Massachusetts District Courts We Appear in and Important Information About Each Court

As our home page explains, almost all Massachusetts criminal cases begin in the District Courts. (The more serious, felony-level cases are often indicted into the Superior Court system for prosecution there, but most cases begin the arraignment process at the District Court level.) Massachusetts has almost 61 District Courts, but adding in the 8 Division Courts that fall under the Boston Municipal Court, there are almost 70 District Courts in Massachusetts. Each of these District Courts fall under the jurisdiction of one of 14 separate Counties in Massachusetts.

These District Courts are listed below, organized alphabetically under the County they fall within (they are not organized in any other order.) We have practiced in courts across Massachusetts for over 25 years, and we appear in all of these courts.

Note: Very important to know: Each court has its own staff, its own culture – and its own “personality”: Any court is not made up merely of the judge who is sitting there, but very importantly, the Clerk-Magistrate, his or her staffers in the Clerk’s office, the Chief Probation Officer and his or her staff, the court officers – and among the most important - the Assistant District Attorneys who prosecute these cases, and other DA staff in the court. Separately and together, they make the court “work” and “hum” – either very efficiently, or in some cases, inefficiently.

It is very important that the law firm or attorney that you hire to defend you, not only know the law very well and have extensive criminal trial experience and a successful track record to prove it, but that your attorney have very positive, productive professional relationships with the key personnel inside the court that your case is in. If your attorney has never appeared in the court that your case is being prosecuted in (or is in effect a “stranger” there,) the outcome of your case is likely to be seriously compromised.

From over 25 years’ experience successfully representing Massachusetts criminal defense clients across the state, we have developed very good, solid working relationships with key personnel in courts across Massachusetts.

BARNSTABLE COUNTY:

• Barnstable District Court
• Falmouth District Court
• Orleans District Court

BERKSHIRE COUNTY:

• Northern Berkshire District Court
• Pittsfield District Court
• Southern Berkshire District Court

BRISTOL COUNTY:

• Attleboro District Court
• Fall River District Court
• New Bedford District Court
• Taunton District Court

DUKES COUNTY:

• Edgartown District Court

ESSEX COUNTY:

• Gloucester District Court
• Haverhill District Court
• Ipswich District Court
• Lawrence District Court
• Lynn District Court
• Newburyport District Court
• Peabody District Court
• Salem District Court

FRANKLIN COUNTY:

• Greenfield District Court
• Orange District Court

HAMPDEN COUNTY:

• Chicopee District Court
• Holyoke District Court
• Palmer District Court
• Springfield District Court
• Westfield District Court

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY:

• East Hampshire District Court
• Northampton District Court

MIDDLESEX COUNTY:

• Ayer District Court
• Cambridge District Court
• Concord District Court
• Framingham District Court
• Lowell District Court
• Malden District Court
• Marlborough District Court
• Natick District Court
• Newton District Court
• Somerville District Court
• Waltham District Court
• Woburn District Court

NANTUCKET COUNTY:

• Nantucket District Court

NORFOLK COUNTY:

• Brookline District Court
• Dedham District Court
• Stoughton District Court
• Quincy District Court
• Wrentham District Court

PLYMOUTH COUNTY:

• Brockton District Court
• Hingham District Court
• Plymouth District Court
• Wareham District Court

SUFFOLK COUNTY:

NOTE: The courts in Suffolk County have the term “Municipal” in them (not “District”, as do all other District Courts,) and are managed a little differently largely for two reasons: 1) Because Suffolk County is located in the capitol city of Boston; and 2) Because of the high number of cases that that originate in Boston. The Boston Municipal Court is for all practical purposes really a District Court, but because Boston has the highest population of any city in Massachusetts, the court has both a main/central court location and seven subdivisions of separate courts under its jurisdiction, to manage case flow. Thus, there are a total of eight (8) separate courts within the Boston Municipal Court. These separate courts fall under the management of the Boston Municipal Court, handle cases originating from defined areas of Boston, and are known as follows:

Boston Municipal Court/Main – (“Central Division of the Boston Municipal Court”.) This is the main court of the Boston Municipal Court, and has jurisdiction over arrests and crimes occurring in the following areas of Boston:

• Brighton District Court
• Charlestown District Court
• Dorchester District Court
• East Boston District Court
• Roxbury District Court
• South Boston District Court
• West Roxbury District Court

WORCESTER COUNTY:

• Clinton District Court
• Dudley District Court
• East Brookfield District Court
• Fitchburg District Court
• Gardner District Court
• Leominster District Court
• Milford District Court
• Uxbridge District Court
• Westborough District Court
• Winchendon District Court
• Worcester District Court

Call us at either (781) 320-0062, or (617) 285-3600. Fill out a Contact Form on any page of this website, or email us at bill@kickhamlegal.com, and we’d be glad to put that experience to work for you or the person you are trying to help.