Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 185C, § 1 (2026)
Housing court department; composition; definitions
Section 1. The housing court department established pursuant to section 1 of chapter 211B shall include: (i) a western division consisting of the municipalities in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties; (ii) a central division consisting of the municipalities in Worcester county and the municipalities of Ashland, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hudson, Marlborough, Natick, Sherborn, Sudbury and Wayland; (iii) a northeastern division consisting of the municipalities in Essex county and the municipalities of Acton, Ashby, Ayer, Bedford, Billerica, Boxborough, Burlington, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Dracut, Dunstable, Everett, Groton, Lexington, Lincoln, Littleton, Lowell, Malden, Maynard, Melrose, North Reading, Pepperell, Reading, Shirley, Stoneham, Stow, Tewksbury, Townsend, Tyngsborough, Wakefield, Waltham, Watertown, Westford, Weston, Wilmington, Winchester and Woburn and the jurisdiction known as Devens established in chapter 498 of the acts of 1993; (iv) a southeastern division consisting of the municipalities in Barnstable, Bristol and Nantucket counties and the county of Dukes County and the municipalities of Carver, Duxbury, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Hingham, Hull, Kingston, Lakeville, Marion, Marshfield, Mattapoisett, Middleborough, Norwell, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Rochester, Rockland, Scituate and Wareham; (v) a metro south division consisting of the municipalities in Norfolk county, except Brookline, and the municipalities of Abington, Bridgewater, Brockton, East Bridgewater, West Bridgewater and Whitman; and (vi) an eastern division consisting of the municipalities in Suffolk county and the municipalities of Arlington, Belmont, Brookline, Cambridge, Medford, Newton and Somerville. Wherever the words ''housing court'' are used, or wherever in this chapter the word ''court'' is used in that context, they shall refer to a division of the housing court department; and the words ''judge of the housing court'' or the word ''judge'', in context, shall mean an associate justice of the trial court appointed to a division of the housing court department.