Town Edition
Bristol County
Freetown, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
On the first Monday of June, Freetown settles its biggest questions the way it has for almost 350 years: in one room, out loud, with every registered voter who walks in holding a vote. This is an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected members to speak for you, because you are the member. In 1957 that same meeting voted to build a high school together with the neighboring town of Lakeville, and Apponequet, the school those two towns still share, opened two years later. The town is made of two villages, Assonet and East Freetown, and it runs on one of the oldest forms of self government in the country. This guide shows you how to get into the room.
Freetown at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Bristol. Freetown sits between Fall River and New Bedford, and is made up of two villages, Assonet in the north and East Freetown in the south. The Assonet River and the Freetown-Fall River State Forest run through the middle of it.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Board of Selectmen and an appointed Town Administrator, Deborah L. Pettey
- Schools: the Freetown-Lakeville Regional School District, about 2,589 students, led by Superintendent Barbara Starkie.
How Freetown’s Government Works
Freetown runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Freetown is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a 3 member Board of Selectmen to set policy between meetings and the members of 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 Freetown 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
3 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
8 members, elected by the voters of Freetown and Lakeville, the two towns the regional district serves. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the 3 members of the Board of Selectmen and Freetown’s seats on 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: register at 16, vote at 18, and once you are registered you are already a member of Town Meeting.
Civic Calendar
- Board of Selectmen: meets on the first and third Monday evenings of most months at Freetown Town Hall, 3 North Main Street, Assonet. The agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar 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. The 2026 Annual Town Meeting warrant was set for June 1.
- Town elections: Freetown votes in April. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on April 6, with the polls open from 12:00pm to 8:00pm. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Freetown Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Board of SelectmenYour five board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Freetown HistoryThe Freemen’s Purchase, mills, and 1683
- DemographicsWho lives in Freetown
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataFreetown-Lakeville 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 Bristol County, and that includes Freetown. 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 Freetown
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 School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Board of Selectmen meets on the first and third Monday evenings of most months at Freetown Town Hall, 3 North Main Street, Assonet, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. All three Board of Selectmen 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 Highway Department, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 3 North Main Street, Assonet, MA 02702. Board of Selectmen office 508-644-2201 Ext. 1.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 508-644-2201 Ext. 2, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at freetownma.gov.
- Public schools: the Freetown-Lakeville Regional School District, 508-923-2000, freelake.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.