Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title II Chapter 17

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 17, § 4

Other divisions; directors; civil service

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Section 4. There shall be in the department a division of sanatoria, a division of communicable and venereal diseases, a division of food and drugs, a division of alcoholism, a division of drug rehabilitation, a division of organ transplants and such other divisions as the commissioner, with the approval of the public health council, may from time to time determine. Each division shall be in charge of a director. The director of a division, other than the divisions of alcoholism and drug rehabilitation, shall be appointed by the commissioner, subject to the approval of the public health council. The director of the division of alcoholism shall be appointed by the commissioner, with the approval of the secretary of health and human services. The director of the division of drug rehabilitation shall be appointed by the commissioner, with the approval of the secretary of health and human services. The director of each division, other than divisions of alcoholism and drug rehabilitation, shall be subject to chapter thirty-one. The director of the division of alcoholism shall be a physician with special training or experience in the treatment of behavioral disorders or medico-social problems, or a person qualified by training and experience in the treatment of behavioral disorders or medico-social problems or, in the organization or administration of treatment services for persons suffering from behavioral disorders or medico-social problems. The provisions of chapter thirty-one shall not apply to the director of the division of alcoholism nor to physicians and psychiatrists therein who have full medical or psychiatric responsibilities, as opposed to administrative responsibilities, or to nurses. The provisions of chapter thirty-one shall not apply to the director of the division of drug rehabilitation. Whenever, as a condition of receiving federal grants for the purpose and programs of chapter one hundred eleven B, the federal government requires that such director of physicians and psychiatrists be subject to the civil service law, the exemption of such officer or employee from the operation of the civil service law shall not apply.

There shall also be in the department a registry of vital records and statistics which may be located within such division as the commissioner determines to be appropriate. The commissioner shall appoint a registrar, subject to the approval of the public health council. The registrar shall be subject to chapter thirty-one and shall, under the supervision of the commissioner, enforce all laws relative to the registry and return of births, marriages and deaths, and may prosecute in the name of the commonwealth any violations thereof. The department may, after public hearing, promulgate regulations to insure the uniform administration of all laws relative to the registry and return of births, marriages and deaths. Proposed regulations shall be prepared for the department by the registrar and by the majority of the members of a seven person committee which shall include the registrar, no less than four town clerks as defined in subsection (e) of section one E of chapter forty-six, a genealogist to be chosen from a list of three to be submitted by the Massachusetts Historical Genealogical Society, and a historian to be chosen from a list of three to be submitted by the Massachusetts Historical Commission to be appointed by the registrar. Said regulations shall not unduly restrict access to said records by qualified genealogists and historians. The committee shall meet annually, no later than March first each year. At least twenty-one days prior to any public hearing held pursuant to section two of chapter thirty A, the commissioner shall send notice of such hearing to all city and town clerks. Said notice shall be published at least once, at least twenty-one days prior to said public hearing in the major newspapers throughout the commonwealth.

The responsibility of the division of communicable and venereal diseases shall include, but not be limited to, the prevention and control of communicable and venereal diseases and the provision of diagnostic and treatment care of those having or suspected of having a venereal disease, or any program relating thereto.

The commissioner may require that a physician who is to be appointed a director be certified as to his qualifications by one of the physicians specialty boards approved by the Council on Medical Education and Hospitals of the American Medical Association.

There shall be within the division of food and drugs a furniture and bedding inspection section, a drugs control section, a poultry inspection section, a fish inspection section and such other sections as the director, with the approval of the department, may from time to time determine.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1940–2021 · leading case: Goodridge v. Department of Public Health
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Goodridge v. Department of Public Health (2003) mass · cites it 3× “Among its responsibilities, the department oversees the registry of vital records and statistics (registry), which “enforce[s] all laws” relative to the issuance of marriage licenses and the keeping of marriage records, see G. L. c. 17, § 4, and which promulgates policies and…”
Cote-Whitacre v. Department of Public Health (2006) mass · cites it 4× “See also G. L. c. 17, § 4 (pertaining to responsibilities of registrar).”
Secretary of the Commonwealth v. City Clerk of Lowell (1977) mass · cites it 4× “" G.L.c. 17, § 4, as amended through St. 1976, c.”
Culliton v. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (2001) mass “G. L. c. 17, § 4. In the case of births, a hospital’s reporters must provide certain information to the department in addition to listing the “parents” of a child bom.”
Town of Lakeville v. City of Cambridge (1940) mass “It is conceded that on the last mentioned date he had a settlement in Cambridge. On that date he was suffering from tuberculosis and became a patient at the Lakeville State Sanatorium at Lakeville, an institution operated by the Commonwealth.”
Stylianos v. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (2021) mad “2003); Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 17, § 4 ; Mass. Gen. Laws ch.”
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