Dighton Civics Online
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Dighton town seal
Town Edition

Bristol County

Dighton, Massachusetts

Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The ten communities along the Taunton River were each asked the same question, and Dighton’s Town Meeting was one of the rooms where it got answered: should the river at the bottom of the town be protected by the federal government. Every one of them said yes, and in March 2009 Congress added about 40 miles of the Taunton to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, so a show of hands in Dighton is one of the reasons that water is still protected today. That is how this town has always worked. Any registered voter of Dighton can walk into Town Meeting, speak on any article, and vote the budget, and this guide shows you how to get into the room.

Dighton at a Glance

8,101Residents (2020)
1712Incorporated
3Board of Selectmen Members
2,524District Students

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

  • County: Bristol. Dighton sits on the west bank of the Taunton River in southeastern Massachusetts, just north of Fall River and south of Taunton, with the village of North Dighton in its northern half.
  • Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Board of Selectmen and an appointed Town Administrator, Ralph A. Vitacco.
  • Schools: the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District, about 2,524 students across the two towns, led by Superintendent Bill Runey.

How Dighton’s Government Works

Dighton runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Dighton is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a three-member Board of Selectmen to set policy between meetings, and they elect Dighton’s five seats on the regional School Committee that oversees the schools. The Board of Selectmen 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 Board of Selectmen, 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 Dighton is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.

Board of Selectmen

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 Board of Selectmen. Hired under contract, not elected.

School Committee

Ten members for the two-town Dighton-Rehoboth district, five elected by Dighton voters and five by Rehoboth. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.

  1. Residents elect the three members of the Board of Selectmen and Dighton’s seats on the School Committee.
  2. The Board of Selectmen 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 Dighton, 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

  • Board of Selectmen: meets at 6:00 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at Old Town Hall, 1111 Somerset Avenue, and the agenda is posted in advance, so check the town website 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: Dighton votes on a Saturday in the spring. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on April 11 at Dighton Elementary School. The next is in spring 2027.
  • State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.

Explore the Dighton 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 Bristol 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 Dighton. Now you know what to look for.

District Attorney, Bristol District

Thomas M. Quinn III

In office since 2015
Official site
Paul HerouxSheriff, Bristol County

Paul Heroux

In office since 2023
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 Dighton

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 Board of Selectmen. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
  2. Find the meeting. The Board of Selectmen meets at 6:00 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesday at Old Town Hall, 1111 Somerset Avenue, and the agenda is posted in advance.
  3. Know your members. All three Board of Selectmen 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 sign, or a drainage problem to the Highway Department, which is the department that owns the repair.
  • Town Hall: 979 Somerset Avenue, Dighton, MA 02715. Board of Selectmen office 508-669-6431, option 1.
  • Town Clerk & agendas: 508-669-5411, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at dighton-ma.gov.
  • Public schools: the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District, 508-252-5000, drregional.org.

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

Meet Your Board of Selectmen

Take Action in Your Town

MassCivics last checked this page on October 15, 2026.

Sources