Town Edition
Norfolk County
Stoughton, Massachusetts
Your town is named after a man who sent people to the gallows. William Stoughton was the colonial chief justice who presided over the Salem witch trials and never apologized for any of it, and in 1726 the General Court carved a town out of Dorchester and put his name on it. Stoughton has spent the three centuries since being a great deal better than its namesake. It built the oldest continuously operating choral society in the country in 1786, and it still governs itself by Town Meeting, which means the budget that funds your school is voted by neighbors elected from your own precinct, not handed down by anyone. You inherit the name. You also inherit the vote. This guide shows you how Stoughton works and where you can push on it.
Stoughton at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Norfolk. Stoughton was carved out of Dorchester’s South Precinct in 1726, which makes 2026 its 300th year, and the town has seated a 300th Anniversary Committee to mark it.
- Government: representative Town Meeting of 168 elected members, with a five-member elected Select Board and an appointed Town Manager. The manager’s office is currently held by Marc Tisdelle as Acting Town Manager, appointed by the Select Board in July 2026.
- Schools: Stoughton Public Schools, 3,551 students across eight schools, led by Superintendent Juliette Miller.
How Stoughton’s Government Works
Stoughton runs on a representative Town Meeting, an old New England form scaled up for a town too big to fit everyone in one room. Under the Town Charter, each of Stoughton’s eight precincts elects 21 of its neighbors, 168 Town Meeting Representatives in all, and those members hold the final vote on the budget and the town’s bylaws. Voters also elect a five-member Select Board to set policy and the School Committee that oversees the schools. The Select Board hires a professional Town Manager to run the town day to day, an office currently held on an acting basis by an appointee of the board. The levers are split on purpose: residents elect the people, Town Meeting votes the money, the Select Board sets direction, and the Town Manager’s office carries it out.
Town Meeting
The legislative body. The 168 members elected from the precincts adopt the annual budget, pass town bylaws, and approve major spending, meeting each year starting the first Monday in May.
Select Board
Five members elected town-wide. They set policy, sign the warrants that decide what reaches Town Meeting, appoint many boards, and hire and supervise the Town Manager.
Town Manager
Appointed under the Town Charter as the town’s chief executive officer, not elected. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Select Board. The office is currently held by an Acting Town Manager.
School Committee
Five 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 Town Meeting Representatives from their own precinct, the five Select Board members, and the School Committee.
- The Select Board hires the Town Manager and sets town policy.
- Town Meeting votes the budget and the bylaws up or down.
- You take part: run for Town Meeting from your precinct at 18, speak at a Select Board meeting, or watch the budget pass in May.
Civic Calendar
- Select Board: meets at 7:30 pm on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month in the Great Hall at Town Hall, 10 Pearl Street, open to the public and televised on Comcast channel 8 and Verizon channel 24.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting begins the first Monday in May. In 2026 it opened on May 4 at 7:00 pm in the Stoughton High School auditorium, and the Select Board can call a Special Town Meeting at any time.
- Town elections: Stoughton votes in the spring. The 2026 annual town election was held on April 7. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Stoughton Edition
- Town Manager’s OfficeThe town’s appointed chief executive
- 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.
- Stoughton HistoryThree hundred years from precinct to town
- DemographicsWho lives in Stoughton
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataStoughton Public 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 Norfolk County, and that includes Stoughton. 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 Stoughton
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. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board meets at 7:30 pm on the second and fourth Tuesdays in the Great Hall at Town Hall, 10 Pearl Street, 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 televised on Comcast channel 8 and Verizon channel 24, and residents can ask the Select Board office to be placed on the agenda.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a broken light, or a missed pickup through the Report a Problem link on the town website, stoughton.org.
- Town Hall: 10 Pearl Street, Stoughton, MA 02072. Main line 781-341-1300; Select Board office ext. 9212.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 781-341-1300 ext. 9214, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at stoughton.org.
- Public schools: Stoughton Public Schools, stoughtonschools.org.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Select Board, speak at a Tuesday night meeting, or run for Town Meeting in your precinct.