SECTION 7. Court facilities acquisition, control, disposition, etc.; director of court facilities

Except as otherwise provided in section 3 of chapter 211, the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance shall: (1) be responsible for the acquisition, control and disposition of court facilities on behalf of the commonwealth, in the manner and to the extent provided in this chapter for other real property of the commonwealth; (2) provide facilities for the trial court, the appeals court and the supreme judicial court; (3) be responsible for planning and budgeting for such court facilities in the manner and to the extent provided in this chapter and in chapter 29 for capital facilities of state agencies; and (4) have jurisdiction over capital facility projects undertaken by the office of the chief administrative justice of the trial court for such court facilities in the manner and to the extent provided in this chapter and in chapter 149 for capital facility projects undertaken by state agencies. Notwithstanding any other general or special law to the contrary, all real property owned by the commonwealth for use as a courthouse, whenever such property was acquired, shall be held in the name of the commonwealth as provided in sections 32 and 33, and the division of capital asset management and maintenance shall hold the deeds to all such property as provided in section 39.

There shall be within the division of capital asset management and maintenance a director of court facilities. The director of court facilities shall be appointed by the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance with the advice of the chief administrative justice of the trial court and the approval of the secretary of administration and finance, and may be removed in like manner. Said position shall not be subject to section 9A of chapter 30 or chapter 31. Said director shall have the qualifications deemed necessary by the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance. Said director shall perform such duties of said commissioner with respect to court facilities as said commissioner shall assign, including at least the duty to respond to any inquiry from a county, city or town or from the office of the chief administrative justice of the trial court regarding court facilities.