The Massachusetts General Court is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is a bicameral body. The upper house is the Massachusetts Senate which is composed of 40 members. The lower body, the Massachusetts House of Representatives, has 160 members.

The General Court was established in 1691 when the Massachusetts Bay Colony got a new charter, and existed in its colonial form until the first Massachusetts state constitution was ratified in 1779.

The General Court meets in the state capital of Boston, Massachusetts.

Senate

There are 40 Senatorial Districts in Massachusetts, named for the counties and former counties that they represent. At present, they are:

• Berkshire, Hampshire, and Franklin
• Bristol and Norfolk
• First Bristol and Plymouth
• Second Bristol and Plymouth
• Cape and Islands
• First Essex
• Second Essex
• First Essex and Middlesex
• Second Essex and Middlesex
• Third Essex and Middlesex
• Hampden
• First Hampden and Hampshire
• Second Hampden and Hampshire
• Hampshire and Franklin
• First Middlesex
• Second Middlesex
• Third Middlesex
• Fourth Middlesex
• Middlesex and Essex
• First Middlesex and Norfolk
• Second Middlesex and Norfolk
• Middlesex, Suffolk, and Essex
• Middlesex and Worcester
• Norfolk, Bristol, and Plymouth
• Norfolk, Bristol, and Middlesex
• Norfolk and Plymouth
• Plymouth and Barnstable
• First Plymouth and Barnstable
• Second Plymouth and Barnstable
• Plymouth and Norfolk
• First Suffolk
• Second Suffolk
• First Suffolk and Middlesex
• Second Suffolk and Middlesex
• Suffolk and Norfolk
• First Worcester
• Second Worcester
• Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin
• Worcester and Middlesex
• Worcester and Norfolk

House of Representatives

Each Massachusetts Representative represents about 39,682 citizens. Representative districts are named for the counties and former counties they are in, and tend to stay within one county. Now and again, a district will cross county lines. The following lists the number of representatives, roughly by county:

• Barnstable County: 5
• Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket Counties: 1 (shared by Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and a portion of Falmouth in Barnstable County)
• Berkshire County: 4
• Bristol County: 14
• Essex County: 18
• Franklin County: 2
• Hampden County: 12
• Hampshire County: 3
• Middlesex County: 37
• Norfolk County: 15
• Plymouth County: 12
• Suffolk County: 19
• Worcester County: 18

External links

• General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (http://www.mass.gov/legis)
• Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (http://www.mass.gov/legis/const.htm)