Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title VII Chapter 41
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 41, § 101 (2026)

Commissioner of public safety; powers and duties

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 101. If a town so votes under section twenty-one the selectmen shall appoint a suitable person as chief of the police and fire departments who may be designated as commissioner of public safety. He shall have authority, subject to the approval of the selectmen, to appoint a deputy as chief of the police and one or more deputy chiefs of the fire department. He shall have all the authority of constables and police officers in towns and also the powers and duties of fire engineers, and, subject to the approval of the selectmen, shall fix the compensation of police officers and permanent and call members of the fire department. Such compensation shall not exceed, however, in the aggregate the amount appropriated therefor by the town. The deputy chiefs of the fire department shall under him have the powers of fire engineers relative to the extinguishing of fires in the town and the protection of life and property in case of fire.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2 cases, 1976–1997 · leading case: Town of Plymouth v. Civil Serv. Comm'n, 13 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 650 (Mass. 1997).
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Town of Plymouth v. Civil Serv. Comm'n, 13 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 650 (Mass. 1997). “” G. L. c. 41, § 101 A. The personnel administrator’s rule, requiring manda- *6 tory termination for violation of the smoking prohibition, is consistent with the legislative directive, and, therefore, has the force of law.”
O'Leary v. Town Manager of Arlington, 356 N.E.2d 697 (Mass. 1976). “Although a consolidation of the police and fire departments could have been achieved by a vote of the town under G. L. c. 41, § 101, concerning the appointment of a commissioner of public safety, that statute does not forbid the action taken by the town under its town manager…”
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