Section 41:99E - Powers and dutiesA regional police district established under section ninety-nine D shall be a body politic and corporate with all the powers and duties conferred by law upon police departments, and with the following additional powers and duties:
(a) To adopt a name and a corporate seal, and the engraved or printed facsimile of such seal on a bond or note of the district shall have the same validity and effect as though such seal were impressed thereon.(b) To sue and be sued, but only to the same extent and upon the same conditions that a town may sue or be sued.(c) To acquire property within the towns comprising the district under the provisions of chapter seventy-nine and section fourteen of chapter forty for the purposes of the district, and to construct, reconstruct, add to, remodel, make extraordinary repairs to, equip, organize and operate a police facility or facilities for the benefit of the towns comprising the district, and to make any necessary contracts in relation thereto.(d) To incur debt for the purpose of acquiring land and constructing, reconstructing, adding to and equipping a police building or buildings for a term of not exceeding twenty years or for the purpose of remodeling and making extraordinary repairs to a police building or buildings for a term of not exceeding ten years; and provided, further, that written notice of the amount of the debt and of the general purposes for which it was authorized shall be given to the board of selectmen in each of the towns comprising the district not later than seven days after the date on which said debt was authorized by the district commission; and no debt may be incurred until the expiration of thirty days from the date on which said debt was so authorized; and prior to the expiration of said period any member town of the regional police district may hold a town meeting for the purpose of expressing disapproval of the amount of debt authorized by the district commission, and if at such meeting a majority of the voters present and voting thereon express disapproval of the amount authorized by the district commission, said debt shall not be incurred and the district police commission shall prepare another proposal which may be the same as any prior proposal and an authorization to incur debt therefor.(e) To issue bonds and notes in the name and upon the full faith and credit of said district; said bonds or notes shall be signed by the chairman and treasurer of the regional police district commission, except that said chairman by a writing bearing his written signature and filed in the office of said treasurer, which writing shall be open to public inspection, may authorize said treasurer to cause to be engraved or printed on said bonds or notes a facsimile of said chairman's signature, and such facsimile signature so engraved or printed shall have the same validity and effect as said chairman's written signature, and each issue of bonds or notes shall be a separate loan.(f) To receive and disburse funds for any district purpose.(g) To incur temporary debt in anticipation of revenue to be received from member towns.(h) To assess member towns for any expenses of the district.(i) To receive any grants or gifts for the purposes of the regional district police.(j) To engage legal counsel.(k) To submit an annual report to each of the member towns, containing a detailed financial statement, and a statement showing the method by which the annual charges assessed against each town were computed, together with such additional information relating to the operation and maintenance of such police protection as may be deemed necessary by the district police commission or by the selectmen of any member town.(l) To employ a chief of police who shall have all the powers and duties imposed upon chiefs of police by law.(m) To adopt an annual operating and maintenance budget, not later than December first.Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 41, § 99E
Amended by Acts 2003, c. 46,§ 21, eff. 7/31/2003.