Municipalities should be aware of the requirements for receiving funds from settlements of national litigation with Purdue and the...

On August 7, 2025, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) affirmed the mandatory forfeiture of a former state trooper’s pension following his...

DOR Guidance on Interest on Tax Taking Properties The Division of Local Services Municipal Law Finance Bureau has released Bulletin...

Your humble editor owes a mea culpa  to you, our discerning readers. The reflection on eighteenth century Town Meetings included in last...

Towns may be receiving a flurry of correspondence from the nationwide opioid settlement administrator in the coming weeks regarding the...

Massachusetts joined with nineteen other states to seek injunctive relief against a requirement from the Secretary of Transportation that...

In Cannata v. Town of Mashpee , decided by the Supreme Judicial Court on June 18, the appellant was a firefighter who had worked for the...

Updated Open Meeting Law Guide; Updated Charts for Procurement Processes; Updated Advisory on 3A The Attorney General has issued an ...

As we end another successful Town Meeting season, here are some satirical words reflecting on the process:    So did this Town with...

It is counterintuitive – how can the employer retaliate against an employee by giving the employee a raise? Yet that was the conclusion...

Knowledgeable readers will recall that in February, the State Auditor’s Division of Local Mandates issued an opinion  that G.L. c. 40A, §...

Communities that now or in the future receive settlement funds as a result of the class action litigation against 3M and DuPont for PFAS...

Guidance on Immigration     There have been two recent developments that provide guidance and assistance to local officials as concerns...

Harrington Heep is pleased to welcome the Town of Mansfield to the municipalities for which we serve as Town Counsel.

Our readers will no doubt be familiar with G.L. c. 40A, § 3, also known as the Dover Amendment, because of its protections for...

Towns are exempt from liability under the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act (MTCA) for claims based upon performance of “discretionary...

On April 30, the State Ethics Commission ordered a Medfield High School’s Head Football Coach to pay a $16,000 civil penalty for...

Welcome to the March issue of the Harrington Heep newsletter. Recently, Andrew Bettinelli and Donna Brewer presented before the Citizen...

Some of the more popular measures first enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, have been extended once again. On March 28, 2025,...

Changes to federal immigration enforcement policies highlight the necessity for towns to prepare to respond to federal immigration...