‘Serious questions’ prompt lawmakers to hit the brakes on funding for sheriffs

 

New from CommonWealth Beacon NEW CODCAST: Jennifer Smith and Boston University financial lecturer Mark Williams discuss the state’s economic outlook as the federal government shutdown enters its third week. Massachusetts already faced a bleak picture, and the inaction in Washington could raise the chance of a recession here, in Williams’s estimation.  OPINION: Massachusetts has made strides with funding in place, and policymakers now need to double down on their commitment to English for speakers of other languages, or ESOL, education for immigrant workers, SkillWorks Executive Director Andre Green writes.  HANSCOM: Still fighting against a proposed Hanscom Airfield proposal, environmental activists contend a push to use sustainable aviation fuels is a “disingenuous greenwashing campaign.” Ella Adams has more for State House News Service.

‘Serious questions’ prompt lawmakers to hit the brakes on funding for sheriffs   October 15, 2025 By Chris Lisinski

Legislative leaders issued a rebuke to county sheriffs Tuesday, casting doubt on how the elected law enforcement officers are managing their own spending and teeing up a new campaign-season talking point for the gubernatorial race.

After simmering behind the scenes for weeks, the budgetary feud between lawmakers and county sheriffs erupted into public view Tuesday when House Democrats unveiled a spending bill to close the financial books on the fiscal year that ended June 30 that withholds more than $130 million Healey proposed for sheriffs’ departments. The bill, however, would provide sheriffs’ offices with $14 million for treatment services and $12.5 million for the free communication program.

Instead of funding the full request, which sheriffs say is necessary to cover those two programs as well as salary increases, the legislation that will receive a House vote Wednesday would task the state inspector general with investigating the sheriffs’ books.

It’s a dramatic step at a time of heightened scrutiny for sheriffs, who are elected to manage local correctional systems. Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins faces federal extortion charges, Norfolk County Sheriff Patrick McDermott settled with state campaign finance regulators after unlawfully using taxpayer funds to cover online business courses, and Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi was arrested last month for allegedly driving while intoxicated.

“Over the past few months, serious questions and concerns have been raised about the financial and operational integrity of our sheriffs’ offices across the Commonwealth,” the Legislature’s budget chiefs, Rep. Aaron Michlewitz and Sen. Michael Rodrigues, said in a joint statement. “As we work to maintain fiscal stability, live within our means, and responsibly close the books on Fiscal Year 2025, it is clear that the Legislature must act to rein in questionable spending practices and restore public confidence in the sheriffs’ operations.”

The $2.25 billion bill that emerged Tuesday covers a slew of spending and policy goals. After accounting for federal reimbursements, the measure would carry a net cost to the state of $750 million, according to the House Ways and Means Committee.

Like the original closeout budget proposal Gov. Maura Healey filed in August, the House redraft seeks more than $2 billion for MassHealth (with a projected net cost to the state of nearly $540 million), $60.7 million for snow and ice removal expenses, $12 million to cover additional costs of free school meals for all students, and more.

The sheriffs’ budget allocation for fiscal 2025 is roughly $738 million.

The governor did not provide any explanation for the $163 million proposed additional funding injection in her letter to lawmakers, but sheriffs’ departments later told the State House News Service that they faced significant cost growth as a result of salary increases, substance use disorder care, and a mandatory “no-cost calls” program that allows incarcerated individuals to communicate with loved ones free of charge.

But lawmakers now have pointed questions about whether the math adds up. The Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association said it expects the free communication program, for example, to cost all sheriffs a combined $12.4 million in fiscal year 2025.

READ MORE

More Context Why elect sheriffs anyway?  (September 2025)  Decoding the state budget with Doug Howgate (June 2025)  Commission probes uneven sheriffs’ spending (January 2022)

More from CommonWealth Beacon GETTING WARMER: Even as Massachusetts summers trend hotter and drier, policymakers are still largely focused on flooding as the existential climate threat to housing and infrastructure. Jennifer Smith digs in.  OPINION: Massachusetts has one of the least transparent, least productive legislatures in the country, writes Aaron Singer, a Walpole-based filmmaker and activist. Despite our state’s progressive reputation – and a Democratic supermajority in both chambers – he says our State House won’t pass basic party priorities.  OPINION: The Department of Health and Human Services, under the Trump administration, has repeatedly claimed that its more measured approach to vaccine recommendations is intended to restore public trust – in vaccines and in public health in general. This may or may not work, writes Shira Doron, the chief infection control officer for Tufts Medicine, but one thing is certain: They are losing the trust of the scientific community.

What We're Reading MOULTON: It’s official: US Rep. Seth Moulton will mount a primary challenge to US Sen. Ed Markey, a race that could highlight Markey’s age and questions about the future of the Democratic Party under President Donald Trump. (GBH News)  FEDERAL FUNDS: Federal dollars have started flowing again to Harvard University after the Trump administration froze grants in the spring, according to the school. (Harvard Crimson)  EVERETT: Federal officials alleged a 13-year-old Everett boy detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement had a knife and a gun on him, but the city’s mayor and police chief contend that “no guns were found” during the interaction. (WBUR)  CORRUPTION: Retired Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Gary Cederquist was sentenced to six years in prison for his role in the department’s commercial driver’s license testing scandal. (The Boston Globe – paywall)  MASSLIVE: Mass. State Police sgt. who orchestrated driver’s license scheme sentenced to prison https://www.msn.com/en-us/crime/general/mass-state-police-sgt-who-orchestrated-driver-s-license-scheme-sentenced-to-prison/ar-AA1OsPe6 POLICE: The Worcester Regional Research Bureau formally recommended the state’s second-largest city create a civilian review board with subpoena power to oversee police. (Telegram & Gazette – paywall)

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