---
title: "Kristen Buxton | KnowJudges"
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# Kristen Buxton

Massachusetts Superior Court · Associate Justice

## Profile

- Court: Massachusetts Superior Court
- State: Massachusetts
- Role: Associate Justice
- Service status: active
- Last verified: 2026-07-25

## Summary

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

## Before you appear

- Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.
- Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.
- Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

## Courtroom Rules

### remote hearings

Scope: courtwide

Massachusetts Superior Court Standing Order 1-26 identifies which criminal and civil proceedings are presumptively remote or in person, while allowing the presiding judge to change the format under the order's standards.

Evidence excerpt: certain criminal and civil proceedings may be conducted remotely (e.g., by computer, videoconference, or telephone) pursuant to this Standing Order

[Superior Court Standing Order 1-26: Remote hearings](https://www.mass.gov/superior-court-rules/superior-court-standing-order-1-26-remote-hearings)
Source checked: 2026-07-26

### remote recording

Scope: courtwide

Photographing, recording, or electronically transmitting a Massachusetts Superior Court remote or hybrid hearing requires prior authorization from the supervising judge or clerk-magistrate.

Evidence excerpt: No person shall take any photographs, or make any recording or transmission by electronic means, of a remote or hybrid court hearing, without prior authorization from the judge or clerk magistrate

[Superior Court Standing Order 1-26: Remote hearings](https://www.mass.gov/superior-court-rules/superior-court-standing-order-1-26-remote-hearings)
Source checked: 2026-07-26

### recording and photography

Scope: statewide

In Massachusetts courts, photography, recording, or electronic transmission in a courtroom or related judicial space requires prior authorization from the judge or magistrate supervising that place, subject to Rule 1:19's separate provisions for registered news media.

Evidence excerpt: No person shall take any photographs, or make any recording or transmission by electronic means, in any courtroom, hearing room, office, chambers or lobby of a judge or magistrate without prior authorization

[Supreme Judicial Court Rule 1:19: Electronic access to the courts](https://www.mass.gov/supreme-judicial-court-rules/supreme-judicial-court-rule-119-electronic-access-to-the-courts)
Source checked: 2026-07-26


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/superior-court-justices)
- [Official roster](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/superior-court-justices)
- [Massachusetts Court System official judicial roster](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/superior-court-justices)
- [Superior Court Standing Order 1-26: Remote hearings](https://www.mass.gov/superior-court-rules/superior-court-standing-order-1-26-remote-hearings)
- [Supreme Judicial Court Rule 1:19: Electronic access to the courts](https://www.mass.gov/supreme-judicial-court-rules/supreme-judicial-court-rule-119-electronic-access-to-the-courts)

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## Biography

### Professional career

- Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court, appointed in 2021 after more than 24 years as a prosecutor in Essex County
- Began her legal career in 1996 as an Assistant District Attorney in the Essex County District Attorney’s Office
- Veteran prosecutor with deep experience in criminal and civil litigation, now serving as a judge in Massachusetts’ trial court system

### Education



### Additional information

- Nominated by Governor Charlie Baker on January 13, 2021 to replace Thomas A. Connors and confirmed by the Governor’s Council on February 3, 2021.
- Over 24 years, she prosecuted a wide range of cases — including homicide, rape, sexual assault, firearms violations, robbery, and assault — and in 2019 became Chief Homicide Prosecutor
- overseeing homicide investigations and prosecutions.
- She also held the role of a court supervisor and handled misdemeanor and felony cases in the Lynn District Court
- Her public comments during the case’s hearings were widely reported, including exchanges with attorneys challenging the project’s progress



## Published courtroom rules

### Shared court rules

- [Supreme Judicial Court Rule 1:19: Electronic access to the courts](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-20acbd9da185f40e1f10b2b2) — Scope is limited to the court class in the source claim.  Shared court context only; case-type restrictions, exceptions, later amendments and case orders apply. This is not a personal preference or a complete rules inventory. [Official source](https://www.mass.gov/supreme-judicial-court-rules/supreme-judicial-court-rule-119-electronic-access-to-the-courts). Collected 2026-07-26.
