districts:

second district court of Barnstable

district court of central Berkshire

district court of southern Berkshire

district court of northern Berkshire

district court of Chicopee

district court of eastern Essex

district court of Fitchburg

district court of Franklin

district court of eastern Hampden

district court of western Hampden

district court of Marlborough

district court of Newburyport

first district court of eastern Worcester

first district court of northern Worcester

first district court of southern Worcester

second district court of southern Worcester.

Two assistant clerks with salaries payable by the commonwealth may be appointed in:

first district court of Bristol

fourth district court of Bristol

municipal court of Brookline

district court of Chelsea

first district court of Essex

district court of Holyoke

district court of central Middlesex

first district court of northern Middlesex

district court of western Norfolk

district court of Peabody

third district court of Plymouth

fourth district court of Plymouth.

Three assistant clerks with salaries payable by the commonwealth may be appointed in:

first district court of Barnstable

municipal court of the Brighton district

second district court of Bristol

district court of Hampshire

first district court of eastern Middlesex

second district court of eastern Middlesex

fourth district court of eastern Middlesex

district court of Newton

district court of Southern Norfolk

second district court of Plymouth

district court of Somerville.

Four assistant clerks with salaries payable by the commonwealth may be appointed in:

third district court of Bristol

East Boston district court

municipal court of the South Boston district

district court of Brockton

municipal court of the Charlestown district

central district court of northern Essex

district court of southern Essex

district court of northern Norfolk.

Five assistant clerks with salaries payable by the commonwealth may be appointed in:

district court of Lawrence

district court of Lowell.

Six assistant clerks with salaries payable by the commonwealth may be appointed in:

first district court of southern Middlesex

district court of East Norfolk

municipal court of the West Roxbury district.

Seven assistant clerks with salaries payable by the commonwealth may be appointed in:

municipal court of the Dorchester district

central district court of Worcester.

Nine assistant clerks with salaries payable by the commonwealth may be appointed in:

district court of Springfield.

Ten assistant clerks with salaries payable by the commonwealth may be appointed in:

third district court of eastern Middlesex

municipal court of the Roxbury district court.

One of the ten assistant clerks for the municipal court of the Roxbury district shall be appointed for juvenile sessions.

Assistant clerks who were appointed under authority of this section, who are paid by the commonwealth, and who have held said appointment for three consecutive years prior to the effective date of this act shall hold office during good behavior, but subject to applicable retirement laws, and may be removed from office under procedures authorized by section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B.

Each assistant clerk appointed prior to January first, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven under the authority of this section and serving continuously in such appointment thereafter shall be entitled to thirty days vacation leave and thirty days sick leave in each calendar year. Any such assistant clerk may accumulate vacation and sick leave not used in any such year; provided, however, that the total amount of vacation days so accumulated shall not exceed sixty and the total amount of sick leave so accumulated shall not exceed one hundred eighty days; and provided, further, that no additional such days shall be accumulated on or after January first, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven except in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the chief justice for administration and management pursuant to section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B. All other assistant clerks appointed under the authority of this section shall be entitled to vacation leave and sick leave in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the chief justice for administration and management pursuant to said section eight.

In the following courts, one of the assistant clerks shall be designated in charge of six-man jury sessions and shall be paid by the commonwealth in accordance with the job classification and pay plan established, subject to appropriation, by the chief justice of administration and management:

third district court of eastern Middlesex

district court of Lowell

first district court of southern Middlesex at Framingham.

In the central district court of Worcester, the district of Lowell, the district court of East Norfolk and the third district court of eastern Middlesex, the clerk may designate one of his assistant clerks as assistant clerk in charge of the remand list; said list being for the trial of all cases transferred to said court from the superior court under the provisions of section one hundred and two C of chapter two hundred and thirty-one. The salary of said assistant clerk shall be paid by the commonwealth in accordance with the job classification and pay plan established, subject to appropriation by the chief justice for administration and management.

SECTION 127. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 10A, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 10A. The clerk of each district court, except the municipal court of the city of Boston, may, designate such employees in his office, as in his judgment may be necessary for the convenience of the public, as deputy assistant clerks of said court, who shall have the same authority to administer oaths as an assistant clerk of a district court without receiving any extra compensation therefor.

SECTION 128. Section 11 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- In case of the absence, death or removal of a salaried assistant clerk of the district court department, the clerk, subject to the approval of the chief justice for administration and management as to compliance with personnel standards promulgated pursuant to section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B, may appoint a temporary assistant clerk, to act until such assistant clerk resumes his duties or until the vacancy is filled.

SECTION 129. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 15, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 15. The chief justice for the district court department, and the chief justice for the Boston municipal court department, shall prescribe the times for holding civil and criminal trials in their respective departments, and the divisions thereof, except where such times are established by law, and the hours when their respective departments, and divisions, shall open for the transaction of business, and shall also prescribe reasonable office hours for the clerks of their respective divisions, during which hours the offices of such clerks shall be open, and may authorize such clerks to operate their offices on Saturdays with reduced personnel. Such hours shall be fixed with reference to the business of said divisions and the convenience of the public and of attorneys, and notice thereof shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the offices of the respective clerks. Clerks shall also keep their offices open whenever the court so orders.

SECTION 130. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 16, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 16. The clerk of a division of the district court department before entering upon the performance of his official duties, and thereafter, at intervals of not more than one year, so long as he continues to hold such office, shall give to the commonwealth a bond, conditioned to perform faithfully his official duties, with a surety company authorized to transact business in the commonwealth, as surety, in a sum approved by the chief justice of the district court department, but in no event less than five thousand dollars. Failure to give such bond shall be sufficient cause for his removal.

SECTION 131. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 17, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 17. A justice, clerk or assistant clerk of a district court shall not be retained or employed as an attorney in an action, complaint or proceeding pending in the court to which he is appointed, or which has been examined or tried therein; and a special justice shall not be so retained or employed in any case in which he acts or has acted as justice. No justice or special justice shall hear or try any case or proceeding in any court of the district court department, if he shall know that a partner or office associate of his has been directly or indirectly retained or employed as an attorney in such case or proceeding. No special justice shall practice in a criminal session of any court in the commonwealth nor shall he practice at all in the court, or predecessor district court, to which he is appointed.

SECTION 132. Section 19B of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 10, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 133. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 19C, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 19C. The district courts shall have original jurisdiction in rem and personam of all actions arising under sections one hundred and twenty-seven A to one hundred and twenty-seven K, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and eleven. The district courts shall have equity powers only to the extent necessary to enforce the aforementioned sections, including the power to appoint receivers, grant injunctions and issue restraining orders as justice and equity may require and for punishing civil contempt of orders, rulings and decrees made or pronounced in the exercise of this jurisdiction.

Subject to the approval of the supreme judicial court, the chief justice for the district court department may from time to time promulgate rules and prescribe forms for the efficient operation of such equity sessions in the courts of the district court department; and in the Boston municipal court department the chief justice for said department may promulgate such rules and prescribe such forms.

SECTION 134. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 19D, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 19D. The first justice of a district court may appoint, subject to appropriation, and subject to the approval of the chief justice of the district court department, such number of housing specialists as the first justice of said department may from time to time determine. The first justice may designate one of them as chief housing specialist for the court. All housing specialists shall hold office at the pleasure of the first justice of the district court, subject, however, to retirement under the provisions of any applicable general or special law relative to retirement systems. All housing specialists shall be knowledgeable in the maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation of dwelling units; the problems of landlord and tenant as they pertain to dwelling units; the types of funds and services available to assist landlords and tenants in the financing and resolution of such problems; the federal and state laws, rules and regulations pertaining to the maintenance, repair and rehabilitation of such units; and the financing and resolution of such problems. The housing specialists shall have such powers and perform such duties as the first justice of the district court shall from time to time prescribe with regard to actions pending before the court under chapter two hundred and thirty-nine. Every housing specialist shall be sworn by the first justice of the district court, who shall, upon administering the oath, forthwith make return of such act with the date thereof to the state secretary.

SECTION 135. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 21, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 21. There shall be within the district court department and the Boston municipal court department a simple, informal and inexpensive procedure, hereinafter called the procedure, for the determination, according to the rules of substantive law, of claims in the nature of contract or tort, other than slander and libel, in which the plaintiff does not claim as debt or damages more than two thousand dollars; provided, however, that said dollar limitation shall not apply to an action for property damage caused by a motor vehicle, and for a review of judgments upon such claims when justice so requires. The procedure shall not be exclusive, but shall be alternative to the formal procedure for civil actions begun by summons and complaint.

The chief justice for the district court department shall make uniform rules with respect to the procedure applicable to all the courts within said department, and the chief justice for the Boston municipal court department shall make rules for the Boston municipal court department, all such rules being subject to the approval of the supreme judicial court.

Actions under this section and sections twenty-two to twenty-five inclusive, shall be brought, at the option of the plaintiff, in the judicial district where either the plaintiff or the defendant lives or has his usual place of business or employment; provided, however, that actions brought against a landlord or lessor of land or tenements rented for residential purposes, and arising out of such property or rental, may also be brought in the judicial district in which the property is located.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, each court within the district court department shall have civil jurisdiction of such actions commenced in such court which should have been brought in some other court, to the extent that the action may be heard and disposed of by the court in which it was begun, if the venue of said action is waived or, if venue requirements are not waived, the court may, on motion of any party, order the action, with all papers relating thereto, transferred for hearing and disposition to the court in which the action should have been commenced. Said action shall thereupon be entered and prosecuted in such court as if it had originally commenced therein, and all prior proceedings otherwise regularly taken shall thereafter be valid. An action may be commenced under this section if the initial amount of damages claimed is two thousand dollars or less or is an action for property damage caused by a motor vehicle regardless of the amount of the claims notwithstanding that the court may award double or treble damages in accordance with the provisions of any general or special law.

Actions brought under sections twenty-one to twenty-five, inclusive, may be heard in the first instance by a clerk-magistrate of the district court department or the Boston municipal court department. For the purpose of hearing such property damage claims caused by a motor vehicle the procedure established shall provide for all such claims to be heard on one evening every other week, and on one Saturday on the alternative week, unless otherwise agreed to by all parties in such actions in accordance with the provisions of section thirty-four O of chapter ninety.

In the hearing and disposition of any claim for money damages within the jurisdiction of such procedure, the Boston municipal and district court departments shall have all equity powers and jurisdiction conferred by sections one, one A and two, and clause (1) of section three of chapter two hundred and fourteen.

SECTION 136. Section 22 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the second paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

At the commencement of an action under the procedure the plaintiff shall be informed that such action may be submitted for mediation and resolution at the request of either party and with the agreement of both parties. The clerk-magistrate shall make appropriate note of any agreement so reached, and entry of judgment shall be made by the court. Any action which is not resolved by agreement may, at the request of any party, be heard by a clerk-magistrate under the provisions of sections twenty-one to twenty-five, inclusive; provided, however, that cases heard before a jury of six must be heard by a justice.

SECTION 137. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 23, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 23. Every cause begun under the procedure shall be determined initially in the district court department. No such cause may be removed for trial in the superior court department. In any action for property damage caused by a motor vehicle where the action is transferred to the regular civil docket in the district court department by the insurer and the unpaid party recovers a judgment for any amount due and payable by the insurer, the court shall assess against the insurer in addition thereto, costs and reasonable attorney's fees.

A plaintiff beginning a cause under the procedure shall be deemed to have waived a trial by jury and any right of appeal to a jury of six session in the district court department. If, however, said cause shall be appealed to a jury of six session in the district court department by the defendant as hereinafter provided, the plaintiff shall have the same right to claim a trial by a jury of six.

The defendant may, within ten days after receipt of the magistrate's finding, file in the court where the cause was determined a claim of trial by jury, or in the alternative for a trial before a single justice and shall file his affidavit that there are questions of law and fact in the cause requiring a trial by jury or a single justice, with the specifications thereof, and that such trial is intended in good faith.

Trials by jury of six in the district court department shall proceed in accordance with the provisions of law applicable to trials by jury in the superior court department, except that each party shall be entitled to two preemptory challenges. Jurors shall be drawn from the pool of jurors available for the jury sessions in civil cases in the superior court department.

The chief justice of the district court department shall designate at least one court in each region for the purpose of hearing cases where a claim for trial by a jury of six or by a single justice is entered. Claims for trial by a jury of six or by a single justice from courts within Suffolk county shall be held in the Boston municipal court department or district courts in Suffolk county or, with the approval of the chief justice of the district court department, may be held in those district courts whose judicial districts adjoin Suffolk county as are designated by said chief justice. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the chief justice for administration and management may designate the facilities of any other department of the trial court for trial by jury of six or by a single justice in the district court department or the Boston municipal court department. The Boston municipal court department shall be authorized to hear such appeals for the district courts in Suffolk county.

A defendant's claim for trial by jury or by a single justice shall be accompanied by twenty-five dollars for the entry of the cause in the court of the department to which the case has been appealed, and a bond in the penal sum of one hundred dollars, with such surety or sureties as may be approved by the plaintiff or the clerk or an assistant clerk of the district court department, payable to the other party or parties to the cause, conditioned to satisfy any judgment and costs which may be entered against him in the jury of six proceeding or a proceeding before a single justice in said cause waiting thirty days after the entry thereof. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in any action brought by a tenant of residential premises pursuant to the provisions of section fifteen B of chapter one hundred and eighty-six, bond shall be given in an amount equal to three times the amount of the security deposit or balance thereof to which the tenant is entitled, plus interest at the rate of five percent from the date when such payment became due, together with court costs and an amount equal to a reasonable attorney's fee for service which had been performed by an attorney, if any, or which may be expected to be performed by an attorney during the pendency of the appeal.

The clerk shall forthwith transmit such original papers or attested copies thereof as the rules for the procedure may provide, and the court of the department to which the case has been appealed may require pleadings pursuant to the District/Municipal Courts Rules of Civil Procedure, but the cause may be marked for trial on the list of causes advanced for speedy trial by jury. A finding for the plaintiff in the district court department shall be prima facie evidence for the plaintiff in the trial by jury of six or before a single justice. At such trial the plaintiff may, but need not, introduce evidence.

No bond shall be required of a county, town or other municipal corporation, or of a board, officer or employee thereof represented by the city solicitor, town counsel or other officer having similar duties, or of a political subdivision, or of a party who has given bond according to law to dissolve an attachment or of a defendant in an action of tort arising out of the ownership, operation, maintenance, control or use of a motor vehicle or trailer as defined in section one of chapter ninety if the payment of any judgement for costs which may be entered against him is secured, in whole or in part, by a motor vehicle liability bond or policy or a deposit as provided in section thirty-four D of chapter ninety.

The court shall waive the requirement of a bond in the amount of one hundred dollars if it is satisfied that the defendant has insufficient funds available to him to furnish the necessary bond and that the defendant's appeal is not frivolous.

No party to a cause under the procedure shall be entitled to a report. If the court is of the opinion that a question of law requires review, it may submit the matter, in the form of a report of a case stated, to the appellate division.

SECTION 138. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 26, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 26. The district courts and the municipal court of the city of Boston shall have original jurisdiction, concurrent with the superior court, of the following offenses, complaint of which shall be brought in the court of the district court department, or in the Boston municipal court department, as the case may be, within which judicial district the offense was allegedly committed or is otherwise made punishable:- all violations of by-laws, orders, ordinances, rules and regulations, made by cities, towns and public officers, all misdemeanors, except libels, all felonies punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five-years, the crimes listed in paragraph (a) of section twenty-four G and paragraph (1) of section twenty-four L of chapter ninety, paragraph (a) of section thirty-two and paragraph (a) of section thirty-two A of chapter ninety-four C, and section thirty-two J of chapter ninety-four C, section fifteen A of chapter two hundred and sixty-five and sections sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty-eight, forty-nine and one hundred and twenty-seven of chapter two hundred and sixty-six, and the crimes of malicious destruction of personal property under section one hundred and twenty-seven of chapter two hundred and sixty-six, indecent assault and battery on a child under fourteen years of age, escape or attempt to escape from any penal institution, forgery of a promissory note, or of an order for money or other property, and of uttering as true such a forged note or order, knowing the same to be forged. They shall have jurisdiction of proceedings referred to them under the provisions of section four A of chapter two hundred and eleven.

SECTION 139. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 26A, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 26A. Trial of criminal offenses in the Boston municipal court department and in the district court department shall be by a jury of six persons, unless the defendant files a written waiver and consent to be tried by the court without a jury. Such waiver shall not be received unless the defendant is represented by counsel or has filed a written waiver of counsel. No decision on such waiver shall be received until after the completion of a pretrial conference and a hearing on the results of such conference and until after the disposition of any pretrial discovery motions and compliance with any order of the court pursuant to said motions. Such waiver shall be filed in accordance with the provisions of section six of chapter two hundred and sixty-three; provided, however, that defense counsel shall execute a certificate signed by said counsel indicating that he has made all the necessary explanations and determinations regarding such waiver. The form of such certificate shall be prescribed by the chief justice for the district court department.

In the Boston municipal court department and the district court department upon the motion of a defendant consistent with criminal procedure, or upon the court's own motion, the judge shall issue an order of discovery requiring any information to which the defendant is entitled and also requiring that the defendant be permitted to discover, inspect, and copy any material and relevant evidence, documents, statements of persons, or reports of physical or mental examinations of any person or of scientific tests or experiments, within the possession, custody, or control of the prosecutor or persons under his direction and control. Upon motion of the defendant the judge shall order the production by the commonwealth of the names and addresses of the prospective witnesses and the production by the probation department of the record of prior convictions of any such witness.

Trial by jury in the Boston municipal court department and the district court department shall be in those jury sessions designated in accordance with section twenty-seven A. Where the defendant has properly filed a waiver and consented to be tried without a jury, as hereinbefore provided, trial shall proceed in accordance with the provisions of law applicable to jury-waived trials in the superior court; provided, however, that at the option of the defendant, the trial may be before a judge who has not rejected an agreed recommendation or dispositional request made by the defendant pursuant to the provisions of section eighteen of chapter two hundred and seventy-eight. Review in such cases may be had directly by the appeals court, by appeal, report or otherwise in the same manner provided for trials of criminal cases in the superior court.

The justice presiding over such jury-waived trial in the Boston municipal court department or the district court department shall have and exercise all of the powers and duties which a justice sitting in the superior court department has and may exercise in the trial and disposition of criminal cases including the power to report questions of law to the appeals court, but in no case may he impose a sentence to the state prison.

The justice presiding at such jury-waived session in the Boston municipal court department or the district court department shall, upon the request of the defendant, appoint a stenographer; provided, however, that where the defendant claims indigency, such appointment is determined to be reasonably necessary in accordance with the provisions of sections twenty-seven A to twenty-seven G, inclusive, of chapter two hundred and sixty-one. Such stenographer shall be sworn, and shall take stenographic notes of all the testimony given at the trial, and shall provide the parties thereto with a transcript of his notes or any part thereof taken at the trial or hearing for which he shall be paid by the party requesting it at the rate fixed by the chief justice of the Boston municipal court department or for the district court department as the case may be; and provided, further, that such rate shall not exceed the rate provided by section eighty-eight of chapter two hundred and twenty-one. Said chief justice may make regulations not inconsistent with law relative to the assignments, duties and services of stenographers appointed for sessions in his department and any other matter relative to stenographers. The compensation and expenses of a stenographer shall be paid by the commonwealth.

The request for the appointment of a stenographer to preserve the testimony at a trial in the Boston municipal court department or district court department shall be given to the clerk of the court by the defendant in writing no later than forty-eight hours prior to the proceeding for which the stenographer has been requested. The defendant shall file with such request an affidavit of indigency and request for payment by the commonwealth of the cost of the transcript and the court shall hold a hearing on such request prior to appointing a stenographer, in those cases where the defendant alleges that he will be unable to pay said cost. Said hearing shall be governed by the provisions of sections twenty-seven A to twenty-seven G, inclusive, of chapter two hundred and sixty-one, and the cost of such transcript shall be considered an extra cost as provided therein. If the court is unable, for any reason, to provide a stenographer, the proceedings may be recorded by electronic means. The original recording of proceedings in the Boston municipal court department or of a division of the district court department made with a recording device under the exclusive control of the court shall be the official record of such proceedings. Said record or a copy of all or a part thereof, certified by the chief justice for the Boston municipal court department or a district court department, or his designee, to be an accurate electronic reproduction of said record or part thereof, or a typewritten transcript of all or a part of said record or copy thereof, certified to be accurate by the court or by the preparer of said transcript, or stipulated to by the parties, shall be admissible in any court as evidence of testimony given whenever proof of such testimony is otherwise competent. The defendant may request payment by the commonwealth of the cost of said transcript subject to the same provisions regarding a transcript of a stenographer as provided hereinbefore.

In any case heard in a jury waived session in the Boston municipal court department or a district court department where a defendant is placed on probation or placed under probation supervision, he shall thereafter be supervised by the probation officer of the court in which the case originated, unless the trial justice shall order otherwise and unless the regulations of the commissioner of probation provide otherwise.

SECTION 140. Section 27 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 3 and 4, the words "juvenile court or the juvenile sessions of a district court" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- divisions of the juvenile court department.

SECTION 141. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 27A, as most recently amended by section 557 of chapter 133 of the acts of 1992, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 27A. (a) Every division of the district court department is authorized to hold jury sessions for the purpose of conducting jury trials of cases commenced in the several courts of criminal offenses over which the district courts have original jurisdiction under the provisions of section twenty-six. The Boston municipal court department shall also be authorized for the purpose of conducting jury trials in cases commenced in said department and for the purpose of conducting jury trials of cases commenced in the divisions of the district court department in Suffolk county.

(b) The chief justice for the district court department shall designate at least one division in each county or an adjoining county for the purpose of conducting jury trials; provided, however, that jury trials in cases commenced in the courts within Suffolk county shall be held in the Boston municipal court department or district courts in Suffolk county or with the approval of the chief justice, may be held in such divisions of the district court department the judicial districts of which adjoin Suffolk county as are designated by said chief justice; and jury trials in cases commenced in the divisions for Dukes county and Nantucket county may be held in Barnstable county or Bristol county; and provided further that, with the approval of the chief justice for the superior court department, facilities of said superior court may be designated by the chief justice for administration and management of the trial court for jury trials in cases commenced in the district court department or in the Boston municipal court department.

The chief justice of the district court department may also designate one or more divisions in each county for the purpose of conducting jury-waived trials of cases commenced in any court of said county consistent with the requirements of the proper administration of justice.

(c) A defendant in any division of the district court who waives his right to jury trial as provided in section twenty-six A shall be provided a jury-waived trial in the same division.

A defendant in any division of the district court who does not waive his right to jury trial as provided in section twenty-six A shall be provided a jury trial in a jury session in the same division if such has been established in said division. If such session has not been so established, the defendant shall be provided a jury trial in a jury session as hereinbefore designated. In cases where the defendant declines to waive the right to jury trial, the clerk shall forthwith transfer the case for trial in the appropriate jury session. Such transfer shall be governed by procedures to be established by the chief justice for the district court department.

(d) The justice presiding over a jury session shall have and exercise all the powers and duties which a justice sitting in the superior court department has and may exercise in the trial and disposition of criminal cases including the power to report questions of law to the appeals court, but in no case may he impose a sentence to the state prison. No justice so sitting shall act in a case in which he has sat or held an inquest or otherwise taken part in any proceeding therein.

(e) Trials by juries of six persons shall proceed in accordance with the provisions of law applicable to trials by jury in the superior court except that the number of peremptory challenges shall be limited to two to each defendant. The commonwealth shall be entitled to as many challenges as equal the whole number to which all the defendants in the case entitled.

(f) For the jury sessions, jurors shall be provided by the office of the jury commissioner in accordance with the provisions of chapter two hundred and thirty-four A.

(g) The district attorney for the district in which the alleged offense or offenses occurred shall appear for the commonwealth in the trial of all cases in which the right to jury trial has not been waived and may appear in any other case. The chief justices for the district court department and the Boston municipal court department shall arrange for the sittings of the jury sessions of their respective departments and shall assign justices thereto, to the end that speedy trials may be provided. Review may be had directly by the appeals court, by appeals, report or otherwise in the same manner provided for trials of criminal cases in the superior court.

(h) The justice presiding at such jury session in the Boston municipal court department or district court department shall, upon the request of the defendant, appoint a stenographer; provided, however, that where the defendant claims indigency, such appointment is determined to be reasonably necessary in accordance with the provisions of chapter two hundred and sixty-one. Such stenographer shall be sworn, and shall take stenographic notes of all the testimony given at the trial, and shall provide the parties thereto with a transcript of his notes or any part thereof taken at the trial or hearing for which he shall be paid by the party requesting it at the rate fixed by the chief justice for the department where the case is tried; and provided, further, that such rate shall not exceed the rate provided by section eighty-eight of chapter two hundred and twenty-one. Said chief justice may make regulations not inconsistent with law relative to the assignments, duties and services of stenographers appointed for sessions in his department and any other matter relative to stenographers. The compensation and expenses of a stenographer shall be paid by the commonwealth.

The request for the appointment of a stenographer to preserve the testimony at a trial shall be given to the clerk of the court by the defendant in writing no later than forty-eight hours prior to the proceeding for which the stenographer has been requested. In the Boston municipal court department or the district court department, the defendant shall file with such request an affidavit of indigency and request for payment by the commonwealth of the cost of the transcript and the court shall hold a hearing on such request prior to appointing a stenographer, in those cases where the defendant alleges that he will be unable to pay said cost. Said hearing shall be governed by the provisions of sections twenty-seven A to twenty-seven G, inclusive, of chapter two hundred and sixty-one, and the cost of such transcript shall be considered an extra cost as provided therein. If the court is unable, for any reason, to provide a stenographer, the proceedings may be recorded by electronic means. The original recording of proceedings in the Boston municipal court department or the district court department made with a recording device under the exclusive control of the court shall be the official record of such proceedings. Said record or a copy of all or a part thereof, certified by the chief justices for the Boston municipal court department or the district court department, or his designee, to be an accurate electronic reproduction of said record or part thereof, or a typewritten transcript of all or a part of said record or copy thereof, certified to be accurate by the court or by the preparer of said transcript, or stipulated to by the parties, shall be admissible in any court as evidence of testimony given whenever proof of such testimony is otherwise competent. The defendant may request payment by the commonwealth of the cost of said transcript subject to the same provisions regarding a transcript of a stenographer as provided hereinbefore.

(i) In any case heard in a jury session where a defendant is found guilty and placed on probation, he shall thereafter be supervised by the probation officer of the court in which the case originated, unless the trial justice shall order otherwise and unless the regulations of the commissioner of probation provide otherwise.

SECTION 142. Section thirty-one of said chapter two hundred and eighteen is hereby repealed.

SECTION 143. Section 35 of said chapter 218, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 16, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 144. Section 39 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 10, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 145. Section 40 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 16, both times it appears, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following word:- chief.

SECTION 146. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 42A, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 42A. The justice, as provided under section one of chapter two hundred and eleven B, as the chief justice for the district court department, in addition to his judicial powers and duties, shall, subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section three of chapter two hundred and eleven and the administrative authority of the chief justice for administration and management be the administrative head of the district court department.

In addition to the powers conferred in section ten of said chapter two hundred and eleven B, said chief justice shall have the powers and duties prescribed in sections forty-three to forty-three D, inclusive, of this chapter and in such other provision of statute. A chief justice shall hold said office for a term of five years, and shall be eligible to be reappointed for additional five-year terms. A chief justice, so appointed, may be removed from that office prior to the expiration of his term upon a determination by the chief justice for administration and management that such removal is in the best interests of the administration of justice.

SECTION 147. Section 43 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 148. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 43A, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 43A. The chief justice shall be authorized to require uniform practices, to prescribe forms of blanks and records, and to superintend the keeping of records by clerks. He may authorize any justice or special justice to hold a session of any division at another division or elsewhere, in order to promote the speedy dispatch of the court's business.

SECTION 149. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 43B, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 43B. In addition to the powers set forth in section forty-three A, the chief justice for the district court department shall prescribe official forms to be used in all divisions of said department. Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting the provisions of section one hundred and one A of chapter two hundred and seventy-six.

SECTION 150. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 43D, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 43D. Subject to the approval of the supreme judicial court, the chief justice for the district court department shall make uniform rules applicable to all the divisions of said department, and the chief justice for the Boston municipal court department shall make rules applicable to that department, providing for a simple, informal and inexpensive procedure for the determination of claims for compensation of victims of violent crimes, as provided under chapter two hundred and fifty-eight A.

SECTION 151. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 43E, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 43E. There shall be established a district court community mediation advisory board. The board shall be advisory to the chief justice of the district court department on matters pertaining to the utilization and role of community mediation in the district court department, including but not limited to the education and training of community mediators and the establishment of standards for persons and organizations engaged in community mediation in the district court department, and shall perform such other duties as the chief justice may request. Said board shall also advise the chief justice on the utilization of funds that may be appropriated for the purpose of supporting the use of community mediation in the district court department. Said board shall consist of five members to be appointed by the chief justice for such terms as he may establish. Members shall be eligible for reappointment. They shall be knowledgeable and experienced in the utilization of community mediation in the courts and shall serve without compensation.

Said chief justice shall appoint, subject to appropriation, a coordinator of community mediation, who shall serve at his pleasure and at a salary to be fixed by the chief justice of the district court department. Said coordinator shall perform such duties with regard to community mediation as the chief justice of the district court department shall determine.

SECTION 152. Section 44 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 4 and 5, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 153. Section 49 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 8 and 9, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 154. Section 50 of chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the second paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

The chief justice of the department, subject to the approval of the supreme judicial court and the chief justice for administration and management, may make, from time to time, rules for regulating the practice and conducting the business therein in all cases not expressly provided for by law.

SECTION 155. Section 51A of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following three sentences:- The justice provided for under section one of chapter two hundred and eleven B as the chief justice of the Boston municipal court department, in addition to his judicial powers and duties, shall, subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section three of chapter two hundred and eleven and the administrative authority of the chief justice for administration and management be the administrative head of the Boston municipal court department, and shall also have the powers and responsibilities of a chief justice as set forth in section ten of chapter two hundred and eleven B. Said chief justice shall hold office for a term of five years, and shall be eligible to be reappointed for additional five year terms. Said chief justice may be removed from his position as chief justice when it is determined by the chief justice for administration and management to be in the best interests of the administration of justice.

SECTION 156. Said section 51A of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 8, the words "administrative justice" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- chief justice of the Boston municipal court department.

SECTION 157. Section 52 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 2, 5, 9 and 11, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following word:- chief.

SECTION 158. Section 53 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 5, the words "justices or a majority of them" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- chief justice for administration and management with respect to compliance with the personnel standards promulgated under section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B.

SECTION 159. Said section 53 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 9 and 10, lines 24 and 28, the words "administrative justice" and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following words:- justice for administration and management.

SECTION 160. Section 53A of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 5, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 161. Section 55 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the words "justices of said", and inserting in place thereof the following words:- chief justice of the Boston municipal court,- and by striking out the second and third sentences and inserting in place thereof the following two sentences:- Said department may secure for its criminal business medical service, and the equipment necessary therefor, and for this purpose may expend annually such sum, not exceeding fifteen thousand dollars, as the chief justice of the Boston municipal court department may from time to time determine, subject to the approval of the chief justice for administration and management. Sums so expended shall be paid by the commonwealth upon vouchers approved by the chief justice of the Boston municipal court department.

SECTION 162. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 57, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 57. The juvenile court department established under section one of chapter two hundred and eleven B as of July first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three shall be composed of divisions, in each of the judicial districts hereinafter enumerated, which shall continue to have and exercise jurisdiction over the following cities, towns and territory, in the following counties, respectively: `tuc Suffolk County

held at Dorchester district court, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Dorchester division of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at West Roxbury district court, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the West Roxbury division of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Boston, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Boston municipal court department,

the Roxbury division of the district court department,

the Brighton division of the district court department,

the Charlestown division of the district court department,

the East Boston division of the district court department,

and the South Boston division of the district court department,

as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine. `tuc Barnstable County and Town of Plymouth

held at Orleans, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Orleans division of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Barnstable, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Barnstable division of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Plymouth, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Plymouth division of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Nantucket, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Nantucket division of the district court department, and at Edgartown, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Edgartown division of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine. `tuc Plymouth County

held at Brockton, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Brockton division of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Hingham, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Hingham division of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Wareham, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Wareham division of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine. `tuc Norfolk County

held at Quincy, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Quincy and Stoughton divisions of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Dedham, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Dedham and Wrentham divisions of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Brookline, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Brookline division of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine. `tuc Middlesex County

held at Cambridge, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Cambridge, Somerville and Malden divisions of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Framingham, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Framingham, Natick, and Marlboro divisions of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Lowell, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Lowell and Ayer divisions of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Woburn, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Woburn division of the district court department as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Waltham, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Waltham, Newton and Concord divisions of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine. `tuc Essex County

held at Lynn, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Lynn and Peabody divisions of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Salem, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Salem division of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Newburyport, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Newburyport, Ipswich and Gloucester divisions of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Lawrence, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Lawrence and Haverhill divisions of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine. `tuc Worcester County

held at Fitchburg, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Fitchburg, Leominster, Gardner, and Winchendon divisions of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Dudley, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Dudley division of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Uxbridge, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Uxbridge and Milford divisions of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Worcester, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Worcester, Clinton, Westboro and Spencer divisions of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine. `tuc Franklin and Hampden Counties

held at Greenfield, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Greenfield and Orange divisions of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Holyoke, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Holyoke and Westfield divisions of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

held at Springfield, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of the Springfield, Palmer and Chicopee divisions of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine. `tuc Bristol County

held at New Bedford, Taunton, Fall River and Attleboro, within the same territorial limits as are prescribed for the criminal jurisdiction of all the Bristol county divisions of the district court department, as the chief justice of the juvenile court department may determine.

Appeals provided under sections thirty-nine I and fifty-six of chapter one hundred and nineteen, when taken from a court of the Suffolk county division of the juvenile court department, shall be to the appeals session of the Boston court of the Suffolk county division of the juvenile court department, and such appeals from the courts of the Bristol county division of the juvenile court department shall be to the juvenile appeals session in said division. Appeals from courts of the Worcester county division of the juvenile court department shall be taken to the appeals sessions of the Worcester court of the Worcester county division of the juvenile court department. Appeals in cases heard in the courts of the Barnstable county and town of Plymouth division of the juvenile court department shall be heard in the jury of six session held at the Barnstable division of the district court department or in the juvenile appeals session of the Bristol county division of the juvenile court department, as determined by the chief justice of the juvenile court department. Appeals in cases heard in the courts of the Plymouth county division of the juvenile court department shall be heard in the jury of six session held in the Wareham division of the district court department. Appeals in cases heard in the courts of the Norfolk county division of the juvenile court department shall be heard in the jury of six session held in the Dedham division of the district court department. Appeals in cases heard in the courts of the Middlesex county division of the juvenile court department shall be heard in the jury of six sessions held in the Cambridge, Framingham and Lowell divisions of the district court department, as determined by the chief justice of the juvenile court department. Appeals in cases heard in the courts of the Essex county division of the juvenile court department shall be heard in the jury of six session held in the Peabody division of the district court department. Appeals in cases heard in the courts of the Franklin and Hampden counties division of the juvenile court department shall be heard in the juvenile appeals session of the Springfield court of said division. Appeals in cases heard in the courts of the Berkshire and Hampshire counties division of the juvenile court department shall be heard in the jury of six sessions held in the Northampton and Pittsfield divisions of the district court department, as determined by the chief justice of the juvenile court department.

Whenever the words "juvenile court" or "court", when the context indicates a juvenile court, are used in this chapter, they shall refer to a division of the juvenile court department. And when the context indicates personnel appointed to a division of the juvenile court department, the word "justice" shall mean an associate justice of the trial court appointed to a division of the juvenile court department; and the words "clerk" or "clerk of court" shall mean the clerk of said division; and the words "assistant clerk", "deputy assistant clerk", "temporary clerk", or "temporary assistant clerk" shall mean, respectively, an assistant clerk, a deputy assistant clerk, temporary clerk or temporary assistant clerk of said division.

SECTION 163. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 57A, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 57A. The justice provided for under section one of chapter two hundred and eleven B as the chief justice for the juvenile court department, in addition to his judicial powers and duties, shall, subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section three of chapter two hundred and eleven and the administrative authority of the chief justice for administration and management, be the administrative head of the juvenile court department, and shall also have the powers and responsibilities set forth in section ten of chapter two hundred and eleven B; provided, however, that the clerk of such court shall have responsibility for the internal administration of his office, including personnel, staff services and record keeping.

Said chief justice may appoint an executive secretary and, for the purpose of coordinating the business of the department, said chief justice shall define his or her duties. Said executive secretary shall be a member of the bar and shall receive from the commonwealth a salary equal to seventy percent of the salary of said chief justice. Said executive secretary shall devote full time during business hours to his or her duties and shall not, directly or indirectly, engage in the practice of law.

Said chief justice may require uniform practices, may prescribe forms of blanks and records. He shall have general superintendence of all the courts of the juvenile court department, and their clerks and other offices, but except as otherwise provided by law, shall have no power to appoint any such officers. A chief justice shall hold said office for a term of five years, and shall be eligible to be reappointed for additional five-year terms. A chief justice, so appointed, may be removed from that office prior to the expiration of his term upon a determination by the chief justice for administration and management that such removal is in the best interests of the administration of justice.

Said chief justice shall also prescribe official forms to be used in all courts of the juvenile court department and in juvenile sessions of the district court department.

SECTION 164. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 58, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 58. The Suffolk county division of the juvenile court department shall consist of seven justices, the Middlesex county division shall consist of five justices, the Worcester county division shall consist of four justices, the Franklin and Hampden counties division shall consist of four justices, the Bristol county division shall consist of three justices, the Essex county division shall consist of three justices, the Norfolk county division shall consist of two justices, the Plymouth county division shall consist of three justices, the Barnstable county and town of Plymouth division shall consist of one justice, and the Berkshire and Hampshire counties division shall consist of one justice, all of whom shall be members of the bar. The chief justice of the district court department may, upon request of the chief justice of the juvenile court department, assign a special justice who is not serving full-time under the provisions of section six A from the district court department to sit in any court of the juvenile court department. The chief justice of the juvenile court department shall have the power to define the duties of said first justices, and shall appoint, from among the justices of the juvenile court department, a first justice for each of the divisions within said department; provided, that appropriate consideration shall be given to seniority, length of service at that particular division, and managerial ability. Each first justice so appointed shall serve as the first justice of that particular division for a five-year term, and shall be eligible to be reappointed for additional five-year terms at that particular division. Any first justice may be removed from his position as first justice by the chief justice of the juvenile court department, when it is determined by the said chief justice to be in the best interests of the administration of justice. Any first justice who is removed from his position as first justice by the chief justice of the juvenile court department may appeal the removal to the chief justice for administration and management, who shall hear and determine the matter.

Citations, orders of notice, writs, executions and all other processes issued by the clerk of each division shall bear the teste of the first justice thereof. The first justice shall be the administrative head of his division; provided, however, that clerks shall have responsibility for the internal administration of his office, including personnel, staff services and record keeping. A first justice or a clerk of the court may submit any dispute that arises between said first justice and said clerk concerning the management and administration of the office of the clerk, the duties, powers and obligations of the clerk, or a member of their staff, or the interpretation of the personnel standards provided for under section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B, to the chief justice of the department. Any person aggrieved by a decision of a chief justice under this paragraph may appeal said decision to the chief justice for administration and management, who shall, within thirty days, hear and determine the matter.

In the case of the absence, death or removal of a clerk of a division of the juvenile court department, or a vacancy in the position of clerk for any other reason, the chief justice of the juvenile court department may appoint a temporary clerk, to act until the clerk resumes his duties, or until the vacancy is filled. The clerk of the court shall appoint assistant clerks and support personnel in his division, with all of such appointments subject to approval by the chief justice for administration and management with respect to personnel standards as provided in section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B. In the case of the absence, death or removal of an assistant clerk of a division of the juvenile court department, or a vacancy in the position of assistant clerk for any other reason, the clerk may appoint a temporary assistant clerk, to act until such assistant clerk resumes his duties, or until the vacancy is filled.

Each division shall have a clerk, who shall be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the council and who shall hold office during good behavior, subject, however, to retirement under the provisions of any applicable general or special law relative to retirement systems. The Boston court of the Suffolk county division of the juvenile court department shall have a first assistant clerk and five assistant clerks, who shall, with the approval of the chief justice of the juvenile court department, be appointed by the clerk of the Suffolk county division of said department, with all such appointments subject to approval by the chief justice for administration and management with respect to personnel standards promulgated under section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B.

The salaries of the clerks and assistant clerks in the juvenile court department shall be paid by the commonwealth in accordance with the job classification and pay plan established, subject to appropriation, by the chief justice for administration and management.

The clerks and assistant clerks of the juvenile court department shall devote their entire time during ordinary business hours to their respective duties and shall not, directly or indirectly, engage in the practice of law.

Each clerk and assistant clerk of the juvenile court department appointed to such position prior to January first, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven and serving continuously in such position thereafter shall be entitled to thirty days vacation and thirty days sick leave in each calendar year. Each such clerk and assistant clerk may accumulate vacation leave and sick leave not used in any such year; provided, however, that the number of vacation days so accumulated shall not exceed sixty and the total amount of sick leave shall not exceed one hundred and eighty days; and provided, further, that no additional such days shall be accumulated on or after said January first except in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the chief justice for administration and management pursuant to section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B. Any other clerk and assistant clerk of said department shall be entitled to vacation leave and sick leave in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the chief justice for administration and management pursuant to said section eight.

The first justice of each division of the juvenile court department may, with the approval of the chief justice for administration and management, appoint such official interpreters, or enter into service contracts for telephone-based interpretation services, as he may deem necessary for the sessions of his division. Any such interpreter shall hold his position at the pleasure of said first justice, and shall render such additional services as said first justice may require. Said first justice shall forthwith discharge any such interpreter who is found by him to have requested or received, directly or indirectly, any gratuity, bonus or fee in connection with any case pending or in the course of preparation for presentation to any court. Other interpreters may be employed by the first justice when the services of the official interpreter are not available.

SECTION 165. Section 58C of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 8, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 166. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 59, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 59. Except as otherwise provided by law, the divisions of the juvenile court department shall have and exercise, within their respective jurisdictions, the same powers, duties, and procedure as the divisions of the district court department; and all laws relating to district courts or municipal courts in their respective counties or officials thereof or proceedings therein, shall, so far as applicable, apply to said divisions of the juvenile court department.

The divisions of the juvenile court department shall also have jurisdiction in equity concurrent with the supreme judicial court and with the superior court department in all cases and matters arising under the provisions of chapter one hundred and nineteen.

SECTION 167. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 60, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 60. Within the territorial limits prescribed in section fifty-seven, the divisions of the juvenile court department shall have and exercise jurisdiction, exclusive of all municipal and district courts, over cases of juvenile offenders under age seventeen and cases of neglected or delinquent children, and over proceedings referred to it under the provisions of section four A of chapter two hundred and eleven. In addition to the powers conferred in section ten of chapter two hundred and eleven B, the chief justice for the juvenile court department may, from time to time, provide procedural forms and make general rules and issue standing orders in reference to practice and procedure for the conducting of business in the juvenile court department, subject to the approval of the supreme judicial court. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, said chief justice may make and promulgate rules providing for the transfer of petitions brought in the Boston court of the Suffolk county division of the juvenile court department under sections thirty-nine E to thirty-nine I of chapter one hundred and nineteen for hearing in other courts of the Suffolk county division of the juvenile court department as may be appropriate.

SECTION 168. Sections sixty-one to sixty-five, inclusive, of said chapter two hundred and eighteen are hereby repealed.

SECTION 169. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 67, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 67. The chief justice of the Boston municipal court department may appoint such official court interpreters, or enter into such service contracts for the provision of telephone-based interpretation services, as he may deem necessary for the criminal and the civil sessions of the court, subject to the approval of the chief justice for administration and management. Official interpreters shall hold their positions at the pleasure of said department chief justice and shall render such additional services as said chief justice may require. Said department chief justice shall forthwith discharge any such official interpreter who shall be found by him to have requested or received, directly or indirectly, any gratuity, bonus or fee in connection with any criminal or civil case pending or in course of preparation for presentation to any court. Other official interpreters, or a telephone-based interpretation service, may be employed when the services of the official court interpreter are not available.

SECTION 170. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 69, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 69. Clerks of the divisions of the district court department shall be allowed annually for clerical assistance such amounts as shall be approved by the chief justice for said department.

SECTION 171. Section 70 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 4, the word "administrative" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- chief.

SECTION 172. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 79, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 79. (1) The salary of the clerks of the following district court divisions shall be paid by the commonwealth in accordance with the schedule as set forth in paragraph (2):

Class I.

first district court of Barnstable

second district court of Barnstable

first district court of Bristol

second district court of Bristol

third district court of Bristol

fourth district court of Bristol

municipal court of Brookline

district court of Brockton

district court of Chelsea

district court of Chicopee

district court of Dukes County

first district court of Essex

district court of eastern Essex

district court of southern Essex

central district court of northern Essex

district court of Fitchburg

district court of Franklin

district court of eastern Franklin

district court of eastern Hampden

district court of western Hampden

district court of Hampshire

district court of Holyoke

district court of Lawrence

district court of Leominster

district court of Lowell

district court of central Berkshire

district court of Marlborough

district court of central Middlesex

first district court of eastern Middlesex

second district court of eastern Middlesex

third district court of eastern Middlesex

fourth district court of eastern Middlesex

first district court of northern Middlesex

first district court of southern Middlesex

district court of Newburyport

district court of Newton

district court of Natick

district court of eastern Norfolk

district court of northern Norfolk

district court of southern Norfolk

district court of western Norfolk

district court of Peabody

second district court of Plymouth

third district court of Plymouth

fourth district court of Plymouth

first district court of northern Worcester

first district court of southern Worcester

municipal court of the Brighton district

municipal court of the Charlestown district

municipal court of the Dorchester district

municipal court of the East Boston district

municipal court of the Roxbury district

municipal court of the South Boston district

municipal court of the West Roxbury district

district court of Somerville

district court of Springfield

first district court of eastern Worcester

second district court of eastern Worcester

second district court of southern Worcester

third district court of southern Worcester

central district court of Worcester

district court of western Worcester

Class II.

district court of northern Berkshire

district court of southern Berkshire

district court of eastern Hampshire

Class III.

third district court of Essex

district court of Winchendon

district court of Nantucket

(2) The salaries of the clerks of the district court division shall be paid by the commonwealth in accordance with the job classification and pay plan established, subject to appropriation, by the chief justice for administration and management.

The clerks in the district court department shall devote their entire time during ordinary business hours to their respective duties and shall not, directly or indirectly, engage in the practice of law.

The clerks in the district court department appointed to said position prior to January first, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and serving continuously thereafter shall be entitled to thirty days vacation and thirty days sick leave in each calendar year. Any such clerk may accumulate vacation and sick leave not used in any such year; provided, however, that the number of vacation days so accumulated shall not exceed sixty and the total amount of sick leave shall not exceed one hundred and eighty days; and provided, further, that no additional such days shall be accumulated after said January first except in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the chief justice for administration and management pursuant to section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B. All other clerks in the district court department shall be entitled to vacation leave and sick leave in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the chief justice for administration and management pursuant to said section eight.

SECTION 173. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 80, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 80. The salaries of the assistant clerks of the district court divisions shall be paid by the commonwealth in accordance with the job classification and pay plan established, subject to appropriation, pursuant to section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B.

The assistant clerks of the district court department shall devote their entire time during ordinary business hours to their respective duties and shall not, directly or indirectly, engage in the practice of law.

The assistant clerks of the district court department appointed to said position prior to January first, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven and serving continuously thereafter shall be entitled to thirty days vacation and thirty days sick leave in each calendar year. Any such clerk may accumulate vacation and sick leave not used in any such year; provided, however, that the number of vacation days so accumulated shall not exceed sixty and total amount of sick leave shall not exceed one hundred and eighty days; and provided, further, that no additional sick days shall be accumulated after said January first except in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the chief justice for administration and management pursuant to section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B. All other assistant clerks of said department shall be entitled to vacation leave and sick leave in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the chief justice for administration and management pursuant to said section eight.

SECTION 174. Said chapter 218 is hereby further amended by striking out section 81, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 81. A justice of a division of the district court department upon certificate of the chief justice for the district court department shall quarterly be reimbursed by the commonwealth for the traveling expenses incurred by him when sitting at the order of said chief justice in a division other than the division to which he was appointed.

If sessions of a division of the district court department are held in more than one town in its district, the chief justice of the district court shall designate in which town the clerk's main office shall be established, and the justices, clerk, assistant clerks, court officers and probation officers of such division shall each be allowed by the commonwealth traveling expenses necessarily incurred when required to hold or attend sessions of said division at any town in the district other than the town in which said main office is so established, such expenses to be computed either from the town where such office is established to such other town, or from his place of residence within such district to such other town, whichever is the shorter distance; provided, however, that a justice or a special justice appointed to the district court in Dukes county or the district court in Nantucket county shall receive his actual expenses for travel by land, sea or air from his residence on the mainland to such county office.

SECTION 175. Section 5 of chapter 221 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 2, the word "appoint" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- , subject to the approval of the chief justice for administration and management as to compliance with personnel standards promulgated pursuant to section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B, appoint.

SECTION 176. Section 69 of said chapter 221, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 7, 12, 16 and 19, the words "administrative justice" and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following words:- justice for administration and management.

SECTION 177. Section 70 of said chapter 221, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 1 and 2, the words "administrative justice" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- justice for administration and management.

SECTION 178. Section 71 of said chapter 221, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 1, 6, and 9, the words "administrative justice" and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the words:- justice for administration and management.

SECTION 179. Section 80 of said chapter 221, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 5, the words "administrative justice" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- justice for administration and management.

SECTION 180. The last paragraph of section 4 of chapter 263 of the General Laws, added by section 10 of chapter 488 of the acts of 1991, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the words "juvenile court or in a juvenile session of a district court" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- a division of the juvenile court department.

SECTION 181. Section 6 of said chapter 263, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:- Except where there is more than one defendant involved as aforesaid, consent to said waiver shall not be denied in the district court or the Boston municipal court if the waiver is filed before the case is transferred for jury trial to the appropriate jury session, as provided in section twenty-seven A of chapter two hundred and eighteen.

SECTION 182. Section 4 of chapter 275 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the second sentence.

SECTION 183. Said chapter 275 is hereby further amended by striking out section 8, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 8. Whoever having waived jury trial in accordance with the provisions of section twenty-six A of chapter two hundred and eighteen is aggrieved by an order of the Boston municipal court or the district court, requiring him to recognize as provided aforesaid, may, upon giving the security required, appeal to the jury session designated pursuant to section twenty-seven A of chapter two hundred and eighteen for the conduct of jury trials in cases brought in the court wherein said order was made.

SECTION 184. Section 11 of said chapter 275, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "appeal", in line 1, the following words:- of an order of recognizance.

SECTION 185. Said chapter 275 is hereby further amended by striking out section 13, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 13. Upon a breach of the condition of a recognizance taken pursuant to the provisions of sections four to eleven, inclusive, an action thereon shall be commenced by the district attorney in the court in which the recognizance is then on file.

SECTION 186. Section 58 of chapter 276 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out, in line 151, as so appearing, the words "either because the defendant has appealed or" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- because the defendant.

SECTION 187. Section 65 of said chapter 276, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 12 and 13, the words "and before the jury session to prosecute an appeal on said charge".

SECTION 188. Said chapter 276 is hereby further amended by striking out section 83, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 83. Subject to appropriation, the chief justice for administration and management may appoint, dismiss and assign such probation officers to the several sessions of the trial court as he deems necessary. In any court having two or more probation officers, the first justice, subject to the approval of the chief justice for administration and management, may designate one probation officer to serve as chief probation officer and may designate other probation officers to serve as assistant chief probation officers, as he deems necessary for the effective administration of justice; provided, however, that a first justice may suspend or discipline any such probation officer who may appeal such suspension or discipline to the chief justice for administration and management; or said first justice may recommend the discharge of any said probation officer to the chief justice for administration and management who may discharge said probation officer after a hearing. The compensation of probation officers in the trial court shall be paid by the commonwealth according to schedules established in section ninety-nine B or in a provision of an applicable collective bargaining agreement.

SECTION 189. Section eighty-three A of said chapter two hundred and seventy-six is hereby repealed.

SECTION 190. Section 89A of said chapter 276, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 11, the words "administrative justice of the district courts" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- chief justice for administration and management.

SECTION 191. Said chapter 276 is hereby further amended by striking out sections 98 and 99, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following two sections:-

Section 98. There shall be a commissioner of probation appointed by the chief justice for administration and management, who shall have executive control and supervision of the probation service and who shall devote his full-time during business hours to the duties of his office. Subject to the approval and consent of the chief justice for administration and management, the commissioner may appoint deputies, supervisors and assistants necessary for the performance of his duties. Said commissioner, deputies, supervisors and assistants, shall receive a salary to be fixed by the chief justice for administration and management and subject to appropriation. Subject to the approval and direction of the chief justice for administration and management, the commissioner shall perform such duties and responsibilities as otherwise provided by law or as designated from time to time by the chief justice for administration and management, and shall be responsible for: making recommendations to the first justice and the chief justice for administration and management on the appointment of chief probation officers, assistant chief probation officers and probation officers; the supervision and evaluation of all probation programs within the trial court; the evaluation of the probation service in each court of the commonwealth; the compilation, evaluation, and dissemination of statistical information on crime, delinquency, and appropriate family service matters available in his records; the recruitment, training, and educational development of probation officers; the evaluation of the work performance of probation officers; planning, initiating, and developing volunteer, diversion, and other programs in consultation with probation officers throughout the commonwealth.

Section 99. The commissioner of probation shall supervise the probation work in all of the courts of the commonwealth and for such purposes he and his staff shall have access to all probation records of said courts. Subject to the approval of the chief justice for administration and management, the commissioner shall establish reports and forms to be maintained by probation officers; procedures to be followed by probation officers; standards and rules of probation work, including methods and procedures of investigation, mediation, supervision, case work, record keeping, accounting, caseload and case management. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations concerning probation officers or offices provided said rules and regulations have been approved in writing by the chief justice for administration and management subject to chapter one hundred and fifty E. The commissioner shall assist the chief justice for administration and management in developing standards and procedures for the performance evaluation of probation officers, and shall assist each first justice in evaluating the work performance of probation officers. The commissioner shall receive all notices of intended disciplinary action against a probation officer or supervising probation officer including reprimand, fine, suspension, demotion or discharge, that may be initiated by a first justice, supervisor or chief probation officer. The commissioner shall develop and conduct basic orientation and in-service training programs for probation officers, such programs to be held at such times and for such periods as he shall determine. He shall conduct research studies relating to crime and delinquency, and may participate with other public and private agencies in joint research studies. The commissioner shall have the responsibility for assessing the needs of probation offices and assisting the first justices in this effort. He may recommend to first justices, or the chief justice for administration and management the appointment and assignment of additional probation or clerical personnel or both. The commissioner shall annually submit written budget recommendations for the probation service to the chief justice for administration and management. These recommendations shall be in addition to the budget requests submitted by the first justices on behalf of their respective courthouse or courthouses, including probation offices. The commissioner shall annually conduct regional meetings with chief probation officers to discuss the budget needs of the local probation offices. The commissioner may hold conferences on probation throughout the commonwealth. The traveling expenses of trial court justices or probation officers authorized by the chief justice for administration and management to attend any such conference shall be paid by the commonwealth.

SECTION 192. Section ninety-nine A of said chapter two hundred and seventy-six is hereby repealed.

SECTION 193. Chapter 278 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 18, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 18. A defendant who is before the Boston municipal court or a district court on a criminal offense within the court's final jurisdiction shall plead not guilty or guilty, or with the consent of the court, nolo contendere. Such plea of guilty shall be submitted by the defendant and acted upon by the court; provided, however, that a defendant with whom the commonwealth cannot reach agreement for a recommended disposition shall be allowed to tender a plea of guilty together with a request for a specific disposition. Such request may include any disposition or dispositional terms within the court's jurisdiction, including, unless otherwise prohibited by law, a dispositional request that a guilty finding not be entered, but rather the case be continued without a finding to a specific date thereupon to be dismissed, such continuance conditioned upon compliance with specific terms and conditions or that the defendant be placed on probation pursuant to the provisions of section eighty-seven of chapter two hundred and seventy-six. If such a plea, with an agreed upon recommendation or with a dispositional request by the defendant, is tendered, the court shall inform the defendant that it will not impose a disposition that exceeds the terms of the agreed upon recommendation or the dispositional request by the defendant, whichever is applicable, without giving the defendant the right to withdraw the plea.

If a defendant, notwithstanding the requirements set forth hereinbefore, attempts to enter a plea or statement consisting of an admission of facts sufficient for finding of guilt, or some similar statement, such admission shall be deemed a tender of a plea of guilty for purposes of the procedures set forth in this section.

Any pretrial motion filed in a criminal case pending in the Boston municipal court or district court and decided before entry of defendant's decision on waiver of the right to jury trial shall not be refiled or reheard thereafter, except in the discretion of the court as substantial justice requires. Any such pretrial motion not filed or filed but not decided prior to entry of the defendant's decision on waiver of the right to jury trial may be filed thereafter but not later than twenty-one days after entry of said decision on waiver of the right to jury trial, except for good cause shown.

SECTION 194. Sections nineteen to twenty-two, inclusive, of said chapter two hundred and seventy-eight are hereby repealed.

SECTION 195. Section 23 of said chapter 278, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 2, the words "jury-of-six session in a".

SECTION 196. Sections twenty-four to twenty-six, inclusive, of said chapter two hundred and seventy-eight are hereby repealed.

SECTION 197. Section 28 of said chapter 278, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 2, the words "in jury session".

SECTION 198. Section 1A of chapter 279 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the second paragraph.

SECTION 199. Section 26 of chapter 537 of the acts of 1986 is hereby amended by striking out the word "four", inserted by section 1 of chapter 188 of the acts of 1989, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- six and one-half.

SECTION 200. Section 27 of said chapter 537 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 4, the word "ninety-three", inserted by section 581 of chapter 133 of the acts of 1992, and inserting in place thereof the following word:- ninety-four.

SECTION 201. The first sentence of section 17 of chapter 203 of the acts of 1988 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the word "ninety" and inserting in place thereof the word:- ninety-six.

SECTION 202. The justice who is the chief administrative justice of the trial court on the effective date of this act shall continue to serve as the chief justice for administration and management, as provided by section one of chapter two hundred and eleven B of the General Laws, for five years from the effective date of this act and he shall be eligible to be reappointed for additional five-year terms.

The justices who are the administrative or chief justices of the superior, district, probate and family, juvenile, housing, Boston municipal and land court departments of the trial court on the effective date of this act shall continue to serve as chief justice of their respective department, as provided by section one of chapter two hundred and eleven B, for five years from the effective date of this act and they shall each be eligible for reappointment to the position of chief justice for additional five-year terms. Any of said justices may be removed from their position as chief justices when it is determined to be in the best interests of the administration of justice by the chief justice for administration and management. A chief justice, so appointed, may be removed from that office upon a determination by the chief justice for administration and management that such removal is in the best interests of the administration of justice. Any chief justice so removed may appeal such removal to the supreme judicial court and a majority of the justices of said court shall determine the matter.

Any justice who is serving as the first or presiding justice of a division on the effective date of this act shall each continue to serve in said position for a term of five years from the effective date of this act and shall be eligible to be reappointed for additional five-year terms. A first justice, so appointed, may be removed from that office upon a determination by the chief justice of his department that such removal is in the best interests of the administration of justice. Any first justice so removed may appeal such removal to the chief justice for administration and management who shall determine the matter.

Any clerk who has been appointed to said position by the governor, prior to the effective date of this act shall continue to serve as clerk for a term consistent with the commission by which he was originally appointed, subject, however, to good behavior and to retirement under the provisions of any general or special law relative to retirement systems.

SECTION 203. Notwithstanding the provisions in section one of chapter two hundred and eighteen of the General Laws, excepting from the jurisdiction of the divisions of the district court department cases of delinquent children and petitions brought under sections twenty-four and thirty-nine E of chapter one hundred and nineteen of the General Laws, each division of the district court department having jurisdiction over such cases and petitions as of the effective date of this act, shall continue to exercise jurisdiction over such cases and petitions, and shall continue to accept such cases and petitions for filing and issue process therein, until such time as a division of the juvenile court department having territorial jurisdiction corresponding to that of such division of the district court department is established or January first, nineteen hundred and ninety-six, whichever shall first occur. Notwithstanding the aforementioned provisions of section one of chapter two hundred and eighteen of the General Laws, at any time on or after the effective date of July first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three a clerk or assistant clerk of any division of the district court department shall accept for filing, and issue process in, any case or matter as to which the juvenile court department has jurisdiction, and such process shall have the same force and effect as if issued by a clerk of a division of the juvenile court department, until such time as a clerk takes office in the corresponding division of the juvenile court department.

SECTION 204. Except as otherwise provided in this act, all personnel employed in the judicial system of the commonwealth shall continue to serve therein without reduction in compensation or loss of seniority, vacation, benefits or retirement rights, notwithstanding the enactment of any other section of this act, provided that the provisions of this section shall not be interpreted so as to prevent any person employed by the judicial branch from being removed, demoted or disciplined, or to prevent any change in the position, title, compensation or vacation or other rights of such an employee, in the manner provided by law on the effective date of the other sections of this act.

SECTION 205. The chief justice for administration and management shall prepare a report on trial court unification. In preparing said study, said chief justice may consult with the justices of the supreme judicial court, the appeals court and the trial court, and nonjudicial court personnel, members of the general court, members of the executive department, the attorney general, representatives of the bar, academic experts in the field and members of the general public. Said report shall study the issue of unification of the departments of the trial court, review the experience of the regional pilot trial court unification projects, and may investigate the experience of other states with consolidation, review the work of academic experts and others on the topic, and make recommendations for legislative or judicial action. The report shall be submitted to the supreme judicial court, the governor, the joint committee on the judiciary and the house and senate committees on ways and means on or before December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three.

SECTION 206. Notwithstanding any general or special law, the chief justice for administration and management is hereby authorized to establish pilot trial court unification projects in two geographic areas of the commonwealth. Said chief justice, with the approval of the supreme judicial court, shall determine the boundaries of said areas, within which the various departments of the trial court shall be considered consolidated into one court under uniform management; provided, however, that said areas shall not be established within the counties of Suffolk or Middlesex. Within each area, notwithstanding any general or special law or rule to the contrary, said chief justice, or his designee, with the approval of the supreme judicial court, may determine matters of court administration and management, jurisdiction, procedure, venue, assignment of cases, assignment and supervision of justices and other judicial and non-judicial personnel, facility usage, rules and standards of practice, or other similar matters necessary to achieve the unification of the various trial court departments within said area. Said determinations need not be uniform between said areas. Said chief justice shall report quarterly to the joint committee on the judiciary and the house and senate committees on ways and means on said pilot areas.

SECTION 207. Criminal actions commenced in Essex and Hampden counties prior to July first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three shall be governed to conclusion by the provisions of chapter five hundred and thirty-seven of the acts of nineteen hundred and eighty-six.

SECTION 208. Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter thirty-two of the General Laws or of any general law to the contrary, the state retirement board, established under the provisions of section eighteen of chapter ten of the General Laws, shall establish and implement a retirement incentive for judicial employees, hereinafter referred to as the retirement incentive program, in accordance with the provision of this act; provided, that, in order to be deemed eligible by said board for any of the benefit options under the retirement incentive program, an employee (i) shall be an employee of the judicial branch of the commonwealth on the effective date of this act, (ii) shall have been a member in active service of the state retirement system on July first, nineteen hundred and ninety-two, (iii) shall be classified in Group 1 or Group 2 of said retirement system in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (g) of subdivision (2) of section three of said chapter thirty-two, (iv) shall be eligible to receive a superannuation retirement allowance in accordance with the provision of subdivision (1) of section five of said chapter thirty-two or of subdivision (1) of section ten of said chapter thirty-two upon the date of his written application with said board, (v) shall not be serving as a chief justice or an associate of the supreme judicial court, a chief justice or any associate justice of the appeals court, or any justice of the trial court, and (vi) shall have filed such written application with said board in accordance with section two of this act. Said retirement incentive shall be limited to three hundred eligible employees as defined by this section. The state board of retirement shall stamp the date and time of receipt on each application filed for retirement under this act and process early retirement approvals in order of receipt of such application, from the earliest date to the latest date; provided, however, that said application may be delivered in person or by mail. No employee shall be eligible for more than one of the incentives offered herein; and no employee may become eligible for one incentive by virtue of the application of a different incentive.

For the purposes of the provisions of this act relative to the retirement incentive for the judicial employees, words shall have the same meaning as in chapter thirty-two of the General Laws, unless otherwise expressly provided or unless the context clearly requires otherwise. Any employee of the commonwealth who retires and receives an additional benefit in accordance with the provisions of this act shall be deemed to be retired for superannuation under the provision of said chapter thirty-two and shall be so subject to any and all provisions of said chapter thirty-two.

SECTION 209. Notwithstanding so much of the provisions of section five of chapter thirty-two of the General Laws that requires a retirement date within four months of the filing of an application for superannuation retirement, in order to receive the retirement benefit provided by this act, an eligible employee, shall file this application for retirement under the provisions of this act with the state retirement board on or after February twelfth, nineteen hundred and ninety-three but no later than March fifth, nineteen hundred and ninety-three; provided, however, that the retirement date requested shall be March twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred and ninety-three.

SECTION 210. Any employee who is eligible for the retirement incentive program in accordance with the provisions of this act may request in his application for retirement that the state retirement board credit him with an additional retirement benefit in accordance with the provision of this section; provided, however, that each such employee shall request and receive a combination of years of creditable service and years of age, the sum of which shall not be greater than five years, for the purposes of determining his superannuation retirement allowance pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (a) of subdivision (2) of section five of chapter thirty-two of the General Laws.

Notwithstanding such credit, the total normal yearly amount of the retirement allowance, as determined in accordance with the provisions of said section five of said chapter thirty-two, of any employee who retires and receives the retirement benefit provided by this act shall not exceed four-fifths of the average annual rate of his regular compensation as determined in accordance with said section five of said chapter thirty-two.

SECTION 211. For any married employee who retires and receives an additional benefit under the retirement incentive program, an election of a retirement option under the provisions of section twelve of chapter thirty-two of the General Laws shall not be valid unless (i) it is accompanied by the signature of the member's spouse indicating the member's spouse's knowledge and understanding of the retirement option selected, or (ii) the spouse has received notice of such election. If any member who is married files an election which is not so accompanied the state retirement board shall within fifteen days notify the member's spouse by registered mail of the option election, and the election shall not take effect until thirty days following the date on which such notification is sent, and such election may be changed by the member at any time within said thirty days, or at any other time permitted under said chapter thirty-two. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to affect the effective date of any retirement allowance, but in the event of any election having been filed which is not so accompanied, the payment of any allowance so elected shall not be commenced earlier than thirty days after the sending by the retirement board of the notice required hereunder.

SECTION 212. The state retirement board, established under the provisions of section eighteen of chapter ten shall provide retirement counseling services to employees who choose to retire under the retirement incentive program. Said counseling shall include, but not be limited to, the following provisions: (i) the additional benefit options available under the retirement incentive program; (ii) the election of a retirement option under the provisions of section twelve of chapter thirty-two of the General Laws; (iii) restrictions on employment after retirement; (iv) the provision of health care benefits under the provisions of chapter thirty-two A of the General Laws; (v) the payment of cost of living adjustments; (vi) the effect of federal and state income taxation. Each such employee shall sign a sworn statement that he has received such counseling prior to the approval by the state retirement board of such employees' application for superannuation retirement and additional benefits under said retirement incentive program.

SECTION 213. The commissioner of public employee retirement administration shall analyze, study, and evaluate the costs attributable to the additional benefits payable under the retirement incentive program in accordance with the provisions of this act; provided that said commissioner shall file the report with the joint committee on public service and the house and senate committees on ways and means on or before May thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-three.

SECTION 214. The secretary of administration and finance shall prepare a funding schedule to reflect the costs and liabilities attributable to the additional benefits payable under the retirement incentive program in accordance with the provisions of this act which shall be designed to reduce the commonwealth's additional pension liability attributable to such costs and liabilities to zero on or before June thirtieth, two thousand; provided, that in preparing such schedule, said secretary shall consider the analysis of the commissioner of public employee retirement administration filed in accordance with the provisions of this act; and provided further, that said secretary shall annually update such schedule until said June thirtieth, two thousand. Said secretary shall file such funding schedule with the joint committee on public service and the house and senate on ways and means committees on or before July first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three and shall file updates thereto annually on or before March first of each year; provided that if within forty-five days of each such filing, none of the committees shall have taken action to disapprove such schedule or update thereto, such schedule or update shall be deemed to be approved; provided further, however, if such schedule is not so approved, said secretary shall review any comments made by such committees and prepare and submit another schedule in accordance with the provisions of this section; provided, further, that such other schedule shall be filed with the joint committee on public service and the house and senate ways and means committees within thirty days of such disapproval.

SECTION 215. A person who retires under the provisions of this act and is eligible to receive payment in lieu of accrued vacation time, unused sick leave or any other severance payment program shall receive fifty percent of the total amount of such payments due during the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-three, and the remaining fifty percent before July thirty-first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three.

SECTION 215A. The ancillary costs attributable to any employee of the judiciary who retires under the optional retirement plan established by this act, limited to the payment of accrued vacation, unused sick leave or any other severance payment, shall be paid out of the sums appropriated or otherwise made available to the judiciary for the fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-three; provided, that the judiciary shall not receive additional supplemental funds for the payment of said ancillary costs. Fifty percent of the total premium cost for health insurance provided to any employee who so retires shall also be paid out of the sums appropriated or otherwise made available to the judiciary for the fiscal year nineteen hundred and ninety-three; provided, that any employee who so retires shall not pay more than the percentage contribution charged to any other retiree of the judiciary with comparable health insurance coverage; and provided further that the judiciary shall not receive additional supplemental funds to pay said insurance costs.

SECTION 216. The chief administrative justice shall list each position made vacant by the retirement of an employee under the retirement incentive program and receiving an additional benefit in accordance with the provisions of this act and shall file such list with the joint committee on public service, the joint committee on judiciary, and the house and senate ways and means committees on or before May first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three; provided that, for each such position, such list shall include the line-item of section two, two A or two B of chapter one hundred and thirty-three of the acts of nineteen hundred and ninety-two in which such position is funded, the classification title of such position, the salary range for such title and the salary payable to the person who so retired from such position.

SECTION 217. The chief administrative justice shall prepare a report listing which of the positions made vacant by the retirement of any employee under the retirement incentive program and receiving an additional benefit in accordance with the provisions of this act that he shall have determined to be critical and essential to the operations of the services provided by the judiciary and to be necessary to fill during the fiscal years ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-three and June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-four; provided that such report shall include the following: (i) the classified title of each such position, (ii) the number of such positions listed in such report with such title, and (iii) the salary range payable to each such position that said chief administrative justice shall have determined that such position shall be filed. Such report shall be filed with the joint committee on public service, the joint committee on judiciary, and the house and senate ways and means committees on or before May first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three.

The chief administrative justice may also prepare one or more supplementary reports to the first report in the same form if he shall determine that any such supplementary report shall be necessary and shall file such a supplementary report with the joint committee on public service, the joint committee on judiciary, and the house and senate ways and means committees from time to time as is necessary.

SECTION 218. On or after the filing by the chief administrative justice of the first report on critical and essential positions but before July first, nineteen hundred and ninety-four, no position made vacant by the retirement of any employee under the retirement incentive program shall be filled by the judiciary on a permanent or temporary basis and the controller shall not authorize the payment of any regular compensation, including paid leave, vacations, salary in lieu of vacation, payments in lieu of maintenance, holiday pay, overtime pay and salary differentials from any account funded by an appropriation in section two, section two A or section two B of chapter one hundred and thirty-three of the acts of nineteen hundred and ninety-two until such position shall be included on such list of positions in the first or supplementary report that shall have been submitted by said chief administrative justice to the joint committee on public service, the joint committee on judiciary, and the house and senate ways and means committees in accordance with the provisions of this act.

SECTION 219. Any nonjudicial employee of the judicial branch who retires from active service in accordance with the provisions of this act or the provisions of chapter thirty-two of the General Laws may be employed on a part-time basis by the judicial branch in accordance with the provisions of section ninety-one of said chapter thirty-two.

SECTION 220. The chief justice for administration and management shall prepare a study on regional management of the court system. In preparing said study, said chief justice may establish a task force to study methods of strengthening regional management of the court system and consider the appropriate role of regional administrative justices, the needs and resources of the various regions of the commonwealth, and the most effective management system to maximize appropriate regional authority. The task force may include judges of the trial court, members of the general court, representatives of the attorney general and district attorneys, and lawyers in private practice. In establishing the task force, said chief justice shall try to achieve geographic balance among the various regions of the state other than the Boston area.

Said chief justice shall submit his report to the joint committee on the judiciary and the house and senate committees on ways and means on or before December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three.

SECTION 221. The chief justice for administration and management shall prepare a study on civil trial practice in the courts of the commonwealth and on eliminating the two-trial system for civil cases in the trial court. In preparing said study, said chief justice may establish a task force to study methods of improving the efficient management of civil matters in the court system. The task force shall consider the elimination of the civil remand-removal system, the appropriate filing fee for civil matters and the appropriateness of basing said filing fee on the nature of the cause of action and the election of a trial by jury. Said study shall include recommendations for legislative or judicial action. The study shall be submitted to the governor, the supreme judicial court, the joint committee on the judiciary and the house and senate committees on ways and means on or before December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three.

SECTION 222. The chief justice for administration and management shall study the feasibility of establishing a night court program. Said study shall be completed and recommendations on the implementation of such night court program shall be reported to the house and senate committees on ways and means on or before October first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three.

SECTION 223. The chief justice for administration and management shall study the relocation and modification of district court jurisdictional lines in an attempt to establish parity to caseloads. Said chief justice shall prepare a plan for said relocation and modification with the assistance of the court facilities council and with access to any and all information to prepare a comprehensive plan. Said plan shall include recommendations for legislative action. The plan shall be submitted to the Governor, the supreme judicial court, the joint committee on the judiciary, and house and senate committees on ways and means on or before December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three.

SECTION 224. There shall be established a task force to prepare technical corrections to this act, composed of the chief justice for administration and management, or his designee, and the chairmen of the joint committee on the judiciary, or their designees. Said task force shall examine this act and recommend proposed corrective and technical amendments as may be necessary to effectuate the purpose of this act.

SECTION 225. If any part of this act conflicts with the terms of a collective bargaining agreement in effect on the effective date of this act, the terms of such collective bargaining agreement shall prevail until its expiration.

SECTION 226. Section one hundred and ninety-one of this act shall take effect upon its passage and sections six, seven, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-three, twenty-four, sixty, one hundred thirty-five through one hundred thirty-seven, one hundred seventy-eight through one hundred ninety, inclusive, shall take effect on January first, nineteen hundred and ninety-four and shall apply to criminal actions commenced on or after said date. For the purposes of this section and section two hundred commencement of a criminal action shall be defined as the date of arrest, or in cases not initiated by arrest, the date of the issuance of a criminal complaint.

SECTION 227. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections one and two of chapter two hundred and eleven B of the General Laws, from the period January first, nineteen hundred and ninety-four to June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-four, there shall be three hundred and twenty-seven justices and special justices of the trial court, including nineteen justices appointed to the juvenile court department; and from the period July first, nineteen hundred and ninety-four to June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-five, there shall be three hundred and thirty-four justices and special justices of the trial court including twenty-six justices appointed to the juvenile court department.

SECTION 227A. It is the intention of the legislature that the provisions of this act, shall take effect and operate as a whole, and, therefore, notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, if any provision, or any part of any provision, with the exception of sections eighteen, nineteen, twenty-three, sixty-six, one hundred and thirty-nine, one hundred and forty-one, one hundred and forty-two, one hundred and eighty-one, one hundred and eighty-two to one hundred and eighty-seven, inclusive, one hundred and ninety-three to two hundred, inclusive, two hundred and seven, sections one B, one C and section twenty A of this act is declared to be unconstitutional, or otherwise without legal effect, by the supreme judicial court in a case or by any form of court order, then this entire act shall cease to be effective and any general or special law which is amended or repealed by this act shall be deemed to be revived in the form that it appeared prior to the effective date of this act; provided, that the supreme judicial court shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction of all causes or actions challenging the constitutionality of any provision of this act. `tuc CONFERENCE REPORT CONTAINED NO SECTION 228, 229, 230 OR 231

SECTION 232. Sections sixty-nine, seventy, and one hundred and sixty-four shall be effective on the first of July, nineteen hundred and ninety-five.

SECTION 233. Sections seven to seventeen, inclusive, twenty to twenty-two, inclusive, twenty-four to thirty, inclusive, one hundred and forty, one hundred and sixty-two, one hundred and sixty-six, one hundred and sixty-seven and two hundred and three shall take effect on July first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three.