Town Edition
Middlesex County
Lincoln, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
There is no city council in Lincoln and no mayor. When the town decides how to spend its money, the decision is made by whoever walks into the open Town Meeting, because in Lincoln every registered voter is a voting member of the legislature. At the March 30, 2026 town election only one race was even contested, so the real arguments happen at Town Meeting, in the room where the budget is actually set. This guide shows you how to get into that room, and what every other part of your town government does between meetings.
Lincoln at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov) · Town of Lincoln.
- County: Middlesex. Lincoln covers about 14 square miles of forest, farm, and conservation land between Concord, Weston, and Lexington, west of Boston.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Timothy S. Higgins.
- Schools: Lincoln runs its own PreK-8 district, about 955 students, under Superintendent Parry Graham, and sends its high schoolers to the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School.
How Lincoln’s Government Works
Lincoln runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Lincoln 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 two school committees that oversee 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 Lincoln 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 Committees
A five-member Lincoln School Committee runs the PreK-8 district, and Lincoln also elects two members to the six-seat Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School Committee for the high school.
- Residents elect the three members of the Select Board and the members of both school committees.
- 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 Lincoln, 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 twice a month on Monday evenings at 6:30 p.m., in a hybrid format in person at the Town Offices, 16 Lincoln Road, and on Zoom. The agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is ordinarily held in late March, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait.
- Town elections: the Annual Town Election is held in late March across two precincts. The most recent was on March 30, 2026. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Lincoln Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour three board members
- School CommitteesTwo districts, two committees
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Lincoln HistoryNiptown, Revere, and the Battle Road
- DemographicsWho lives in Lincoln
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataLincoln schools by the numbers
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 Middlesex 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 Lincoln. Now you know what to look for.
District Attorney, Northern District (Middlesex County)Marian T. Ryan
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.
Your First Civic Action in Lincoln
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 for the right grades. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board meets twice a month on Monday evenings at the Town Offices, 16 Lincoln Road, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. All 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 pothole, a broken light, or a missed pickup to the Department of Public Works, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Offices: 16 Lincoln Road, Lincoln, MA 01773. Main line 781-259-2600.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 781-259-2607, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at lincolntown.org.
- Public schools: the Lincoln Public Schools, 781-259-9409, lincnet.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.