Franklin County Criminal Defense Lawyers

Franklin County is a nongovernmental county located in the north-western part of Massachusetts. The county lines were created on June 24, 1811 from the northern third of Hampshire County and since have been a part of the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Like many other Massachusetts counties, Franklin County exists today purely as a geographic region and has no county government.

When Franklin County Commission voted itself out of existence in 1997, all of the former state mandated county functions were assumed by state agencies. However, the municipalities of Franklin County have formed the Franklin Regional Council of Governments. This regional council provides many different services on a regional basis. In fact, the largest business in the county is the Franklin County Solid Waste Management District, which provides municipal waste disposal and recycling services to its members. Furthermore, the public transportation throughout the county is provided by the Franklin Regional Transit Authority and is in Athol, which is in Worcester County, but aligns itself with Franklin County.

As of 2010, the population for Franklin County reached 71,372. With a large population for a county, there are also a high number of crimes. Between the years of 1999 and 2008 there were 10,877 total crimes reported in Franklin County, Massachusetts. Out of that number, 1,370 of those crimes were violent. On an average, 1,088 crimes occur every year in Franklin County and nearly one half of those crimes occur less than one mile away from home. In fact, on average, someone is a victim of a crime in Franklin County, Massachusetts every 8 hours. This uncomfortable average includes 13 murders, 185 rapes, and almost six thousand thefts, with 620 auto thefts.

The court systems in Franklin County include the Franklin Superior Court, which can be found on 425 Main St., in Franklin, Massachusetts. The Franklin Superior Court serves Shire Towns and Greenfield. The second district court is the Greenfield District Court, which has jurisdiction over the municipalities of Ashfield, Bernardston, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Conway, Deerfield, Gill, Greenfield, Hawley, Heath, Leyden, Monroe, Montague, Northfield, Rowe, Shelburne, Sunderland and Whately. This court is found at the same location as the Franklin Superior Court.

The Law Office of Patrick J. Murphy has nearly twenty years of criminal defense experience providing expert legal representation for clients charged with crimes throughout Franklin County. Boston criminal defense lawyer Patrick J. Murphy's law office is conveniently located at One South Market Street, Fourth Floor in downtown Boston, about an hour drive from the heart of Franklin County. However, Attorney Murphy resides on the South Shore and is available to meet clients locally. If you would like a free, confidential consultation regarding your criminal case contact Attorney Murphy 24/7 directly at (617) 367-0450 or complete the contacts tab on the website today.