1.2 Entrance Requirements, Age Limits, Preferences & E/E Credit
Key Takeaways
Candidates must be 19 by the application deadline to test and 21 to be appointed as a municipal police officer (M.G.L. c. 31, § 58).
Upper age limits vary by department: none in places like Cambridge and Lowell, and 39 or younger at the exam date for Boston and Worcester.
Residency preference requires living in the town for the full 12 months before the original exam date; in-town public high school graduates have the same claim.
On residents-first certifications, resident civilians rank ahead of non-resident veterans and non-resident disabled veterans.
E/E credit needs signed letterhead documentation, not a resume, and is added only to a passing score.
1.2 Entrance Requirements, Age Limits, Preferences & E/E Credit
Two candidates with the same written exam score can end up in very different places on a department's certification. The difference comes from entrance requirements, statutory preferences and credit for employment or experience (E/E). This section covers those rules and where they come from.
Age Requirements
| Rule | Source | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum age to test | M.G.L. c. 31, § 58 | You must be 19 on or before the final application date. The October 2026 poster used the application deadline. A candidate who turned 19 while on active military duty can take a later makeup exam. |
| Minimum age to be appointed | M.G.L. c. 31, § 58 | You cannot be appointed as a municipal police officer until you are 21. |
| Upper age limits | c. 31, §§ 58 and 58A; special acts | Limits vary by department, so check HRD's Civil Service Police Departments page. |
HRD's department list (updated July 27, 2026) sorts civil service police departments into four groups:
- No upper age limit. Examples include Cambridge, Lowell, Lynn, Quincy, Springfield and the MBTA Transit Police.
- 31 or younger as of the last date to apply. Examples include Chelmsford, Dracut and Westford.
- 31 or younger as of the original exam date. Examples include Andover, Newton and Weymouth. Qualified veterans may add up to four years of service time but must still be under 36 on the exam date.
- 39 or younger as of the original exam date. Boston, Plymouth, Taunton, Westfield and Worcester. For Boston, this rule comes from Chapter 43 of the Acts of 2007.
These limits come from the statutes. Section 58 bars certification of anyone who has reached 32 by the filing deadline in a city or town that has not accepted §§ 61A and 61B. Section 58A sets an exam-date limit of age 32 for municipalities that accept it, with up to four years' credit for military service.
Education and Other Entrance Conditions
By the date of appointment you need one of these (c. 31, § 58):
- a high school diploma;
- a high school equivalency certificate approved by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education; or
- three years in the U.S. armed forces, with your last discharge under honorable conditions.
Other statutory bars:
- Tobacco smoking. Anyone hired from this list may not smoke tobacco products at or after appointment (c. 41, § 101A).
- Felonies and decertification. A person convicted of a felony, or listed in the national or Massachusetts decertification databases, cannot be appointed (c. 41, § 96A).
Residency Preference
A resident has lived in the same city or town for the entire 12 months immediately before the original exam date. For the October 2, 2026 exam, that means living there from October 2, 2025 through October 2, 2026. Your mailing address does not prove residency, and the appointing authority will verify your claim before appointment.
- Residents first. If a department makes a written request, HRD certifies all residents ahead of all non-residents. Even without a request, residency breaks ties between equal scores.
- Public high school graduates. Since November 20, 2025, a candidate who earned a diploma from a public high school in that city or town has the same claim as a one-year resident (St. 2024, c. 238). The application asks this as a separate question.
- After appointment. Within nine months you must live in that city or town or within 10 miles of its border. A collective bargaining agreement may extend that distance.
Veterans, Disabled Veterans and Children of Fallen Officers
Under M.G.L. c. 4, § 7, clause 43, a veteran has either:
- 180 days of active duty, or
- 90 days of active duty with at least one day in a recognized wartime period,
and was released under honorable conditions. Some periods, such as Vietnam I, require 180 days. Guard and reserve members generally qualify only after activation to active duty.
A disabled veteran must first qualify as a veteran and then document a VA service-connected disability of 10% or more.
HRD describes Massachusetts as an absolute veterans' preference system. A veteran who passes is placed above non-veterans, and HRD also adds two points to the veteran's passing score. On police and fire lists, however, residency preference comes first.
The children's preference comes from Chapter 402 of the Acts of 1985:
- 402A covers the child of a police officer or firefighter killed in the line of duty.
- 402B covers the child of an officer who was permanently and totally disabled in the line of duty and received a special-act pension.
Both must pass the written, medical and physical exams.
HRD's Certification Order of Lists
| Order | Category |
|---|---|
| 1 | Chapter 534 applicant (Civil Service Commission relief) |
| 2 | Resident 402A applicant |
| 3 | Non-resident 402A applicant |
| 4 | Resident disabled veteran |
| 5 | Resident 402B applicant |
| 6 | Non-resident 402B applicant |
| 7 | Resident veteran |
| 8 | Resident civilian |
| 9 | Non-resident disabled veteran |
| 10 | Non-resident veteran |
| 11 | Non-resident civilian |
Worked example. Worcester requests a residents-first certification. Dana is a Worcester resident with no veteran status and a score of 86. Luis is a disabled veteran who lives in Shrewsbury and scored 97. Dana is in group 8 and Luis is in group 9. Dana is therefore reached first in Worcester. Luis still keeps disabled-veteran priority in Shrewsbury, where he is a resident.
Selective certification
A department can ask HRD for a selective certification. That limits a vacancy to candidates who meet a stated need, such as fluency in Spanish, Vietnamese or Haitian Creole, or a specific gender. You must prove language fluency during the selection process.
Credit for Employment or Experience (E/E)
M.G.L. c. 31, § 22 gives credit for experience in the exam title: municipal police officer or transit police officer.
- Claim it on the application. Supporting documentation must be on the employer's original letterhead, with an original signature, dates of service and total hours if part-time.
- Resumes do not count. HRD does not accept a resume as proof.
- Deadlines. Documentation was due by March 18, 2026 for the March exam and by October 9, 2026 for the October exam.
- No rescue of a failing score. E/E credit is added only to a passing written score.
Jordan turned 19 two weeks before the August 31, 2026 application deadline and takes the October 2026 exam. Which statement is correct?
Jordan cannot take the exam because candidates must be 21 when they apply
Jordan may test but cannot be appointed as a municipal police officer before age 21
Jordan may be appointed at 20 if the police chief gives written approval in advance
Jordan may test only if he also has three years of U.S. military service
A city requests a residents-first certification. Pat is a city resident and civilian who scored 84. Robin is a disabled veteran who lives in another town and scored 98. Using HRD's Certification Order of Lists, who appears first on this city's certification?
Robin, because disabled veterans always rank first on every certification statewide
Robin, because a higher score always outranks a residency preference
Pat, because resident civilians precede non-resident disabled veterans
They tie, so HRD lists the two candidates in alphabetical order
A candidate worked two years as a part-time municipal police officer and wants employment and experience (E/E) credit. Which submission meets HRD's rules?
A current resume listing each police job, its dates and the duties performed
A copy of the academy diploma, uploaded after the score notice is emailed
A signed statement from a former coworker describing the candidate's performance
A signed letter on the department's original letterhead listing dates and part-time hours
The original exam date is October 2, 2026. Over what period must a candidate have lived in a city or town to claim residency preference there?
From October 2, 2025 through October 2, 2026
From January 1, 2026 through the application deadline
Any 12 months during the five years before the exam
Only on the day the application is submitted
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.