Section 9. The chief justice for administration and management in addition to his judicial duties and subject to the superintendence power of the supreme judicial court as provided in section three of chapter two hundred and eleven, shall have general superintendence of the administration of the trial court, including, without limitation, the improvement of the administration of such courts and the securing of their proper and efficient administration.
The chief justice for administration and management shall be the administrative head of the trial court of the commonwealth. The chief justice for administration and management shall periodically prepare and submit to the chief justice of the supreme judicial court an estimate, in detail, for the ordinary maintenance of the entire trial court, and all revenue therefrom, as provided in clause (5) of the first paragraph of section three of chapter twenty-nine. Said estimate shall include judicial salaries and the salaries of all officers and employees within the trial court and shall include estimates of all sums which the commonwealth is obligated to pay under the provisions of chapter twenty-nine A.
In order to achieve the ends stated in this section, the chief justice for administration and management shall be responsible for the management of court personnel, facilities, administration, security, and court business and shall have the authority necessary to carry out these responsibilities including, but not limited to, the following:—
(i) the responsibility, upon the request of the supreme judicial court, to provide financial management assistance to said court including review of the budget requests and information as submitted by the department chiefs, to make recommendations thereon and otherwise to assist the court in its budgetary preparations;
(ii) the responsibility to provide planning and policy-making functions, including the implementation of such planning and policy-making decisions;
(iii) the responsibility to provide the departments of the trial court with technical assistance concerning recordkeeping, auditing and computers, and with support services, such as computerized legal research, stenographic, electronic and video recordation methods and telephone-based interpretation services;
(iv) the responsibility consistent with section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B to provide personnel management, including promulgation of job classifications, establishment of system wide personnel policies and hiring practices and the authority to act as collective bargaining agent on behalf of the trial court;
(v) the authority to approve expenditures for all libraries maintained by the departments of the trial court;
(vi) the authority to coordinate the development and maintenance of, and technical assistance for, information systems;
(vii) the responsibility to provide facilities management, including provision of maintenance, equipment and security, the responsibility to coordinate with the division of capital asset management and maintenance regarding construction, leasing, repair and designing of facilities, and the responsibility to plan for reallocation of court jurisdictional lines; this provision is to be construed in conjunction with section six of chapter twenty-nine A and section seventeen of chapter two hundred and eleven B;
(viii) the responsibility to monitor and to assist in the case processing and case flow management capabilities of the trial court departments;
(ix) the power, upon request by the supreme judicial court, to review the record and make recommendations in any appeals by justices against whom disciplinary actions have been taken by any chief justice;
(x) the responsibility to hear, for final determination, appeals by justices claiming to be aggrieved by an order of a chief justice assigning or transferring said justice to a particular court other than that to which he was appointed;
(xi) the responsibility to hear, for final determination, appeals by first justices who have been removed by chief justices;
(xii) the authority to hear and resolve interdepartmental disputes or disagreements between or among the chief justices of the various departments of the trial court, including but not limited to, (1) transferring personnel in order to facilitate the efficient administration of justice, (2) transferring cases in order to facilitate the efficient administration of justice and (3) making adjustments in the scheduling and location of court sessions in order to facilitate the efficient administration of justice;
(xiii) the responsibility to provide administrative management to the office of the jury commissioner;
(xiv) the responsibility to establish, manage and implement a mandatory emergency judicial response system for all judges, except when the chief justice for administration and management determines that the participation by a particular judge would create a hardship for such judge;
(xv) the responsibility to provide recommendations regarding management of the judicial recall process;
(xvi) the responsibility to supervise the implementation of the continuing education programs for judicial and nonjudicial personnel;
(xvii) the responsibility to perform all other administrative functions or duties the chief justice for administration and management deems necessary;
(xviii) the power to appoint such personnel as the chief justice for administration and management may deem necessary for the office of the chief justice for administration and management; the power to discipline, supervise and define the duties of such personnel, and the power to dismiss such personnel;
(xix) the power, where there are pending in different departments of the trial court cases involving the same party or the same issue, and where a request for consolidation is made to the chief administrative justice to consolidate such cases for hearing by one justice, and to assign said justice to sit as a justice of other departments and exercise the powers of justices of other departments, in order to dispose of such cases with efficient use of judicial resources;
(xx) upon the joint request of the chief justices of two or more departments of the trial court, authorize the transfer of cases from one department to another;
(xxi) the power to assign a justice appointed to any department of the trial court to sit in any other department of the court, for such period or periods of time as he deems will best promote the speedy dispatch of judicial business, provided, however, that,
(a) prior to making such assignments, said chief justice for administration and management shall ascertain the respective preferences of the justices of the trial court as to the department or departments, if any, including the department to which he is appointed, to which each such justice desires to be assigned and, in making such assignments to any department of said court shall, to the extent consistent with the effective administration of justice, including the maintenance of the respective specialized functions of the land, housing, probate and family, and juvenile court departments, the administrative responsibilities of any justice, and the speedy dispatch of judicial business in each of the several departments of the trial court, assign to any department on a basis of first priority justices who have expressed as aforesaid their preferences for assignment thereto;
(b) a justice, if aggrieved for cause by an order of the chief justice for administration and management assigning him to sit in a particular location or department of the court other than that to which he was appointed may appeal the order of said chief justice for administration and management to the supreme judicial court, which shall forthwith hear and determine the matter;
(c) a chief justice shall notify the chief justice for administration and management of, and may report to the supreme judicial court, any order made by said chief justice for administration and management pursuant to this paragraph which, in the opinion of such chief justice, impairs the orderly operation of his department;
(xxii) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, when necessary to ensure the proper administration of justice, transfer employees of the trial court to serve where needed; impose discipline on such officers and employees, including dismissal and suspension with or without pay; provided, however, that the chief justice for administration and management may, upon reasonable notice, temporarily transfer nonjudicial personnel among the various departments, 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;
(xxiii) (a) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the chief justice for administration and management may, for the period July first through April thirtieth of any fiscal year, transfer funds from any item of appropriation of any trial court department to any other item of appropriation within the same trial court department; provided, that said transfers shall be made in accordance with schedules submitted to the house and senate committees on ways and means; provided further, that no such transfer shall occur until said schedules have been approved by said committees; provided further, that said schedules shall include the reasons for the necessity of such transfers with reference to actual and projected expenditures throughout the trial court for the fiscal year.
(b) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the chief justice for administration and management may, for the period May first through June thirtieth of any fiscal year, transfer an amount not to exceed sixty-five thousand dollars from any item of appropriation of any trial court department to any other item of appropriation within the same trial court department; provided, that any funds transferred from an (AA) subsidiary, as defined in the schedule of subsidiary accounts, established by the house and senate committees on ways and means pursuant to section twenty-seven of chapter twenty-nine of the General Laws, as amended, of any item of appropriation may only be transferred to the (AA) subsidiary of any other item of appropriation within the same department of the trial court; provided further, that in no case may funds be transferred into an (AA) subsidiary of any item of appropriation other than from another (AA) subsidiary of any item of appropriation within the same department of the trial court;
(xxiv) establish procedures, subject to the rule-making power of the justices of the supreme judicial court, for the assignment of matters coming before the trial court which do not warrant the use of a judge to other appropriate personnel, including clerk-magistrates, mediators, and arbitrators, and authorize such personnel to review, hear, and dispose of such matters, subject to appropriate judicial review;
(xxv) the chief justice for administration and management shall make a written report on the state of the trial court at the conclusion of each fiscal year and shall deliver said report, together with recommendations to the supreme judicial court by December fifteenth each year. The supreme judicial court shall then make a written report on the state of the court system and the judiciary for said past fiscal year and shall deliver the report together with recommendations to the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, on or before February fifteenth of each year. Said reports shall include, but not be limited to an account of all transfers of appropriated funds among line items and a schedule of all personnel transferred within the judicial system for the past fiscal year and contemplated for the current fiscal year. Such reports shall be a matter of public record;
(xxvi) said chief justice for administration and management may assign any personnel from the office of said chief justice for administration and management to any department within the trial court and shall insure, subject to appropriation, that the chief justices have adequate staff for the purpose of assisting such justices in the performance of their duties as administrative heads of the trial court departments;
(xxvii) the chief justice for administration and management shall be authorized to visit any department or any division or any place for holding court within such a department. The chief justice for administration and management may from time to time call conferences of any or all of the chief justices of the departments;
(xxviii) the chief justice for administration and management shall review all appointments and dismissals governed by standards promulgated under the authority of section eight for noncompliance with such standards and shall rescind any such appointment or dismissal that does not comply with said standards;
(xxix) the chief justice for administration and management shall be provided with offices in Suffolk county at the expense of the commonwealth but only after said chief justice for administration and management has not found sufficient office space in any facility owned by the commonwealth at an appropriate distance from the Suffolk county courthouse;
(xxx) any dispute arising between a chief justice of a department or a first justice of a division, and a clerk of court, concerning the management and administration of the clerk’s office, the duties, powers and obligations of the clerk’s staff, or the interpretation of the personnel standards provided for under section eight, shall be submitted to the chief justice for administration and management in writing by the clerk, clerk-magistrate, chief justice, or first justice. The chief justice for administration and management shall, within thirty days of receipt of the written notification of such dispute conduct a hearing in order to determine the matter. The decision of the chief justice for administration and management shall be binding on the parties;
(xxxi) the chief justice for administration and management shall establish uniform guidelines and policies to further minority employment within the judicial system;
(xxxii) notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the chief justice for administration and management, in order to provide for the speedy administration of justice in the counties of Dukes and Nantucket, shall designate, from time to time, justices sitting in the division of the district court department for either of said counties as justices of the superior court department sitting in either of said counties, with power to grant injunctive relief to the same extent as a justice appointed to the superior court department;
(xxxiii) the responsibility to administer, subject to appropriation, a reserve fund for the purpose of providing secretarial and administrative support staff and services to the justices of the superior court department of the trial court;
(xxxiv) the responsibility to review and make recommendations regarding the expeditious clearing of outstanding warrants throughout the courts of the commonwealth;
[There is no clause (xxxv).]
(xxxvi) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the authority to suspend any particular session of the trial court; move sessions so that the availability of court personnel is consistent with the needs of individual courts; transfer cases and matters from a court to any other court, consolidate cases, and make such periodic adjustments in the scheduling and locations of court sessions as are deemed necessary for the proper administration of justice;
(xxxvii) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the authority to establish the hours during which the courts of the commonwealth shall be open, including Saturday and evening sessions, and to further establish flexible work schedules, provided, however, that no employee shall be required to work more hours during a week than is provided by the relevant collective bargaining agreement;
(xxxviii) the chief justice for administration and management may delegate his responsibilities and powers hereunder and as otherwise provided by law to a chief justice, justice, regional justice, first justice, presiding 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 trial court;
(xxxix) the responsibility to assist the supreme judicial court in exercising its rule making power to eliminate as judicial functions those functions performed by judges which could be performed by non-judicial personnel.
Section 9. The chief justice for administration and management in addition to his judicial duties and subject to the superintendence power of the supreme judicial court as provided in section three of chapter two hundred and eleven, shall have general superintendence of the administration of the trial court, including, without limitation, the improvement of the administration of such courts and the securing of their proper and efficient administration.
The chief justice for administration and management shall be the administrative head of the trial court of the commonwealth. The chief justice for administration and management shall periodically prepare and submit to the chief justice of the supreme judicial court an estimate, in detail, for the ordinary maintenance of the entire trial court, and all revenue therefrom, as provided in clause (5) of the first paragraph of section three of chapter twenty-nine. Said estimate shall include judicial salaries and the salaries of all officers and employees within the trial court and shall include estimates of all sums which the commonwealth is obligated to pay under the provisions of chapter twenty-nine A.
In order to achieve the ends stated in this section, the chief justice for administration and management shall be responsible for the management of court personnel, facilities, administration, security, and court business and shall have the authority necessary to carry out these responsibilities including, but not limited to, the following:—
(i) the responsibility, upon the request of the supreme judicial court, to provide financial management assistance to said court including review of the budget requests and information as submitted by the department chiefs, to make recommendations thereon and otherwise to assist the court in its budgetary preparations;
(ii) the responsibility to provide planning and policy-making functions, including the implementation of such planning and policy-making decisions;
(iii) the responsibility to provide the departments of the trial court with technical assistance concerning recordkeeping, auditing and computers, and with support services, such as computerized legal research, stenographic, electronic and video recordation methods and telephone-based interpretation services;
(iv) the responsibility consistent with section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B to provide personnel management, including promulgation of job classifications, establishment of system wide personnel policies and hiring practices and the authority to act as collective bargaining agent on behalf of the trial court;
(v) the authority to approve expenditures for all libraries maintained by the departments of the trial court;
(vi) the authority to coordinate the development and maintenance of, and technical assistance for, information systems;
(vii) the responsibility to provide facilities management, including provision of maintenance, equipment and security, the responsibility to coordinate with the division of capital asset management and maintenance regarding construction, leasing, repair and designing of facilities, and the responsibility to plan for reallocation of court jurisdictional lines; this provision is to be construed in conjunction with section six of chapter twenty-nine A and section seventeen of chapter two hundred and eleven B;
(viii) the responsibility to monitor and to assist in the case processing and case flow management capabilities of the trial court departments;
(ix) the power, upon request by the supreme judicial court, to review the record and make recommendations in any appeals by justices against whom disciplinary actions have been taken by any chief justice;
(x) the responsibility to hear, for final determination, appeals by justices claiming to be aggrieved by an order of a chief justice assigning or transferring said justice to a particular court other than that to which he was appointed;
(xi) the responsibility to hear, for final determination, appeals by first justices who have been removed by chief justices;
(xii) the authority to hear and resolve interdepartmental disputes or disagreements between or among the chief justices of the various departments of the trial court, including but not limited to, (1) transferring personnel in order to facilitate the efficient administration of justice, (2) transferring cases in order to facilitate the efficient administration of justice and (3) making adjustments in the scheduling and location of court sessions in order to facilitate the efficient administration of justice;
(xiii) the responsibility to provide administrative management to the office of the jury commissioner;
(xiv) the responsibility to establish, manage and implement a mandatory emergency judicial response system for all judges, except when the chief justice for administration and management determines that the participation by a particular judge would create a hardship for such judge;
(xv) the responsibility to provide recommendations regarding management of the judicial recall process;
(xvi) the responsibility to supervise the implementation of the continuing education programs for judicial and nonjudicial personnel;
(xvii) the responsibility to perform all other administrative functions or duties the chief justice for administration and management deems necessary;
(xviii) the power to appoint such personnel as the chief justice for administration and management may deem necessary for the office of the chief justice for administration and management; the power to discipline, supervise and define the duties of such personnel, and the power to dismiss such personnel;
(xix) the power, where there are pending in different departments of the trial court cases involving the same party or the same issue, and where a request for consolidation is made to the chief administrative justice to consolidate such cases for hearing by one justice, and to assign said justice to sit as a justice of other departments and exercise the powers of justices of other departments, in order to dispose of such cases with efficient use of judicial resources;
(xx) upon the joint request of the chief justices of two or more departments of the trial court, authorize the transfer of cases from one department to another;
(xxi) the power to assign a justice appointed to any department of the trial court to sit in any other department of the court, for such period or periods of time as he deems will best promote the speedy dispatch of judicial business, provided, however, that,
(a) prior to making such assignments, said chief justice for administration and management shall ascertain the respective preferences of the justices of the trial court as to the department or departments, if any, including the department to which he is appointed, to which each such justice desires to be assigned and, in making such assignments to any department of said court shall, to the extent consistent with the effective administration of justice, including the maintenance of the respective specialized functions of the land, housing, probate and family, and juvenile court departments, the administrative responsibilities of any justice, and the speedy dispatch of judicial business in each of the several departments of the trial court, assign to any department on a basis of first priority justices who have expressed as aforesaid their preferences for assignment thereto;
(b) a justice, if aggrieved for cause by an order of the chief justice for administration and management assigning him to sit in a particular location or department of the court other than that to which he was appointed may appeal the order of said chief justice for administration and management to the supreme judicial court, which shall forthwith hear and determine the matter;
(c) a chief justice shall notify the chief justice for administration and management of, and may report to the supreme judicial court, any order made by said chief justice for administration and management pursuant to this paragraph which, in the opinion of such chief justice, impairs the orderly operation of his department;
(xxii) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, when necessary to ensure the proper administration of justice, transfer employees of the trial court to serve where needed; impose discipline on such officers and employees, including dismissal and suspension with or without pay; provided, however, that the chief justice for administration and management may, upon reasonable notice, temporarily transfer nonjudicial personnel among the various departments, 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;
(xxiii) (a) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the chief justice for administration and management may, for the period July first through April thirtieth of any fiscal year, transfer funds from any item of appropriation of any trial court department to any other item of appropriation within the same trial court department; provided, that said transfers shall be made in accordance with schedules submitted to the house and senate committees on ways and means; provided further, that no such transfer shall occur until said schedules have been approved by said committees; provided further, that said schedules shall include the reasons for the necessity of such transfers with reference to actual and projected expenditures throughout the trial court for the fiscal year.
(b) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the chief justice for administration and management may, for the period May first through June thirtieth of any fiscal year, transfer an amount not to exceed sixty-five thousand dollars from any item of appropriation of any trial court department to any other item of appropriation within the same trial court department; provided, that any funds transferred from an (AA) subsidiary, as defined in the schedule of subsidiary accounts, established by the house and senate committees on ways and means pursuant to section twenty-seven of chapter twenty-nine of the General Laws, as amended, of any item of appropriation may only be transferred to the (AA) subsidiary of any other item of appropriation within the same department of the trial court; provided further, that in no case may funds be transferred into an (AA) subsidiary of any item of appropriation other than from another (AA) subsidiary of any item of appropriation within the same department of the trial court;
(xxiv) establish procedures, subject to the rule-making power of the justices of the supreme judicial court, for the assignment of matters coming before the trial court which do not warrant the use of a judge to other appropriate personnel, including clerk-magistrates, mediators, and arbitrators, and authorize such personnel to review, hear, and dispose of such matters, subject to appropriate judicial review;
(xxv) the chief justice for administration and management shall make a written report on the state of the trial court at the conclusion of each fiscal year and shall deliver said report, together with recommendations to the supreme judicial court by December fifteenth each year. The supreme judicial court shall then make a written report on the state of the court system and the judiciary for said past fiscal year and shall deliver the report together with recommendations to the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, on or before February fifteenth of each year. Said reports shall include, but not be limited to an account of all transfers of appropriated funds among line items and a schedule of all personnel transferred within the judicial system for the past fiscal year and contemplated for the current fiscal year. Such reports shall be a matter of public record;
(xxvi) said chief justice for administration and management may assign any personnel from the office of said chief justice for administration and management to any department within the trial court and shall insure, subject to appropriation, that the chief justices have adequate staff for the purpose of assisting such justices in the performance of their duties as administrative heads of the trial court departments;
(xxvii) the chief justice for administration and management shall be authorized to visit any department or any division or any place for holding court within such a department. The chief justice for administration and management may from time to time call conferences of any or all of the chief justices of the departments;
(xxviii) the chief justice for administration and management shall review all appointments and dismissals governed by standards promulgated under the authority of section eight for noncompliance with such standards and shall rescind any such appointment or dismissal that does not comply with said standards;
(xxix) the chief justice for administration and management shall be provided with offices in Suffolk county at the expense of the commonwealth but only after said chief justice for administration and management has not found sufficient office space in any facility owned by the commonwealth at an appropriate distance from the Suffolk county courthouse;
(xxx) any dispute arising between a chief justice of a department or a first justice of a division, and a clerk of court, concerning the management and administration of the clerk’s office, the duties, powers and obligations of the clerk’s staff, or the interpretation of the personnel standards provided for under section eight, shall be submitted to the chief justice for administration and management in writing by the clerk, clerk-magistrate, chief justice, or first justice. The chief justice for administration and management shall, within thirty days of receipt of the written notification of such dispute conduct a hearing in order to determine the matter. The decision of the chief justice for administration and management shall be binding on the parties;
(xxxi) the chief justice for administration and management shall establish uniform guidelines and policies to further minority employment within the judicial system;
(xxxii) notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the chief justice for administration and management, in order to provide for the speedy administration of justice in the counties of Dukes and Nantucket, shall designate, from time to time, justices sitting in the division of the district court department for either of said counties as justices of the superior court department sitting in either of said counties, with power to grant injunctive relief to the same extent as a justice appointed to the superior court department;
(xxxiii) the responsibility to administer, subject to appropriation, a reserve fund for the purpose of providing secretarial and administrative support staff and services to the justices of the superior court department of the trial court;
(xxxiv) the responsibility to review and make recommendations regarding the expeditious clearing of outstanding warrants throughout the courts of the commonwealth;
[There is no clause (xxxv).]
(xxxvi) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the authority to suspend any particular session of the trial court; move sessions so that the availability of court personnel is consistent with the needs of individual courts; transfer cases and matters from a court to any other court, consolidate cases, and make such periodic adjustments in the scheduling and locations of court sessions as are deemed necessary for the proper administration of justice;
(xxxvii) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the authority to establish the hours during which the courts of the commonwealth shall be open, including Saturday and evening sessions, and to further establish flexible work schedules, provided, however, that no employee shall be required to work more hours during a week than is provided by the relevant collective bargaining agreement;
(xxxviii) the chief justice for administration and management may delegate his responsibilities and powers hereunder and as otherwise provided by law to a chief justice, justice, regional justice, first justice, presiding 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 trial court;
(xxxix) the responsibility to assist the supreme judicial court in exercising its rule making power to eliminate as judicial functions those functions performed by judges which could be performed by non-judicial personnel.
Section 9. The chief justice for administration and management in addition to his judicial duties and subject to the superintendence power of the supreme judicial court as provided in section three of chapter two hundred and eleven, shall have general superintendence of the administration of the trial court, including, without limitation, the improvement of the administration of such courts and the securing of their proper and efficient administration.
The chief justice for administration and management shall be the administrative head of the trial court of the commonwealth. The chief justice for administration and management shall periodically prepare and submit to the chief justice of the supreme judicial court an estimate, in detail, for the ordinary maintenance of the entire trial court, and all revenue therefrom, as provided in clause (5) of the first paragraph of section three of chapter twenty-nine. Said estimate shall include judicial salaries and the salaries of all officers and employees within the trial court and shall include estimates of all sums which the commonwealth is obligated to pay under the provisions of chapter twenty-nine A.
In order to achieve the ends stated in this section, the chief justice for administration and management shall be responsible for the management of court personnel, facilities, administration, security, and court business and shall have the authority necessary to carry out these responsibilities including, but not limited to, the following:—
(i) the responsibility, upon the request of the supreme judicial court, to provide financial management assistance to said court including review of the budget requests and information as submitted by the department chiefs, to make recommendations thereon and otherwise to assist the court in its budgetary preparations;
(ii) the responsibility to provide planning and policy-making functions, including the implementation of such planning and policy-making decisions;
(iii) the responsibility to provide the departments of the trial court with technical assistance concerning recordkeeping, auditing and computers, and with support services, such as computerized legal research, stenographic, electronic and video recordation methods and telephone-based interpretation services;
(iv) the responsibility consistent with section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B to provide personnel management, including promulgation of job classifications, establishment of system wide personnel policies and hiring practices and the authority to act as collective bargaining agent on behalf of the trial court;
(v) the authority to approve expenditures for all libraries maintained by the departments of the trial court;
(vi) the authority to coordinate the development and maintenance of, and technical assistance for, information systems;
(vii) the responsibility to provide facilities management, including provision of maintenance, equipment and security, the responsibility to coordinate with the division of capital asset management and maintenance regarding construction, leasing, repair and designing of facilities, and the responsibility to plan for reallocation of court jurisdictional lines; this provision is to be construed in conjunction with section six of chapter twenty-nine A and section seventeen of chapter two hundred and eleven B;
(viii) the responsibility to monitor and to assist in the case processing and case flow management capabilities of the trial court departments;
(ix) the power, upon request by the supreme judicial court, to review the record and make recommendations in any appeals by justices against whom disciplinary actions have been taken by any chief justice;
(x) the responsibility to hear, for final determination, appeals by justices claiming to be aggrieved by an order of a chief justice assigning or transferring said justice to a particular court other than that to which he was appointed;
(xi) the responsibility to hear, for final determination, appeals by first justices who have been removed by chief justices;
(xii) the authority to hear and resolve interdepartmental disputes or disagreements between or among the chief justices of the various departments of the trial court, including but not limited to, (1) transferring personnel in order to facilitate the efficient administration of justice, (2) transferring cases in order to facilitate the efficient administration of justice and (3) making adjustments in the scheduling and location of court sessions in order to facilitate the efficient administration of justice;
(xiii) the responsibility to provide administrative management to the office of the jury commissioner;
(xiv) the responsibility to establish, manage and implement a mandatory emergency judicial response system for all judges, except when the chief justice for administration and management determines that the participation by a particular judge would create a hardship for such judge;
(xv) the responsibility to provide recommendations regarding management of the judicial recall process;
(xvi) the responsibility to supervise the implementation of the continuing education programs for judicial and nonjudicial personnel;
(xvii) the responsibility to perform all other administrative functions or duties the chief justice for administration and management deems necessary;
(xviii) the power to appoint such personnel as the chief justice for administration and management may deem necessary for the office of the chief justice for administration and management; the power to discipline, supervise and define the duties of such personnel, and the power to dismiss such personnel;
(xix) the power, where there are pending in different departments of the trial court cases involving the same party or the same issue, and where a request for consolidation is made to the chief administrative justice to consolidate such cases for hearing by one justice, and to assign said justice to sit as a justice of other departments and exercise the powers of justices of other departments, in order to dispose of such cases with efficient use of judicial resources;
(xx) upon the joint request of the chief justices of two or more departments of the trial court, authorize the transfer of cases from one department to another;
(xxi) the power to assign a justice appointed to any department of the trial court to sit in any other department of the court, for such period or periods of time as he deems will best promote the speedy dispatch of judicial business, provided, however, that,
(a) prior to making such assignments, said chief justice for administration and management shall ascertain the respective preferences of the justices of the trial court as to the department or departments, if any, including the department to which he is appointed, to which each such justice desires to be assigned and, in making such assignments to any department of said court shall, to the extent consistent with the effective administration of justice, including the maintenance of the respective specialized functions of the land, housing, probate and family, and juvenile court departments, the administrative responsibilities of any justice, and the speedy dispatch of judicial business in each of the several departments of the trial court, assign to any department on a basis of first priority justices who have expressed as aforesaid their preferences for assignment thereto;
(b) a justice, if aggrieved for cause by an order of the chief justice for administration and management assigning him to sit in a particular location or department of the court other than that to which he was appointed may appeal the order of said chief justice for administration and management to the supreme judicial court, which shall forthwith hear and determine the matter;
(c) a chief justice shall notify the chief justice for administration and management of, and may report to the supreme judicial court, any order made by said chief justice for administration and management pursuant to this paragraph which, in the opinion of such chief justice, impairs the orderly operation of his department;
(xxii) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, when necessary to ensure the proper administration of justice, transfer employees of the trial court to serve where needed; impose discipline on such officers and employees, including dismissal and suspension with or without pay; provided, however, that the chief justice for administration and management may, upon reasonable notice, temporarily transfer nonjudicial personnel among the various departments, 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;
(xxiii) (a) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the chief justice for administration and management may, for the period July first through April thirtieth of any fiscal year, transfer funds from any item of appropriation of any trial court department to any other item of appropriation within the same trial court department; provided, that said transfers shall be made in accordance with schedules submitted to the house and senate committees on ways and means; provided further, that no such transfer shall occur until said schedules have been approved by said committees; provided further, that said schedules shall include the reasons for the necessity of such transfers with reference to actual and projected expenditures throughout the trial court for the fiscal year.
(b) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the chief justice for administration and management may, for the period May first through June thirtieth of any fiscal year, transfer an amount not to exceed sixty-five thousand dollars from any item of appropriation of any trial court department to any other item of appropriation within the same trial court department; provided, that any funds transferred from an (AA) subsidiary, as defined in the schedule of subsidiary accounts, established by the house and senate committees on ways and means pursuant to section twenty-seven of chapter twenty-nine of the General Laws, as amended, of any item of appropriation may only be transferred to the (AA) subsidiary of any other item of appropriation within the same department of the trial court; provided further, that in no case may funds be transferred into an (AA) subsidiary of any item of appropriation other than from another (AA) subsidiary of any item of appropriation within the same department of the trial court;
(xxiv) establish procedures, subject to the rule-making power of the justices of the supreme judicial court, for the assignment of matters coming before the trial court which do not warrant the use of a judge to other appropriate personnel, including clerk-magistrates, mediators, and arbitrators, and authorize such personnel to review, hear, and dispose of such matters, subject to appropriate judicial review;
(xxv) the chief justice for administration and management shall make a written report on the state of the trial court at the conclusion of each fiscal year and shall deliver said report, together with recommendations to the supreme judicial court by December fifteenth each year. The supreme judicial court shall then make a written report on the state of the court system and the judiciary for said past fiscal year and shall deliver the report together with recommendations to the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, on or before February fifteenth of each year. Said reports shall include, but not be limited to an account of all transfers of appropriated funds among line items and a schedule of all personnel transferred within the judicial system for the past fiscal year and contemplated for the current fiscal year. Such reports shall be a matter of public record;
(xxvi) said chief justice for administration and management may assign any personnel from the office of said chief justice for administration and management to any department within the trial court and shall insure, subject to appropriation, that the chief justices have adequate staff for the purpose of assisting such justices in the performance of their duties as administrative heads of the trial court departments;
(xxvii) the chief justice for administration and management shall be authorized to visit any department or any division or any place for holding court within such a department. The chief justice for administration and management may from time to time call conferences of any or all of the chief justices of the departments;
(xxviii) the chief justice for administration and management shall review all appointments and dismissals governed by standards promulgated under the authority of section eight for noncompliance with such standards and shall rescind any such appointment or dismissal that does not comply with said standards;
(xxix) the chief justice for administration and management shall be provided with offices in Suffolk county at the expense of the commonwealth but only after said chief justice for administration and management has not found sufficient office space in any facility owned by the commonwealth at an appropriate distance from the Suffolk county courthouse;
(xxx) any dispute arising between a chief justice of a department or a first justice of a division, and a clerk of court, concerning the management and administration of the clerk’s office, the duties, powers and obligations of the clerk’s staff, or the interpretation of the personnel standards provided for under section eight, shall be submitted to the chief justice for administration and management in writing by the clerk, clerk-magistrate, chief justice, or first justice. The chief justice for administration and management shall, within thirty days of receipt of the written notification of such dispute conduct a hearing in order to determine the matter. The decision of the chief justice for administration and management shall be binding on the parties;
(xxxi) the chief justice for administration and management shall establish uniform guidelines and policies to further minority employment within the judicial system;
(xxxii) notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the chief justice for administration and management, in order to provide for the speedy administration of justice in the counties of Dukes and Nantucket, shall designate, from time to time, justices sitting in the division of the district court department for either of said counties as justices of the superior court department sitting in either of said counties, with power to grant injunctive relief to the same extent as a justice appointed to the superior court department;
(xxxiii) the responsibility to administer, subject to appropriation, a reserve fund for the purpose of providing secretarial and administrative support staff and services to the justices of the superior court department of the trial court;
(xxxiv) the responsibility to review and make recommendations regarding the expeditious clearing of outstanding warrants throughout the courts of the commonwealth;
[There is no clause (xxxv).]
(xxxvi) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the authority to suspend any particular session of the trial court; move sessions so that the availability of court personnel is consistent with the needs of individual courts; transfer cases and matters from a court to any other court, consolidate cases, and make such periodic adjustments in the scheduling and locations of court sessions as are deemed necessary for the proper administration of justice;
(xxxvii) notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the authority to establish the hours during which the courts of the commonwealth shall be open, including Saturday and evening sessions, and to further establish flexible work schedules, provided, however, that no employee shall be required to work more hours during a week than is provided by the relevant collective bargaining agreement;
(xxxviii) the chief justice for administration and management may delegate his responsibilities and powers hereunder and as otherwise provided by law to a chief justice, justice, regional justice, first justice, presiding 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 trial court;
(xxxix) the responsibility to assist the supreme judicial court in exercising its rule making power to eliminate as judicial functions those functions performed by judges which could be performed by non-judicial personnel.
