An Act relative to the designation of Jury Clerk in the Haverhill District Court

194th Legislature (2025-2026) Introduced by Barry Finegold

Adds the central district court of northern Essex (Haverhill) to the statute’s list of jury clerk-designated courts, an administrative change with no new funding.

Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on Senate Ways and Means

Main purpose

This bill amends Massachusetts General Laws, chapter 218, section 10 to add the phrase “central district court of northern Essex” to a list of courts. In practice, the change designates the Haverhill (central district of northern Essex) District Court in statute in relation to jury clerk designation/administration.

Key provisions

Amends Section 10 of Chapter 218 (as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition) by inserting, after the words “district court of Springfield;”, the following: “central district court of northern Essex;”.

The amendment is a single-line, technical change to the list of courts in the statute; it does not contain other substantive operational language in the provided text.

Who or what is affected

Primary: The Haverhill District Court (referred to in statute as the central district court of northern Essex) — specifically its designation/recognition in the statutory list that governs jury clerk duties/assignments.

Secondary: Court administration functions related to jury selection, jury clerk responsibilities, and any administrative processes that rely on the statutory listing of designated courts.

General public: Potentially jurors who receive summonses or directions tied to the designated jury clerk for that district (administrative impact only).

Fiscal and implementation impact

The bill text provided is a narrow statutory designation and contains no appropriation, staffing, or programmatic authorizations.

No direct fiscal note or appropriation is tied to this specific amendment in the materials provided. The change appears administrative/clerical in nature and is unlikely to require significant new spending.

Any small implementation tasks (updating internal forms, websites, notices) would be handled within existing court administrative resources.

Procedural status & timeline (from provided records)

Filed/Presented: Senate Docket No. 2205, filed 01/17/2025; petition presented by Senator Barry R. Finegold.

Referred to the Judiciary Committee (per docket).

Hearing scheduled: 06/03/2025, Room A-2 (listed times vary in records; see note below).

Related/previous: Similar matter appeared as Senate No. 2538 (2023–2024 session).

Notes and data inconsistencies

The package of documents provided also includes unrelated material (an Idaho FY2026 public safety appropriation fiscal note and references to federal senators). Those items appear to be from different bills/sessions and are not relevant to the Massachusetts statutory change described in the bill text.

Sponsors listed in the Massachusetts filing are Barry R. Finegold (petitioner). Any other sponsor names in the provided metadata appear inconsistent with the Massachusetts docket and likely pertain to other measures.

If you want, I can:
- Track subsequent committee actions or the outcome of the 06/03/2025 hearing.
- Compare the exact statutory list before and after amendment to show where the new phrase will appear in context.

Bill