Massachusetts General Laws Part I. Administration of the Government (Ch. 1-182) Ch. 31, § 60

In any city or town having an intermittent or reserve police or fire force to which the civil service law and rules are applicable, original appointments to the lowest title in the regular police or fire force shall be made from among the permanent members of such intermittent or reserve police or fire force, as the case may be, whose names are certified by the administrator to the appointing authority. Names of such members shall be listed on the certification in the order of their civil service appointments to such intermittent or reserve police or fire force, or, if such order is not ascertainable, in the order provided by the appointing authority at the time of their appointments to such intermittent or reserve police or fire force; provided, however, that in a city or town having both an intermittent police force and a reserve police force, or an intermittent fire force and a reserve fire force, permanent members of such intermittent police force or such intermittent fire force shall, for the purposes of certification and appointment to the regular police force or the regular fire force pursuant to this section, be deemed to be members of the reserve police force or the reserve fire force of such city or town.

No person who has passed his fiftieth birthday shall be appointed pursuant to this section to the regular police or fire force. A member of an intermittent or reserve police or fire force who, after being duly certified on three occasions, refuses employment on a permanent basis in the regular police or fire force shall not be eligible for further certification for appointment thereto and, notwithstanding the provisions of sections forty-one, forty-three and forty-four or any other law, shall cease to be a member of such intermittent or reserve police or fire force, provided that the refusal of any such member to accept appointment to the regular force made while he was serving in the armed forces of the United States shall not be included among the refusals referred to in this paragraph. The appointing authority shall send to the administrator a notice of termination of service of any such member which occurs pursuant to this paragraph. Such notice shall set forth the occasion of each refusal and the date of termination of service of such member. The administrator shall deny any request of a member of an intermittent or reserve police or fire force that he not be certified in any instance for appointment to the regular force.

The provisions of this section shall not be deemed to prevent the appointment to the regular fire force of a city or town of a call fire fighter under the provisions of any general or special law.