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Town Edition

Plymouth County

Carver, Massachusetts

The elementary school on Main Street exists for one reason: Carver residents voted to pay for it. Massachusetts never simply hands a town a new school, so the state covered a share and the rest landed on the local tax bill, and the building stands there because voters here said yes. That is how Carver decides almost everything. The voters have the final word. The budget, the bylaws, and the big spending all belong to open Town Meeting, where any registered voter in town can stand up, speak, and vote. This guide shows you how to get into the room.

Carver at a Glance

11,645Residents (2020)
1790Incorporated
5Select Board Members
1,436Students

Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov) · Town of Carver.

  • County: Plymouth. Carver is an inland town in cranberry country, southwest of Plymouth, and includes the villages of North Carver and South Carver. Much of the southeast corner lies inside Myles Standish State Forest.
  • Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Glenn Cannon.
  • Schools: Carver Public Schools, about 1,436 students, led by Superintendent Scott E. Knief.

How Carver’s Government Works

Carver runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Carver is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a 5 member Select Board to set policy between meetings and a School Committee that oversees the schools. The Select Board hires a professional Town Administrator to run the town day to day. So the money is voted by whoever shows up, the direction is set by the Select Board, and the daily work is carried out by the Town Administrator.

Town Meeting

The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Carver is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.

Select Board

5 members elected town-wide. They set policy, sign the warrants that decide what reaches Town Meeting, appoint residents to many town boards, and hire and supervise the Town Administrator.

Town Administrator

The appointed chief administrator. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Select Board. Hired under contract, not elected.

School Committee

5 members, elected town-wide. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.

  1. Residents elect the 5 members of the Select Board and the School Committee.
  2. The Select Board hires the Town Administrator and decides what goes on the Town Meeting warrant.
  3. Town Meeting votes the budget and the bylaws, and every registered voter present can vote.
  4. You take part: pre-register at 16. A pre-registrant is on the list but is not allowed to vote yet. Once you turn 18 that designation comes off on its own and you are a registered voter in Carver, which makes you a member of Town Meeting with a vote on the floor. If you never pre-registered, register with the Town Clerk, and do it well ahead: the rolls close at 5 p.m. on the tenth day before any election or Town Meeting.

Civic Calendar

  • Select Board: meets on the first and third Tuesday of the month at Carver Town Hall, 108 Main Street. The agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
  • Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held in the spring, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait.
  • Town elections: Carver votes in the spring. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on April 25. The next is in spring 2027.
  • State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 state election is November 3.

Explore the Carver Edition

Your County Officials

Two of the people with the most direct power over your life are elected, and neither one sits on Beacon Hill. The district attorney decides who gets charged with a crime, and what they get charged with. The sheriff runs the county jail. The sheriff is elected by the voters of Plymouth County. The district attorney is elected by the voters of a prosecution district, and Massachusetts draws eleven of those across its fourteen counties, so a district attorney’s territory does not always follow a county line. Both appear on your ballot in Carver. Now you know what to look for.

District Attorney, Plymouth District

Timothy J. Cruz

In office since 2001
Official site
Sheriff, Plymouth County

Joseph D. McDonald Jr.

In office since 2005
Official site

Massachusetts elects fourteen sheriffs, one for each county, and eleven district attorneys, one for each prosecution district. The job is the same everywhere: the charging decisions, the jail. Look up any town in the state and see who holds these two offices there.

Officials for any Massachusetts town

Your First Civic Action in Carver

You do not have to wait until you can vote to be heard in your own town. Here is how to take a real concern to the people who decide.

  1. Pick the right body. Town policy, roads, and police or fire go to the Select Board. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
  2. Find the meeting. The Select Board meets on the first and third Tuesday of the month at Carver Town Hall, 108 Main Street, and the agenda is posted in advance.
  3. Know your members. Five Select Board members are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you.
  4. Speak. Meetings are open to the public and residents may address the board. Check the agenda for how to sign up.
  5. Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a broken light, or a missed pickup to the Operations and Maintenance Department, which is the department that owns the repair.
  • Town Hall: 108 Main Street, Carver, MA 02330. Town Hall main line 508-866-3400.
  • Town Clerk & agendas: 508-866-3403, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at carverma.gov.
  • Public schools: Carver Public Schools, carver.org.

Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Select Board, speak at a meeting on the town’s published calendar, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.

Meet Your Select Board

Take Action in Your Town

MassCivics last checked this page on September 26, 2026.

Sources