Suffolk County Criminal Defense Lawyers

Suffolk County was created by the Massachusetts General Court, on May 10, 1643, when it was ordered “that the whole plantation within this jurisdiction be divided into four shires.” It was named Suffolk County after Suffolk, England which means “southern folk.” Originally, Suffolk County contained Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, Dedham, Braintree, Weymouth and Hingham. About hundred years later in 1731, the western portion of Suffolk County was split off into another county – Worcester County. Then sixty years after that, in 1793, most of the original Suffolk County except for Boston, Chelsea, Hingham, and Hull split off and became Norfolk County. In the late 19th century, Boston annexed several adjacent cities and towns including Hyde Park, Roxbury, West Roxbury, and Dorchester from Norfolk County and Charlestown and Brighton from Middlesex County, resulting in an enlargement of Suffolk County.

In 1999, most of the Suffolk County functions were taken away from the county and given to the state. Therefore Suffolk County exists today as a historical geographic region, and has no county government. The sheriff, district attorney, and some other regional officials with specific duties are still elected locally to perform duties within the county region, but there is no county council, executives or commissioners. Before the abolition of county government, the Boston City Council had exercised the authority of the Suffolk County Commission, even though three communities in the county are not part of the city.

Between 1999 and 2008 there were 377,104 total crimes reported in Suffolk County, Massachusetts and 78,948 of those crimes were violent. Of the 37,710 crimes that take place per year in Suffolk County, almost half of them transpire less than one mile from home. On average in this county, someone is a victim of crime every thirteen minutes. This disturbingly high number includes 600 murders, 3,338 rapes and two hundred and fifty-one thousand thefts, which include sixty two thousand and seven hundred and ten car thefts.

Suffolk County has many court divisions in it and the divisions all fall under the Boston Municipal Court, Central Division, the main municipal court located at 24 New Chardon Street, Boston, MA and has jurisdiction over a significant portion of downtown Boston. The court system in Suffolk County also includes the Suffolk Superior Court which is located at the Three Pemberton Square, Boston, MA. The Chelsea Division, where you can find the Chelsea District Court Division, has jurisdiction over the municipalities of Chelsea and Revere, and is located at 120 Broadway. The Brighton Division, which holds the Brighton District Court, can be found at 52 Academy Hill Rd, in the Brighton area of Boston. The Brighton Court handles all cases from Allston and Brighton. The Charlestown Division of the Boston Municipal Court can be found at 3 City Square and has jurisdiction over the area of Charlestown. The Dorchester District Court can be found at 510 Washington St. and has jurisdiction over both Dorchester and Mattapan. The East Boston District Court at 37 Meridian St, has jurisdiction over both East Boston and Winthrop. The Roxbury District Court has jurisdiction over all of Roxbury and is on 85 Warren St. The South Boston District Court is located at 535 E. Broadway and has jurisdiction over all cases originating in South Boston. And the West Roxbury District Court is housed at 445 Arborway and has jurisdiction over cases from Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale and West Roxbury.

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 Suffolk County. Boston criminal defense lawyer Patrick J. Murphy's law office is conveniently located at One South Market Street, Fourth Floor in heart of Suffolk County in downtown Boston. 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.