Dudley, Massachusetts

Photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

On a Monday night in October 2025, 118 Dudley voters filled the Connie Vanco-Galli Auditorium at Shepherd Hill Regional High School and, between 7:00 and 8:55, voted the town $14,200,000 to run a municipal water main out to the Eagle Drive neighborhood, where families had been drinking from private wells. In the same sitting, those same voters turned down an article that would have renamed the Board of Selectmen the Select Board. One night, one room, a borrowing close to half the size of the town’s whole annual budget and the town’s own name for its own government, both settled by whoever walked in. That is what an open Town Meeting is, and this guide shows you how to get into the room.

Dudley at a Glance

11,921Residents (2020)

1732Incorporated

5Board of Selectmen Members

3,425Students, two-town district

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

County: Worcester. Dudley covers 20.832 square miles of land in the far south of the county, bounded by Oxford, Charlton, Southbridge and Webster, and by Woodstock and Thompson across the Connecticut line. The French River runs along the Webster border.
Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Board of Selectmen and an appointed Town Administrator, Jonathan Ruda
Schools: Dudley runs none of its own. It shares the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District with Charlton, about 3,425 students across both towns, led by Superintendent Steven Lamarche.

How Dudley’s Government Works

Dudley runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Dudley is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a 5 member Board of Selectmen to set policy between meetings and the 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 Dudley 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

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 Board of Selectmen. Hired under contract, not elected.

School Committee

7 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 the 5 members of the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee.
The Board of Selectmen 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 Dudley, 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: Monday evenings at 6:30, roughly every two weeks, in Room 321A of the Dudley Municipal Complex at 71 West Main Street. The town posts the full meeting calendar and each agenda in advance.
Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held in May at the Connie Vanco-Galli Auditorium at Shepherd Hill Regional High School, 68 Dudley Oxford Road. The 2026 warrant called voters for Monday, May 18 at 7:00 P.M., holding Tuesday the 19th in reserve. The town also holds a Special Town Meeting in the fall, set this year for Monday, October 19.
Town elections: Dudley votes in June, across four precincts. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on June 15.
State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 state primary was held on September 1, and the state election is on November 3.

Explore the Dudley 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 Worcester 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 Dudley. Now you know what to look for.

District Attorney, Middle District

Joseph D. Early Jr.

In office since 2007
Official site

Sheriff, Worcester County

Lew Evangelidis

In office since 2011
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 Dudley

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 Board of Selectmen. Schools go to the Dudley-Charlton Regional School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
Find the meeting. The Board of Selectmen meets Monday evenings at 6:30 in Room 321A of the Dudley Municipal Complex, and the agenda is posted in advance.
Know your members. All five members of the Board of Selectmen are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you.
Speak. Every agenda opens with Citizens’ Comments, right after the Pledge of Allegiance and the approval of minutes. That item exists for you.
Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a washed-out shoulder, or a plowing problem to the Highway Department, which is the department that owns the repair.

Town Hall: 71 West Main Street, Dudley, MA 01571. Main number 508-949-8000, Board of Selectmen office 508-949-8001.
Town Clerk & agendas: 508-949-8004, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at dudleyma.gov.
Public schools: the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District, 68 Dudley-Oxford Road, 508-943-6888, dcrsd.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 16, 2026.

Sources

Population and demographics: US Census Bureau, Census profile of Dudley town, Worcester County (American Community Survey 5-year estimates 2020-2024 and the 2020 Census), as of April 1, 2020 and December 31, 2024.
Schools and districts: Massachusetts DESE, Dudley-Charlton Reg (06580000), Contact Information, as of October 2026.
Schools and districts: Massachusetts DESE, Dudley-Charlton Reg Student Profile (code 06580000), as of October 1, 2025.
Town records: Town of Dudley, Board of Selectmen, as of October 2026.
Town records: Town of Dudley, Board of Selectmen agenda, July 13, 2026, as of July 13, 2026.
Town records: Town of Dudley, History, as of October 2026.
Town records: Town of Dudley, Town Administrator, as of October 2026.
Town Clerk records: Town of Dudley, 2026 Annual Town Meeting Minutes, as of May 18, 2026.
Town Clerk records: Town of Dudley, Election Information, as of October 2026.
Town Clerk records: Town of Dudley, Fall 2025 Special Town Meeting Minutes, as of October 20, 2025.
Town Clerk records: Town of Dudley, Official Tally Sheet, Annual Town Election, June 15, 2026, as of June 15, 2026.
Town Clerk records: Town of Dudley, Town Clerk, as of October 2026.
County offices: Worcester County District Attorney, Worcester County District Attorney, as of October 2026.