Town Edition
Middlesex County
Chelmsford, Massachusetts
The town you live in used to be enormous. When Chelmsford was incorporated in 1655 it stretched far enough to contain Westford, slices of Carlisle and Tyngsborough, and the riverfront that became Lowell, the mill city carved out of East Chelmsford in 1826. What was left is the Chelmsford of today: about 36,000 people in a suburb north of Boston that still governs itself the old New England way. This guide shows you how it runs now: Town Meeting, the Select Board, the appointed Town Manager, the legislators who carry your voice to Boston and Washington, and the data behind it all.
The Chelmsford Civics Handbook
A plain-language guide to how your town works: who represents you, how decisions get made, and how to make your voice heard. Read it online.
Chelmsford at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Middlesex. Chelmsford sits just south and west of Lowell, threaded by Route 3 and Interstate 495 and split into eleven voting precincts.
- Government: representative Town Meeting with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Manager. The manager’s seat is in transition: John B. Sousa, Jr., the town’s finance director, is serving as Acting Town Manager while the Select Board searches for a permanent one.
- Schools: Chelmsford Public Schools, about 5,100 students across eight schools, led by Superintendent Dr. Jay Lang.
How Chelmsford’s Government Works
Chelmsford runs on a representative Town Meeting, an old New England form scaled up for a big town. Voters in each of the town’s eleven precincts elect Town Meeting members, about 165 in all, and those neighbors hold the final vote on the budget and the bylaws. Voters also elect a five-member Select Board to set policy and a School Committee to oversee the schools. The Select Board hires a professional Town Manager to run the town day to day. So the levers are split on purpose: residents elect the people, Town Meeting votes the money, the Select Board sets direction, and the Town Manager carries it out.
Town Meeting
The legislative body. Members elected from eleven precincts adopt the annual budget, pass town bylaws, and approve major spending. It is the closest thing to direct democracy at scale.
Select Board
Five members elected town-wide. They set policy, sign warrants, appoint many boards, and hire and supervise the Town Manager. There is no single elected chief executive.
Town Manager
The appointed chief administrator. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Select Board. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
Five members, elected by the voters of the district the schools serve. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect Town Meeting members, the five Select Board members, and the School Committee.
- The Select Board hires the Town Manager and sets town policy.
- Town Meeting votes the budget and the bylaws up or down.
- You take part: run for Town Meeting at 18, speak at a Select Board meeting, or testify at Town Meeting.
Explore the Chelmsford Edition
- Town Manager’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour five board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at the Town Offices
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Chelmsford HistoryFrom Wamesit land to a Lowell suburb
- DemographicsWho lives in Chelmsford
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataChelmsford Public Schools by the numbers
Civic Calendar
- Select Board: meets on Monday evenings, roughly every other week, in Room 204 of the Town Offices at 50 Billerica Road, and the meetings are open to the public.
- Town Meeting: the representative Town Meeting holds its main session in the spring and can be called back in the fall for special business.
- Town elections: Chelmsford votes in the spring. The annual town election sets the Select Board and School Committee seats.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Your County Officials
Two of the people with the most direct power over your life are elected countywide. The district attorney decides who gets charged with a crime, and what they get charged with. The sheriff runs the county jail. Both of them answer to the voters of Middlesex County, and that includes Chelmsford. They appear on your ballot. Now you know what to look for.
Every county in Massachusetts elects its own, and 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 Chelmsford
Town government is built to be walked into. Here is how a resident, even one too young to vote, actually puts a concern in front of the people who decide.
- Pick the right body. A pothole or a missed pickup is a Town Manager and Department of Public Works matter; a policy or a budget question is for the Select Board, and the final money vote belongs to Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board meets Monday evenings, roughly every other week, in Room 204 of the Town Offices. Agendas are posted in advance at chelmsfordma.gov.
- Know your members. All five Select Board members are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you, not just one from your precinct.
- Speak. Most meetings include time for public comment. Check the posted agenda for how to sign up, then say your piece.
- Or skip the trip. For potholes, street lights, trash, and other day-to-day problems, the town takes online reports through its SeeClickFix tool at chelmsfordma.gov.
- Town Offices: 50 Billerica Road, Chelmsford, MA 01824. Main line 978-250-5201.
- Town Clerk & agendas: the Town Clerk’s office is at 978-250-5205, and meeting agendas and minutes are posted at chelmsfordma.gov.
- Public schools: Chelmsford Public Schools, 230 North Road, 978-251-5100, chelmsfordschools.org.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Select Board, speak at a Monday meeting, or run for Town Meeting in your precinct.
Sources
This guide draws on public sources, refreshed July 2026: U.S. Census Bureau, Massachusetts DESE School and District Profiles, Massachusetts Legislature (malegislature.gov), and the official Chelmsford government website.