Courts of Massachusetts

Courts Of Massachusetts

Before 1978, all trial courts except the Land Court were county or local courts funded through the counties. The Massachusetts Trial Court was created by Chapter 478 of the Acts of 1978 that reorganized the courts into seven Trial Court Departments. Administrative Justices became responsible for the administration of each court department and as part of the overhaul, all judges became state judges with the same salary and benefits.

A second court reorganization in 1992 greatly expanded the Juvenile Court Department and ended trial de novo in the District Court Department. It also replaced Administrative Justices with Chief Justices and created a central office headed by the Chief Justice for Administration and Management.

As of December 2010, there are 9 Chief Justices and 401 Associate Justices positions authorized by statute in the system with trial judges sitting in more than one 130 locations across the state.

Courts of Massachusetts include:

State courts of Massachusetts

Judicial courts

• Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
  • Massachusetts Appeals Court
    • Massachusetts Trial Court
      • Massachusetts Superior Court (14 divisions)
      • Massachusetts District Court
      • Massachusetts Boston Municipal Court
      • Massachusetts Land Court
      • Massachusetts Housing Court
      • Massachusetts Juvenile Court
      • Massachusetts Probate and Family Court

Administrative courts

• Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board
• Massachusetts Division of Labor Relations

Federal courts located in Massachusetts

• United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (headquartered in Boston, having jurisdiction over the United States District Courts of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico)
• United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts