Town Edition
Franklin County
Charlemont, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The people of Charlemont chose to build a fiber internet network the town would own, instead of letting a private carrier build one the carrier would own. Today Charlemont delivers its own gigabit service through a Municipal Light Plant that answers to the voters in this town, not to shareholders in another state. That is the shape of this town: small enough that the neighbors who show up to Town Meeting settle the budget, and the network, for everyone. This guide shows you how to get into that room.
Charlemont at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov) · Town of Charlemont.
- County: Franklin. Charlemont is a rural hill town of about 27 square miles in the northwest corner of the county, where the Deerfield River runs eastward through the valley and the North River joins it. Route 2, the Mohawk Trail, climbs through town, and Mohawk Trail State Forest spans Charlemont and neighboring Savoy.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Sarah Reynolds.
- Schools: Charlemont shares its schools regionally. Its youngest students attend Hawlemont Regional School in town, and grades 7 to 12 go to the Mohawk Trail Regional School District, about 758 students across eight member towns, led by Superintendent Sheryl Stanton.
How Charlemont’s Government Works
Charlemont runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Charlemont is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a three-member Select Board to set policy between meetings, and they elect Charlemont’s two seats on the regional 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 Charlemont 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
Three 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
The Mohawk Trail Regional School Committee has 16 members, two from each of the eight towns in the district. Charlemont elects two of those seats. It sets school policy, approves the district budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the three members of the Select Board and Charlemont’s two seats on the regional School Committee.
- The Select Board hires the Town Administrator and decides what goes on the Town Meeting warrant.
- Town Meeting votes the budget and the bylaws, and every registered voter present can vote.
- 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 Charlemont, 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 Monday evenings at Town Hall, usually twice a month, with appointments beginning at 6:00 pm, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held on the last Tuesday of May. The town can also call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait.
- Town elections: Charlemont holds its annual town election on the first Tuesday of June, the week after Town Meeting. The 2026 election was on June 2, and the next is in June 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The clerk posts the current state election date, and the General Court lists who holds Charlemont’s seat in the state House.
Explore the Charlemont Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour three board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Charlemont HistoryMoses Rice, the Mohawk Trail, and 1765
- DemographicsWho lives in Charlemont
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataMohawk Trail schools by the numbers
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 Franklin 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 Charlemont. Now you know what to look for.
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.
Your First Civic Action in Charlemont
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.
- 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.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board meets on Monday evenings at Town Hall, usually twice a month, with appointments beginning at 6:00 pm, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. Three Select Board members are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you.
- Speak. Meetings are open to the public and residents may address the board. Check the agenda for how to sign up.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a plow miss, or a road question to the Highway Department at 413-339-4335 ext. 6, which owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 157 Main Street, Charlemont, MA 01339. Town Offices 413-339-4335.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 413-339-4335 ext. 7, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at charlemont-ma.us.
- Public schools: the Mohawk Trail Regional School District, 413-625-0192, mtrsd.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.
MassCivics last checked this page on September 26, 2026.
Sources
- Population and demographics: US Census Bureau, Census profile of Charlemont town, Franklin County (American Community Survey 5-year estimates 2020-2024 and the 2020 Census), as of April 1, 2020.
- Schools and districts: Massachusetts DESE, Mohawk Trail district profile, contact information (2025-26), as of October 1, 2025.
- Elections and voter enrollment: Secretary of the Commonwealth, candidate profile, David E. Sullivan, as of November 8, 2022.
- Laws and the constitution: Massachusetts General Court, General Laws, Chapter 51, Section 26, as of September 2026.
- Town records: Town of Charlemont, Select Board, as of August 17, 2026.
- Town records: Town of Charlemont, Town Administrator, as of August 17, 2026.
- Town Clerk records: Town of Charlemont, Town Clerk, as of August 17, 2026.