Chilmark, Massachusetts

Photo: Original photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

On Monday, April 27, 2026, 226 Chilmark voters walked into the annual Town Meeting and, article by article, decided how a town of about 1,212 people would run for a year: 34 warrant articles, a first approval of a $368,000 budget override, and a new rule extending the town’s watch over its wetland buffers. Two nights later, 601 residents cast ballots to fill the town’s elected seats. The people in the room are the legislature, and this guide shows you how to be one of them.

Chilmark at a Glance

1,212Residents (2020)

1694Incorporated

3Select Board Members

408District Students

Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov) · Town of Chilmark.

County: Dukes. Chilmark is an up-island town on the western end of Martha’s Vineyard, incorporated in 1694 and home to the working fishing harbor of Menemsha.
Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Timothy R. Carroll.
Schools: the Up-Island Regional School District, about 408 students, led by Superintendent Jaime L. Curley, Ed.D.

How Chilmark’s Government Works

Chilmark runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Chilmark 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 join with West Tisbury and Aquinnah to elect the regional School Committee that oversees the up-island 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 Chilmark 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

Five members, elected by the voters of the Up-Island Regional district that Chilmark shares with West Tisbury and Aquinnah. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.

Residents elect the three members of the Select Board and, with West Tisbury and Aquinnah, 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 Chilmark, 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 the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6:00 pm on the second floor of Chilmark Town Hall, 401 Middle Road. The agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held each April, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. The 2026 Annual Town Meeting opened on April 27 with 226 voters acting on 34 warrant articles.
Town elections: Chilmark votes each April. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on April 29, with 601 ballots cast. The next annual election is in April 2027.
State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.

Explore the Chilmark 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 Dukes 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 Chilmark. Now you know what to look for.

District Attorney, Cape & Islands District

Robert Galibois

In office since 2023
Official site

Sheriff, Dukes County

Robert Ogden

In office since 2017
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 Chilmark

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 the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6:00 pm at Chilmark Town Hall, 401 Middle Road, 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 washed-out shoulder, a downed sign, or a road repair to the Highway Department, which is the department that owns the repair.

Town Hall: 401 Middle Road, P.O. Box 119, Chilmark, MA 02535. Town Administrator’s office 508-645-2101.
Town Clerk & agendas: 508-645-2107, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at chilmarkma.gov.
Public schools: the Up-Island Regional School District and the Chilmark School, 508-645-2562, mvyps.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 October 14, 2026.

Sources

Population and demographics: US Census Bureau, 2020 Census, P1, Chilmark town, as of April 1, 2020.
Schools and districts: Massachusetts DESE, district profile, Contact Information, Up-Island Regional (07740000), as of October 2026.
Schools and districts: Massachusetts DESE, district profile, Enrollment Data (2025-26), Up-Island Regional (07740000), as of October 1, 2025.
Elections and voter enrollment: Secretary of the Commonwealth, Find my local election office, Chilmark, as of October 11, 2026.
Town records: Town of Chilmark, Annual Town Election results, April 29, 2026, as of April 29, 2026.
Town records: Town of Chilmark, Annual Town Meeting minutes, April 27, 2026, as of April 27, 2026.
Town records: Town of Chilmark, Departments, as of October 2026.
Town records: Town of Chilmark, Select Board, as of October 2026.
Town records: Town of Chilmark, Select Board, as of December 28, 2025.
County offices: Cape and Islands District Attorney, Meet the District Attorney, as of January 2023.