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H1737 • 2025

An Act relative to historic homes

An Act relative to historic homes

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Richard M. Haggerty
Last action
2026-03-26
Official status
Accompanied a study order, see H5281 (under House Rule 27)
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act relative to historic homes

An Act relative to historic homes By Representative Haggerty of Woburn, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.

What This Bill Does

  • An Act relative to historic homes By Representative Haggerty of Woburn, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
  • 1737) of Richard M.
  • Haggerty relative to the penalty for illegally removing certain parts of historical homes.
  • The Judiciary.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-26 House

    Accompanied a study order, see H5281 (under House Rule 27)

  2. 2025-10-10 Joint

    Hearing scheduled for 10/21/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-2

  3. 2025-02-27 House

    Referred to the committee on The Judiciary

  4. 2025-02-27 Senate

    Senate concurred

  5. House

    Reported by committee to Clerk’s Office for processing, will accompany a study order

Official Summary Text

An Act relative to historic homes
By Representative Haggerty of Woburn, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1737) of Richard M. Haggerty relative to the penalty for illegally removing certain parts of historical homes. The Judiciary.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
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Bill H.1737

Chapter 266 of the General Laws, as appearing in 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 95 the following new section:-

Section 95A.

In this section, “historic home” shall mean any dwelling house listed listed in the State Register of Historic Places established and maintained by the Massachusetts Historical Commission pursuant to G. L. c. 9, section 26C or

identified by a plaque identifying the homestead

as an historic homestead pursuant to G. L. c. 9, section 27D.

Whoever willfully, intentionally and without right removes items, including, but not limited to, copper gutters, copper wiring, aluminum or brick; displaces, destroys, defaces, mars or injures the walls, wainscoting or any other part of any historical home, or the appurtenances there of, by cutting, breaking, writing or otherwise, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $1000 or by imprisonment for not more than 2 years. Any person convicted under the provisions of this section shall, in addition to the fine assessed, reimburse the historic home owner for the total amount of damage incurred.

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