Mass. Gen. Laws » Part IV Title I Chapter 271
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 271, § 20 (2026)

Tickets, memoranda, books and sheets; nuisance; possession; concealment

✓ text as last checked Sept. 2026 (this copy records no edition or section history)
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Section 20. All lottery, policy or pool tickets, slips or checks, memoranda of any combination or other bet, manifold or other policy or pool books or sheets, are hereby declared a common nuisance and the possession thereof unlawful; and the possession of any such article, or of any other implements, apparatus or materials of any other form of gaming, shall be prima facie evidence of their use, by the person having them in possession, in the form of gaming in which like articles are commonly used. Any such article found upon the person of one lawfully arrested for violation of any law relative to lotteries, policy lotteries or policy, the buying or selling of pools or registering of bets or other form of gaming shall be competent evidence upon the trial of a complaint or indictment to which it may be relevant. If a person so arrested in a building or structure or part thereof conceals or attempts to conceal such articles upon his person or elsewhere, the possession and concealment or attempt at concealment thereof shall be prima facie evidence that the place in which the same occurs is kept, maintained, used or occupied for the form of gaming in which like articles are commonly used. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a gaming establishment licensed under chapter 23K from posting, advertising or displaying materials relevant to its gaming operations. Nothing in this section shall prohibit an operator licensed under chapter 23N from posting, advertising or displaying materials relevant to its sports wagering operations.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2 cases, 1963–1972 · leading case: Mobil Oil Corp. v. Attorney Gen., 280 N.E.2d 406 (Mass. 1972).
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Mobil Oil Corp. v. Attorney Gen., 280 N.E.2d 406 (Mass. 1972). · cites it 4× “271, § 7, which prohibits lotteries, and that the game pieces used in connection with game promotions are a common nuisance under G.L.c. 271, § 20, which makes possession of *403 lottery tickets unlawful.”
Commonwealth v. Mekalian, 194 N.E.2d 390 (Mass. 1963). “The Commonwealth’s contention that the defendants’ conduct constituted a common nuisance under G. L. c. 271, § 20, and was therefore a breach of the peace is without merit and requires no discussion.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.