Mass. Gen. Laws » Part III Title II Chapter 233
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 233, § 8 (2026)

Bodies authorized to summon witnesses; oath

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 8. Witnesses may be summoned to attend and testify and to produce books and papers at a hearing before a city council, or either branch thereof, or before a joint or special committee of the same or of either branch thereof, or before a board of selectmen, a board of police commissioners, a fire commissioner or a board of fire commissioners, a commissioner of public safety, a school board, the alcoholic beverages control commission established by section forty-three of chapter six, a licensing board or licensing authorities, as defined in section one of chapter one hundred and thirty-eight, a board of registrars of voters, the police commissioner or election commissioners of Boston, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, the state racing commission, the parole board or a board of appeals designated or appointed under section thirty of chapter forty, as to matters within their authority; and such witnesses shall be summoned in the same manner, be paid the same fees and be subject to the same penalties for default, as witnesses in civil cases before the courts. The presiding officer of such council, or of either branch thereof, or a member of any such committee, board or commission, or any such commissioner, may administer oaths to witnesses who appear before such council, branch thereof, committee, board, commission or commissioner, respectively.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5 cases, 1973–2007 · leading case: Bloom v. City of Worcester, 293 N.E.2d 268 (Mass. 1973).
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Bloom v. City of Worcester, 293 N.E.2d 268 (Mass. 1973). · cites it 8× “” As to the subpoena power, the city asserts that G. L. c. 233, § 8, as most recently amended by St.”
Town Taxi Inc. v. Police Comm'r of Boston, 387 N.E.2d 129 (Mass. 1979). “See also G. L. c. 233, § 8 (police commissioner may summon witnesses, compel production of documents); 1 K.”
Foster from Gloucester, Inc. v. City Council of Gloucester, 407 N.E.2d 363 (Mass. App. Ct. 1980). “The plaintiffs appear to have overlooked the power to subpoena witnesses under G. L. c. 233, § 8 (see Bloom v. Worcester, 363 Mass.”
In re Johnson, 877 N.E.2d 249 (Mass. 2007). “The respondent contends that the hearing officer wrongly quashed subpoenas that the respondent had issued on her own, *170 arguing that she was entitled to issue them under G. L. c. 233, § 8. We need not decide whether the statute applies to bar discipline proceedings because…”
Piccerelli v. Bd. of Selectmen of Swansea, 389 N.E.2d 793 (Mass. App. Ct. 1979). “The summons served on each plaintiff (G. L. c. 233, § 8) to appear at that hearing required his "presence .”
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