Massachusetts Court Information, Location and Rules

There is something quite unique about the judicial system in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. In every state of the country there are 2 sets of courts – federal and state, and this is the case in Massachusetts as well. However, this state has quite a large number of state courts, which is quite different from others in the country.

The Massachusetts court state system can be divided into 2 groups, and they are the Judicial Courts and Administrative Courts.

Here are the different Judicial courts in the state:

•    The Supreme Court
•    The Appeals Court
•    The Superior Court (present in 14 divisions)
•    The District Court
•    The Boston Municipal Court
•    The Land Court
•    The Housing Court
•    The Juvenile Court
•    The Family and Probate Court

Here are the Administrative Courts in the state:

•    The Appellate Tax Board
•    The Labor Relations Commission

At the top of the legal system in the State of Massachusetts is the Supreme Court (http://www.mass.gov/courts/sjc/), which is also often referred to as the ‘court of last resort’. It reserves all regulatory and supervisory powers over the other courts of Massachusetts. Next is the Appeals Court (http://www.mass.gov/courts/appealscourt/), followed by the Trial Courts (http://www.mass.gov/courts/courtsandjudges/courts/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/trialcourt.html).

Authorities of Massachusetts Courts

While in theory the best method to resolve disputes once and for all is by moving to the court, the actual process can be rather tricky and take up a lot of your time. You must also have some knowledge about the various laws and regulations of the state and the court hierarchy.

This makes a lot of sense because of the many courts within this state. Which court has the jurisdiction to accept your case, and in the event of a judgment entered against you, where should you file the appeal? You should know about all these issues beforehand.

Of course the primary work of the MA courts is to hear your case, consider everything about it and finally pass judgment, but the fact is the work of the court does not end here. The courthouses also serve as repositories for vital public records. Right from the acquirement of such information to their storage and retrieval (whenever required), everything falls under the responsibility of the courts of Massachusetts.

You can access all the information about the legal system in the state, the court regulations and everything else from the state website. The official website of the Massachusetts court system is

http://www.mass.gov/courts/courtsandjudges/courts/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/index.html

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This is a virtual goldmine when you need to know more about how the courts in the state work and when you want to find a court in Massachusetts.

In the state legal hierarchy there are basically 3 levels. At the bottom tier are the trial courts, on top of that is the Appeals Court and at the very top is the Supreme Court.

Here are the trial courts in Massachusetts:

•    Boston Municipal Court
•    Superior Court
•    District Court
•    Land Court
•    Housing Court
•    Juvenile Court, Probate and Family Court

Contacting the Courts

All the courts in Massachusetts are legally bound to follow the prevalent laws and regulations of the state. You can contact the Supreme Court of the state through the Public Information Office. The address is John Adams Courthouse, One Pemberton Square, Suite 1-100, Boston MA 02108-1724.

Or, you may also want to get in touch with the court authorities over the phone by calling 617-557-1114. In fact, it is this Office of Public Information that handles all media-related affairs, as well as the requests for the court records by the citizens of Massachusetts. When you need a copy of the court records, you must get in touch with the clerk’s office.