Here are resources to help you understand town meeting law, procedure, etc.
Resources to get you started:
Massachusetts Town Meeting Guide
The Secretary of State’s Citizens Guide to Town Meeting
Massachusetts Law About Town Meetings
A compilation of laws, rules, and web sources on Massachusetts town meeting law.
Town Meeting Outline
Prepared by the Massachusetts Moderators Association to assist the reader in understanding the role of the moderator, present ideas for preparing for a town meeting, point out potential pitfalls in the conduct of the meeting, and suggest a vehicle for a “post-mortem” review of the meeting.
Glossary
A Glossary of town meeting terms.
Additional Resources:
Parliamentary Procedure
Town meetings serve as the legislative component of local government in many communities throughout New England. Town meetings operate in accordance with rules of procedure established by general laws, local bylaws, and local customs and traditions. As part of their bylaws, many towns reference a standard parliamentary handbook to provide for most of their rules of procedure. Use of a standard handbook to supplement a few local rules of procedure defined in bylaws provides participants in town meeting with a complete framework that all can readily learn and understand.
The Massachusetts Moderators Association first published in 1962 a handbook of parliamentary law called Town Meeting Time: A Handbook of Parliamentary Law that focuses especially on the operation of town meetings.
While most towns use Town Meeting Time, a few rely on Robert’s Rules of Order.
The newly-published (2025) Town Meeting Time (4th ed.) is now available. Order Here.
Town Meeting Time is also available in many public libraries throughout Massachusetts.
Town Meeting Videos
An Insider’s Look at Town Meeting (2025) In this webinar produced by the Massachusetts Moderators Association in collaboration with the Massachusetts Select Board Association, three experienced moderators explain how the modern town meeting comes together.
Town Meeting Process: Produced by Moderators, this video provides a brief look at the principles, people, and drivers of the participatory democracy we know and celebrate as town meeting.
The Massachusetts Moderators Association has produced two educational videos to encourage voters to participate in their town meetings across Massachusetts. Town Meeting and You describes the experiences of voters in open town meetings. It helps to familiarize those who have not previously attended town meeting with the key elements of this form of local government, and it serves as a refresher for those who have.
Voice of the People: The Representative Town Meeting includes some of the same content, since, in many respects, open and representative town meetings operate in similar fashion. The video describes, in addition, the role of town meeting members who are elected by the voters in each precinct to represent them and vote on their behalf on all matters decided by town meeting.