Town Clerk

The Office of the Town Clerk serves as the central information point for residents, citizens at large, departments, boards, committees, government agencies and offices. The Town Clerk is the keeper of town records, the chief election official, a member of the Board of Registrars, and the Registrar for all vital birth, death, and marriage events occurring within the community and those events occurring elsewhere to residents. The Town Clerk serves as Burial Agent, Super Records Access Officer, and is the official keeper of the Town Seal. The Town Clerk administers the oath of office to all elected and appointed town officials. As the chief election official, the Town Clerk schedules, trains, and supervises all election workers and purchases, maintains, tests, and secures all voting equipment in accordance with state and federal regulations. 

The Town Clerk maintains the local census and voter registration database, assists the Commonwealth with verification of the Federal Census, produces the Street List, and maintains multiple databases. This department issues various licenses and permits. The Town Clerk records and maintains town meeting votes pertaining to local acceptances of Mass. General Laws, Special Acts, General bylaws, and Zoning bylaws. The Town Clerk records oaths of office and receipts of completion of open meeting law and conflict of interest law for local officials and campaign finance reports of local elected officials. The Town Clerk preserves permanent records such as births, marriage intentions, marriages, deaths,  meeting minutes, Planning Board and Zoning Board decisions, and issues certified copies of these records upon request. 

The Office of the Town Clerk works mainly under the direction of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, The Office of the Attorney General, Department of Revenue, in accordance with Federal Laws and Regulations, the Massachusetts General Laws, Special Acts, local bylaws, rules and regulations, and the Selectboard.

Records found in this office include but are not limited to:

• Annual Town Reports
• Birth Certificates
• Death Certificates
• Marriage Licenses
• Records of elections and lists of those who have served the Town of Princeton
• Town Meeting Records
• Zoning Decisions

Licenses - Request Online or By Appointment Only

• DBA Certificates
• Dog licenses
• Marriage licenses
• Raffles and bazaars permits

Additional Duties

• Maintains records of amendments to the Town By-Law and Zoning By-Law and references to accepted State Statutes.
• Accepts the required postings for all public meetings and maintains the public meetings calendar.
• Conducts the Annual Census and maintains the voter lists. The department conducts all Federal, State, and Local elections.

Notary Services

You may also contact the Assessor's Office at 978-464-2104 for notary services. Walk-In notary services are not available in the Clerk's Office at this time. Appointments are required during election season.

Where can I find a notary?

Multiple locations offer notary services, these facilities include banks, credit unions, law offices, mail and shipping stores, libraries, and online notary services. 

The Town Clerk will not provide notary services for real estate transactions and wills due to the following: 

CHAPTER 222 of MGL, AS AMENDED BY CHAPTER 289 OF THE ACTS OF 2016 (Effective January 4, 2017)

• Real Estate Transactions - must be notarized by an attorney or a notary public employed by an attorney 
• MGL Ch. 222 § 17. 
• Wills, including Living Wills - compelling doubt about whether the principal knows the consequences of the transaction or document requiring the notarial act.

In addition, the Town Clerk does not provide notary services for certain documents including but not limited to: copy certifications, powers of attorney, living trusts, irrevocable trusts, trusts, codicils, depositions, deeds, real estate closings, and mortgages. 

The Notary is stating they have witnessed the document being signed and a valid, government-issued photo identification is required of any customer seeking Notary Service. (Cannot present an expired form of identification)

The document(s) CANNOT already have been signed nor dated and the document must contain the appropriate Notarial Statement or Clause, or one will be stamped on the document by the Notary.

Documents in any language other than English will not be notarized in this Office.

Certain public documents cannot be copied and notarized. Examples of these are birth, marriage and death certificates.

Massachusetts law requires that a Notary and the person seeking notarization be able to communicate directly with each other.

In accordance with Massachusetts Notarial Law, Notaries will not provide service if the customer, document, or circumstances of the request for Notary Service raise any issue of authenticity, ambiguity, doubt, or uncertainty. In this event, the Notary may, at his/her sole discretion, decline to provide Notary Services.