Government & Law

Local Government

See Greater Springfield & Western Massachusetts page.

State

MassGov (Commonwealth of Massachusetts)

First stop for information on the government of Massachusetts. Contains links to information for business, home and health, work & education, travel, and the government.

Where Do I Vote?

Fill in your home address on the online form to determine your ward and precinct and polling place for municipal, state, and federal elections.

Commonwealth Communities

Check here for a wealth of information about cities and towns in the state, including community profiles, Department of Revenue statistics, "cherry sheets" which detail state aid granted to each municipality, school profiles, and information from other state agencies.

Massachusetts Legislative Directory

Profiles, addresses, and telephone numbers for state senators and representatives, searchable alphabetically. You can also search by city or town.

Massachusetts Legislative District Browser

Create an online map of Massachusetts House and Senate districts. Search by city or town, zip code, legislator or district.

Massachusetts City and Town Clerk Directory

Provides addresses and telephone numbers of municipal clerks' offices throughout the Commonwealth.

Massachusetts Corporation Division

Part of the Secretary of the Commonwealth's office. Search the corporation database or UCC filings, download forms, or search for information on the Division and its services.

Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation

The state's watchdog agency has a helpful website for Massachusetts consumers, including a complaint filing process, fraud alerts and reports on ongoing investigations, online publications covering such topics as the Lemon Law, landlord-tenant and small claims, and access to the state's regulatory divisions.

Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles

You can now conduct your registration and vehicle license renewal business online; includes information about Registry hours and locations throughout the state, traffic regulations and links to DMVs in other states.

Comm. of Mass. Division of Registration

State agency which oversees the regulation and licensing of more than 40 trades and professions. Their web page includes contact information, an overview of qualifications, and, in some cases, direct access to the relevant state Rules and Regulations in full-text.

Mass. Dept. of Revenue Tax Forms Index

Links to online income and other state tax forms. Requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Includes links to other tax information for individuals and businesses in the Commonwealth.

Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board

The Sex Offender Registry Board is the state agency responsible for keeping track of convicted sex offenders and classifying each offender so that the public may receive information about dangerous sex offenders who live or work in each community. Searchable.

State and Local Government on the Net

A resource guide to government-sponsored web sites for states, cities and towns, tribal governments, U. S. territories, and regional and national organizations.

Stately Knowledge

Quick facts about the states from the Internet Public Library's Youth Services Division. Includes hot links to state information sites.

Federal and State Tax Forms

Quick links to Federal and state income tax forms. From Louisiana State University.

Directory of Civic Engagement & Leadership Development Programs for Massachusetts Youth

The Directory is a new and essential resource for introducing young people to a diverse array of civic education opportunities in the Commonwealth. The listed programs greatly expand young people's choices for learning about the electoral and political processes, leadership, and community activism. Published by the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts.

 

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Federal

Finding Aids and Directories:

U.S. Government Documents Ready Reference

A service of Columbia School of Law, this site gathers together in one handy list the most popular government agencies and sites. Check here first when looking for federal government information.

Congress.Org: Congressional Directory

Names, addresses, telephone numbers, committee assignments and profiles for all members of the House and Senate in the U.S. Congress, together with reports on pending legislation and other news from Capitol Hill. A public service of Issue Dynamics, Inc. and Capitol Advantage.

Contacting the Congress

Up-to-date database of quick contact information for members of the U.S. Congress.

 

 

Federal Agencies & Information

EDGAR Database of Corporate Information

An important and FREE database of information on public companies, based on their legally mandated SEC filings.

FedStats

"More than 70 agencies in the United States Federal Government provide statistics of interest to the public. The Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy maintains this site to provide easy access to the full range of statistics and information produced by these agencies for public use." The site includes an A-Z listing of subjects covered, as well as a search engine, list of agencies included, and other information.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the Federal Government

From FirstGov. Indexed by agency and program, or by topic.

Government Benefits

A free, confidential tool that helps you find government benefits you may be eligible to receive.

GPOAccess

This Government Printing Office site offers access to full-text government documents including the Federal Register, Legislative Record and Congressional bills, as well as a searchable index of government publications, and access to other government databases. Instructions for using the specialized search engines are available. For assistance in searching, try the GPO Access Help page.

IRS: Forms and Publications

Connect to the Internal Revenue Service's information and forms. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is required for downloading and printing out forms.

National Park Service: Park Net

This site not only provides information on our national parks, but also covers historical buildings and monuments, archaeology, and recommended travel ideas and tours. Includes a search engine.

Recovery.gov

Lets you, the taxpayer, figure out where the money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is going.

Social Security Administration Homepage

FAQs (frequently asked questions) and late breaking news on Social Security and Medicare.

Students.gov

One-stop gateway for young people to governmental services and information on such topics as higher education, educational financing, careers, the military, voting and voting rights, taxes, travel, and more.

THOMAS: Legislative Server

Track pending legislation in the House or Senate. This site spotlights the week's activities in Congress, and allows a search by subject, bill number, or name. Tips for searching are included. A service of the Library of Congress.

U.S.Census Bureau Home Page

The Census Bureau has put together a site which contains an enormous amount of statistical and demographic data about the United States, which can be searched by a variety of methods. Use the American FactFinder feature to find housing, economic, demographic, and geographic data for the entire county or for your census district.

United States Citizenship Resources

Multilingual guides, Exam practice questions and Community resources for the new US Citizenship Exam from the San Francisco Public Library.

U.S. Copyright Office

The federal copyright office includes forms that you can download and information about copyright law. Note: the Central Library has copies of copyright forms at the Reference Desk in Wellman Hall.

U.S. Geological Survey

A great site for access to government mapping information, as well as resources on geology.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

General information is provided about patents and trademarks, forms are available for downloading, and the Patent Full-Text and Image Database, which provides full-text of patents issued from 1976 to date, and images of patents issued from 1790, is available for searching.

Core Documents of U.S. Democracy

Links to full-text of important American documents, Supreme Court cases, and other sites. From GOP Access. Useful for students.

International

The Electronic Embassy

Alphabetical index to all foreign embassies in Washington DC, with links to web sites where available.

Embassy World

Directory of embassy and consulate addresses and websites worldwide. Site includes All the Worlds Maps, highlighting major cities in each country.

Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments

Compiled by the CIA.

Diplomacy Monitor

Latest major diplomacy-related documents from around the world, indexed by region, issue, and countries affected . Hosted by St. Thomas University School of Law.

Governments on the WWW

Directory of links to government sites for countries around the world.

United Nations

The official site for this important international organization.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

One of the UN's most important agencies provides statistics, program information, and a wealth of other data.

US Embassies

Directory of US embassies and consulates around the world. From the Department of State.

Politics

Almanac of Policy Issues

Background information and links on major US policy issues. Includes directories, statistics, articles, breaking news and other resources on issues from criminal justice to foreign affairs and national security. Particularly helpful for students.

Open Secrets: Center for Responsive Politics

"Your guide to the money in US elections." Hosted by a non-partisan, non-profit organization, this site is dedicated to campaign fundraising issues. Includes a database of information about funding sources for national and state candidates.

Politics 1

Net guide to federal and state politics: political parties, candidates for federal and state office, political news and issues, and much more.

Project Vote Smart

Project Vote Smart (PVS) is a citizen's organization dedicated to serving all Americans with accurate and unbiased information for electoral decision-making. Track issues and elections. Look up information about candidates and elected officials from five basic categories: Backgrounds; Issue Positions; Campaign Finances; Performance Evaluations; Voting Records.

IRS: Political Organization Disclosures

Search for IRS-mandated reports of political organizations, download and file forms.

02133.org: Massachusetts Politics and Policy Online

Iinstant access to background material on the latest news in Massachusetts politics and public policy: summaries, background, recent developments, and additional learning resources about each issue. 02133 is a free public service produced by the professional journalists and staff of MassINC and The State House News Service.

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Law

Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries

Home page of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Law Libraries, which are housed in the county courthouses across the state and are open to the public. Includes access to the law libraries' online catalog, recommended law-related sites, pathfinders or annotated bibliographies on a variety of legal topics, access to consumer assistance and referral agencies, and an Ask A Librarian feature. Note: The Hampden County Law Library is located in the courthouse at the corner of State Street and East Columbus Avenue in Springfield.

General Laws of Massachusetts

Browse or search the general laws and current session laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Code of Massachusetts Regulations

Provides access to those sections of the CMR which are available on the web. Sections not listed are not currently available on the web. From the Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries.

Massachusetts Judicial Branch

Includes the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the courts, judicial profiles, press releases, recent court opinions,and a variety of other useful information.

US Courts

The Federal judiciary online. Includes links to the library, publications, statistics, the Supreme Court, circuit courts, and more.

FedLaw

Fedlaw has assembled references of use to people doing Federal legal research and which can be accessed directly through "point and click" hypertext connections.

FindLaw: Internet Legal Resources

A Yahoo! for the legal world. Legal resources are subdivided by subject. A search engine is available to search the site, and there is a link to LawCrawler, a sophisticated, specialized search engine for the web. Includes the West Legal Directory, a database of lawyers throughout the country.

Guide to Law Online: Nations of the World

Another fine product from the Library of Congress - an annotated guide to legal resources around the country and around the world.

How to Find Legal Information on the Internet

Good overview and links to various resources for legal information, case law, immigration resources, and other law-related research sites. Part one of a two-part article published in 2001. From Suite 101.

Juris: the legal education network

A portal for law schools, law education, law reviews, and legal scholarship.

Legal Information Institute

Prepared under the auspices of the Cornell Law School, this site provides a comprehensive list of law-related sites on the Internet, including databases of U.S. Supreme Court decisions (current and historical), the U.S. Code and Regulations, and subject-indexed resources.

LLRX.com

Breaking news, technology reports, and links to services for the legal professional and researcher.

Martindale-Hubbell Lawyer Locator

Directory of lawyers, law firms and government attorneys; searchable by name, geographic location or legal specialty.

Massachusetts Bar Association

This helpful site includes information on the Massachusetts legal system for the public, journalists and young people; as well as short essays on important legal topics, such as divorce, criminal law,adoption, etc., written with the lay person in mind. Also includes information on legal aid, Massachusetts courts and other subjects.

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly

The lawyer's newspaper is now online. Links to recent U.S. Supreme Court and Court of Appeals decisions, as well as to Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and Court of Appeals decisions. Late-breaking news on Massachusetts law and professional issues.

Criminal Law Resources on the Internet

On-line access to criminal law materials from the United States and throughout the world, including, among other things, criminal codes, criminal procedure codes, and enforcement codes. From the Buffalo Criminal Law Center.

Law Dictionary

From Law.com. Search legal terms or definitions.

Nolo's Legal Encyclopedia

The Nolo Press, leading publisher of self-help legal guides offers online help for the layman, covering topics from wills and estate planning and domestic relations to real estate and personal injury.

Women's Law Initiative

State-by-state legal information and resources for domestic violence.

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Springfield Library
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Springfield MA 01103
413-263-6828