Section 10 Chief justices; powers and duties
Section 10. A chief justice in addition to his judicial powers and duties as a justice of the trial court shall subject to the superintendence authority of the supreme judicial court as provided in section three of chapter two hundred and eleven and the administrative authority of the chief justice for administration and management, be the administrative head of his department, its clerks, other officers and employees subject to section ninety-nine of chapter two hundred and seventy-six and the appropriate collective bargaining agreement. A chief justice shall have the following power, authority and responsibility:
(i) The power to appoint, discipline, evaluate, transfer and define the duties of all non-judicial personnel within his department including special masters, court reporters, law clerks, temporary clerks and other support personnel consistent with the provisions of section eight and ten A; provided, however, that a chief justice shall not have the power to appoint non-judicial personnel serving in the office of a clerk, recorder or register, but shall have the authority to discipline said clerks, recorders and registers and all other personnel in the offices of said clerks, recorders or registers, upon the raising of any dispute between a first justice and a clerk, recorder or register. Any person aggrieved by any decision of a chief justice under this paragraph may appeal such decision to the chief justice for administration and management; provided, further, that no person holding a commission as a clerk of court, whether elected or appointed, a register of probate or a recorder shall be assigned under the provisions of this paragraph outside the department, division or court to which he is elected or appointed without his consent. Any clerk aggrieved by any transfer or assignment of himself or personnel of his office under this paragraph shall appeal to the chief justice for administration and management who shall forthwith hear and determine the matter;
(ii) the power to assign or to transfer justices appointed to his department of the trial court to any particular court within that department for such period or periods of time as the chief justice deems necessary; the chief justice shall also have the power to appoint regional justices and to define their duties. Any justice aggrieved by an order of the chief justice assigning or transferring him to a particular court other than that to which he was appointed, may appeal the assignment or transfer to the chief justice for administration and management who shall forthwith determine the matter;
(iii) The authority, prior to making assignments or transfers referred to in paragraph (ii) of this section, to ascertain, if the chief justice so desires, the respective preferences of the justices as to which court or courts, if any, they wish to be assigned or transferred. A justice, claiming to be aggrieved by an order of the chief justice assigning or transferring him to a particular court other than that to which he was appointed, may appeal the assignment or transfer to the chief justice for administration and management who shall forthwith hear and determine the matter;
(iv) The power to suspend any particular session in any court within his department; the power to move sessions so that the availability of court personnel is consistent with the needs of individual courts; and the power to transfer cases and matters from a court to any other court within his department, to consolidate cases, and to make such periodic adjustments in the scheduling and locations of court sessions as are deemed necessary for the proper administration of justice;
(v) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, when necessary to ensure the proper administration of justice, transfer employees of his department to serve where needed; impose discipline on such officers and employees, including dismissal and suspension with or without pay; provided, however, that said chief justice may, upon reasonable notice, temporarily transfer nonjudicial personnel within his department, divisions and places for holding court, and in no event shall any such transfer be more than a reasonable distance from the place where such personnel is employed unless the employee so transferred shall consent thereto; provided, further, that such transfer of the employee shall not be for more than ninety days, but such transfer may be extended for three consecutive ninety-day periods, provided that notice is given to the house and senate committees on ways and means upon each extension, including the employee’s position, duties, and reason for the transfer, but such transfer shall not exceed three hundred and sixty consecutive days. The first justice of the court to where the employee is transferred shall provide the first justice of the court to where the employee is permanently assigned with appropriate personnel records and records of activities, including records necessary for the payment of compensation; and provided, however, that this provision shall not apply to a clerk or clerk-magistrate, whether elected or appointed by the governor, register of probate or recorder;
(vi) the authority to visit any court within his department.
(vii) the authority to call conferences of any or all of the justices within his department;
(viii) the responsibility to compile a comprehensive written report of the operation of his department of the trial court at the conclusion of each fiscal year, and shall deliver said report together with recommendations to the chief justice for administration and management on or before October fifteenth of the ensuing fiscal year. The chief justices shall make such additional reports as may from time to time be required by the chief justice for administration and management;
(ix) the responsibility to perform such further administrative duties as may from time to time be assigned by the chief justice for administration and management;
(x) the responsibility, annually, to prepare and submit to the chief justice for administration and management a budget estimate, in detail, for the ordinary maintenance of his department of the trial court, and all revenue therefrom, as provided in clause (5) of the first paragraph of section three of chapter twenty-nine. Said budget estimate shall include judicial salaries and the salaries of employees within said department and shall include estimates of all sums which the commonwealth is obligated to pay under the provisions of chapter twenty-nine A;
(xi) the authority, upon receipt of an appropriated sum, to administer that appropriation;
(xii) the responsibility for the administrative management of the personnel, staff services and business of their departments, including financial administration and budget preparation, record-keeping, information systems and statistical controls, purchasing, planning, construction, case flow management, assignments of sittings of the justices of their respective departments, including justices not appointed thereto but assigned, for the time being therein. Each justice may delegate his responsibilities and powers hereunder and as otherwise provided by law to a justice, regional justice, first justice, court officer, clerk, or any employee of his department, for such period of time and with such limitations as he may impose, whenever in his opinion such delegation of authority will expedite the judicial business of the department; provided, however, that in the exercise or delegation of his powers, he shall in all cases act in a manner consistent with the policies and procedures established by the chief justice for administration and management;
(xiii) The power to set the days and hours during which courts within his department shall be open for business;
(xiv) The responsibility to sit and perform judicial duties, within his department, during the course of the calendar year;
(xv) The power to discipline any justice assigned or appointed to his department who refuses or fails to comply with any order concerning the performance of his duties as justice or any other lawful order of the chief justice of his department; provided, the chief justice shall also have the power to require any justice assigned or appointed to his department to participate in a judicial enhancement program in response to any action of such justice which brings the judiciary into disrepute, which lowers the public confidence in the judiciary or which impedes the administration of justice. A justice who is disciplined by the chief justice may appeal the imposition of discipline to the chief justice for administration and management. Any justice aggrieved by decision of the chief justice for administration and management may appeal said decision to the supreme judicial court. Consistent with the provisions of chapter two hundred and eleven C, all proceedings, documents, and other matters relating to such discipline shall at all times be confidential and not open to the public unless the justice appealing the disciplinary action agrees that the same shall not be confidential, or unless the supreme judicial court determines that it is in the public interest for any such proceeding, document, or other matter relating to such discipline to be made public. All disciplinary action imposed by a chief justice, whether consensual or not, shall be reported to the supreme judicial court by the chief justice;
(xvi) The responsibility to sit and perform judicial duties, within his department, during the course of the calendar year; and
(xvii) Any clerk aggrieved by any transfer or assignment of himself or personnel of his office under this section shall have the right to appeal to the chief justice for administration and management who shall forthwith hear and determine the matter.
(xviii) the power, notwithstanding any law to the contrary, to transfer cases between courts consistent with the efficient distribution of caseload and workload within said department;
Whenever the term “chief justice” or “administrative justice” appears in any general or special law, it shall mean the chief justice described in section one for the department to which, in context, reference is made. The chief justice shall be provided with suitable offices. He may appoint a court administrator and also such other personnel as he may require and may make such other expenditures for printing, transportation of papers and documents and for other expenses as are incidental to his duties.