Town Edition
Worcester County
Warren, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Over the door of the Warren Public Library, dedicated on the Fourth of July in 1890, the granite reads Free too All, extra o and all. The town paid for that promise with private gifts and with its own tax appropriations, voted at Town Meeting, and Warren still works that way. When the mills of West Warren went quiet, the town went out and won a federal grant to plan Wright’s Mill back to life, and the finished recovery plan landed in front of the Board of Selectmen in May 2025. In Warren the budget, the bylaws, and plans like that one are decided by open Town Meeting, where every registered voter is a member and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote. This guide shows you how to get into the room.
Warren at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Worcester. Warren sits in the hills of south-central Worcester County, on the Quaboag River, and its two main villages are Warren and West Warren.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Board of Selectmen and an appointed Town Administrator, James J. Ferrera.
- Schools: the Quaboag Regional School District, shared with West Brookfield, about 1,113 students, led by Superintendent Stephen Duff.
How Warren’s Government Works
Warren runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Warren 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 the members who sit on the regional School Committee. 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 Warren 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
12 members, elected by the voters of 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 Warren’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 every other Thursday at 6:00pm at the Charles E. Shepard Municipal Building, 48 High Street, and the sessions are carried on Warren Community Access Television and YouTube. 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 was held on June 11.
- Town elections: Warren holds its annual town election each May, and one Selectmen seat is on the ballot each year for a three-year term. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Warren Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Board of SelectmenYour three board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Warren HistoryQuaboag, the mills, and 1741
- DemographicsWho lives in Warren
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataQuaboag Regional 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 Worcester County, and that includes Warren. 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 Warren
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 every other Thursday at 6:00pm at the Charles E. Shepard Municipal Building, 48 High Street, 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 road problem to the Highway Department, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: Charles E. Shepard Municipal Building, 48 High Street, Warren, MA 01083. Board of Selectmen office 413-436-5701 Ext. 106.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 413-436-5701 Ext. 111, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at warren-ma.gov.
- Public schools: the Quaboag Regional School District, (413) 436-9256, quaboagrsd.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.