Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title IV Chapter 31
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 31, § 51 (2026)

Cities; civil service offices and positions

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 51. All positions in all cities shall be subject to the civil service law and rules except as provided by section forty-eight or other law and except that, in cities with less than one hundred thousand residents, positions which would fall within the labor service shall not be so subject unless the city council votes to accept the applicability of the civil service law and rules to the labor service.

Notwithstanding the provisions of section forty-eight, the following offices and positions in cities shall be subject to the civil service law and rules: (1) the position of parking meter supervisor in cities whose city councils vote to accept the applicability of civil service law and rules to such position; (2) the office or offices of chief of police or chief of fire department, or the officer performing similar duties, whatever his title, in cities which vote pursuant to the provisions of sections fifty-four and fifty-five to accept the applicability of the civil service law and rules to such office or offices; (3) any municipal office to which the civil service law and rules are made applicable pursuant to section fifty-three; and (4) any office or position to which the civil service law and rules were applicable immediately preceding the effective date of this chapter.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5 cases, 1987–2015 · leading case: Smith v. City of Boston, 144 F. Supp. 3d 177 (D. Mass. 2015).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Smith v. City of Boston, 144 F. Supp. 3d 177 (D. Mass. 2015). “The Commonwealth’s Statutory and Administrative Framework Under Massachusetts law, police sergeants seeking to be promoted to lieutenant are subject to the state civil service statutory promotion regime.”
Guiney v. Roache, 654 F. Supp. 1287 (D. Mass. 1987). “31, §§ 41-46 (1984); see also Mass.Gen.L. ch. 31, § 51 (1984). They do nothing to clarify substantive standards for susceptibility to discipline.”
Bradley v. City of Lynn, 403 F. Supp. 2d 161 (D. Mass. 2005). “” Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 31, § 51 . Pertinently, “[ojriginal and promotional appointments in police and fire forces of cities .”
Canavan v. Civil Serv. Comm'n, 802 N.E.2d 126 (Mass. App. Ct. 2004). “31, § 48, reads as follows: “Offices and positions in the service of cities and towns shall be subject to the civil service law and rules as provided by sections fifty-one, fifty-two, and fifty-three[,]” and in pertinent part, G. L. c. 31, § 51, reads: “All positions in all…”
Rendek v. Hodgson, 2001 Mass. App. Div. 120 (Mass. Dist. Ct., App. Div. 2001). “Lacking jurisdiction, as we do, to review the district court action, we need not reach the issue of whether the plaintiff’s cause of action pursuant to G.L.c. 31, §51 survived. Therefore, the appeal is dismissed.”
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.