Town Clerk’s Office
RG_020
Collection Information
Creator : Town of Douglas, Massachusetts.
Title : Town Clerk’s Office
Abstract : Collection includes information relating to the Town Clerk’s Office. Items include services performed by the office, Citizen’s Guide to Town Meetings and Town Warrants.
Dates : 1955, 1975-1976 & 2008
Quantity : 3 Folders, 2 Digital Items
Repository : Simon Fairfield Public Library, Town of Douglas Municipal Records & Archive.
Finding Aid : Finding Aid in print form is available in the Repository.
Preferred Citation : [Box #, Item identification], Town Clerk’s Office, Simon Fairfield Public Library, Town of Douglas Municipal Records & Archive.
Provenance : Found in the Simon Fairfield Public Library Archival Cabinet in 2016. The Citizen’s Guide to Town Meetings was downloaded from the Secretary of the Commonwealth website on May 3, 2016. No further accession information is available.
Processing Information : This collection was processed by RLD Lavallee on May 3, 2016.
Administrative History
The Mission Statement of the Town Clerk’s Office is as follows:
- The Town Clerk’s Office is considered the doorway to local government. This office is committed to provide the public with the highest, most efficient, courteous and effective level of service to all residents and non-residents alike. It is the Town Clerk’s mission to be a reliable provider of information and quality service to the community and its residents, and to work cooperatively with all departments, boards and committees while complying with all State and Local statues.
The Town Clerk is the Chief Election Officer, Recording Official, Registrar of Vital Records (births, marriages and deaths), Public Records Official, Licensing Officer, Public Information Officer, Registrar of Voters, as well as, the State Ethics Commission Municipal Liaison. The Town Clerk’s Office serves as the Douglas’ keeper of all vital records and the town seal. The Clerk’s office maintains custody of all vital documents and is responsible for issuance of same.
Douglas is governed by an open town meeting, which is when all registered voters of a town may vote. A warrant is issued by the Board of Selectmen. The warrant is comprised of articles and their descriptions, which are to be voted on. All registered voters are free to attend and vote on any and all articles in the open town meeting. The town clerk serves as the clerk of the meeting and records all results. The open town meeting form of government is subject to the Open Meeting Law:
Effective July 1, 2010, responsibility for the state-wide enforcement of the Open Meeting Laws, relative to local, county, regional, and state public bodies has been centralized in the office of the Attorney General. The Open Meeting Law supports the principle that the democratic process depends on the public having knowledge about the considerations underlying governmental action. The Open Meeting Law requires that most meetings of governmental bodies be held in public. There are some exceptions, which are designed to ensure that public officials are not “unduly hampered” by having every discussion among public officials open to the public. As a result, the Open Meeting Law provides for particular circumstances under which a meeting may be held in executive, or closed, session.
Scope and Content
This collection is comprised of information regarding the Town Clerk’s Office, including services provided by said office. This collection includes any and all information regarding Town Meetings and Town Elections, as well as Town Census information.
Record Group Description
Record Group RG_020 : Town Clerk’s Office
Record Group Description : Items and information regarding the services of the Town Clerk’s Office or any changes within the Town Clerk’s Office
Sub-Record Group RG_021 : Town Meetings
Sub-Record Group Description : Town Meetings and Election Warrants for the Town of Douglas.
Sub-Record Group RG_022 : Town Census
Sub-Record Group Description: Town census information.
Record Group: RG_020, Town Clerk’s Office
| Box# | Folder# | Collection# | Description |
| Digital | RG_020.01 | Town of Douglas, Town Clerk’s Office. “Your Doorway to Local Government.” May 2016. (Services provided by the Town Clerk’s Office.) |
Record Group: RG_020, Town Clerk’s Office
Sub-Record Group: RG_021, Town Meetings
| Box# | Folder# | Collection# | Description |
| Digital | RG_021.01 | Citizen Information Service. “Citizen’s guide to town meetings.” Boston, MA: William Francis Galvin, March 2008. | |
| 1 | 1 | RG_021.02 | Town of Douglas, Warrant for Annual Town Meeting and Finance Committee’s Annual Town Meeting Recommendations for the Fiscal Year 1975. |
| 1 | 2 | RG_021.03 | Town of Douglas, Warrant for Annual Town Meeting and Finance Committee’s Annual Town Meeting Recommendations for the Fiscal Year 1976 |
Record Group: RG_020, Town Clerk’s Office
Sub-Record Group: RG_022, Town Census
| Box# | Folder# | Collection# | Description |
| Long Box 1 | 1 | RG_022.01 | Town of Douglas, 1955 Census List (51 pages) |