User:Quality617

Constables are private individuals, appointed by cities and towns to serve papers. They have the ability to arrest on certain warrants, such as child support or divorce proceedings. Constables are not paid by their respective cities and towns, but charge a fee for service of papers, which makes up the bulk of their duties. They are ,with few exceptions, restricted to service within the respective city and town which they were appointed. The have several archaic laws still on the books that allow them to perform functions, quite frankly, that haven't been performed in 50 years or so.

They cannot enforce motor vehicle law, as frequently quoted by some, as the head of the registry has not and probably will not ever allow it. That is the domain of sworn police officers.

Another often quoted reference is Mass SJC case law Hartley v Inhabitants of Granville. It gives a description of the duties of constables that was accurate at the time it was decided, in 1913. It is actually a case involving a constable looking to collect reward for work done on his own in finding persons who were setting fires at the time. But even back then, with the advent of organized police forces, duties of the constable as a conservator of the peace was waning.

Constables are not allowed to used the state seal in either advertising or on identification, according to a court case (Town of Weymouth v Ramponi) where it was decided for purposes of town benefits, constables are private individuals and not agents of the cities and towns that appoint them.