Town Edition
Barnstable County
Dennis, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
On May 5, 2026, a community center for Dennis came down to raised hands in one room. Article 13 asked Town Meeting to pay for the project manager and the designers for a building at 901 Route 134. The hand count was 277 in favor and 454 against. Someone moved to reconsider, the hall voted a second time, and the count came back 129 to 296. That was 859 residents deciding, out of 13,298 registered voters, and no mayor, no council and no committee could overrule them. This guide shows you how to get into that room.
Dennis at a Glance
Sources: US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Barnstable. Dennis runs the width of the Cape, from Cape Cod Bay in the north to Nantucket Sound in the south, and holds five villages that each have their own post office: Dennis, Dennis Port, East Dennis, South Dennis and West Dennis. The Bass River is most of the western border with Yarmouth.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Elizabeth C. Sullivan
- Schools: Dennis does not run a school district of its own. It shares one with Yarmouth, the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District, which enrolls about 2,905 students from both towns and is led by Superintendent Marc J. Smith.
How Dennis’s Government Works
Dennis runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Dennis 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 the 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 Dennis 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
7 members, elected in two towns. It sets district policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the 5 members of the Select Board and Dennis’s 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: register at 16, vote at 18, and once you are registered you are already a member of Town Meeting.
Civic Calendar
- Select Board: meets Tuesdays at 4:00 pm in the Stone Hearing Room at Dennis Town Hall, 685 Route 134, South Dennis, unless the agenda says otherwise. Each agenda is posted in advance.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting convenes on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in May, and it takes 150 registered voters to make a quorum. The 2026 annual meeting met on May 5 and 859 residents attended. A Special Town Meeting can be called whenever town business cannot wait, and needs a quorum of 75; the next one is set for October 6, 2026 at 6:00 pm at the Dennis-Yarmouth Intermediate/Middle School.
- Town elections: Dennis votes in the spring across five precincts. The 2026 annual town election was held on May 12, and the next one is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Dennis Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour five board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Dennis HistorySalt, clipper ships, and 1793
- DemographicsWho lives in Dennis
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataDennis-Yarmouth schools by the numbers
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 Barnstable County, and that includes Dennis. 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 Dennis
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 Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board meets Tuesdays at 4:00 pm in the Stone Hearing Room at Dennis Town Hall, 685 Route 134, South Dennis, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. Five 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 broken light, or a missed pickup to the Department of Public Works, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 685 Route 134, South Dennis, MA 02660. Town Administrator’s office 508-760-6148.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 508-760-6112, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at town.dennis.ma.us.
- Public schools: the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District, 508-398-7600, dy-regional.k12.ma.us.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Select Board, speak at a Tuesday meeting, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.