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Audit

Audit  Audit of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department

Our office conducted a performance audit of certain activities of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department (SCSD) for the period July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2024.

Organization: Office of the State Auditor
Date published: December 24, 2025

Executive Summary

In accordance with Section 12 of Chapter 11 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor has conducted a performance audit of certain activities of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department (SCSD) for the period July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2024.

The purpose of our audit was to determine the following:

  1. Did SCSD annually review the needs of its sentenced inmates to ensure that its social service programs met its sentenced inmates’ needs in accordance with Section V of SCSD’s Social Services Policy S470 and Section 936.03(2) of Title 103 of the Code of Massachusetts Regulations (CMR)?
  2. Did SCSD ensure that those who administered and supervised its social service programs had at least a bachelor’s degree in social or behavioral sciences or a related field in accordance with 103 CMR 936.03(4)?
  3. Did SCSD ensure that all sentenced inmates received an orientation within 72 hours of admission, and within seven days of transfer, in accordance with Section IX of SCSD’s Social Services Policy S470 and 103 CMR 936.03(5)?
  4. Did SCSD ensure that all sentenced inmates and pretrial detainees were assigned a counselor or caseworker in accordance with Section XI of SCSD’s Social Services Policy S470 and 103 CMR 936.03(6) and (7)?
  5. Did SCSD ensure that all sentenced inmates and pretrial detainees had access to crisis intervention in accordance with Section XII of SCSD’s Social Services Policy S470 and 103 CMR 936.03(7)?
  6. Did SCSD have written policies and procedures to provide sentenced inmates access to vocational training programs for skills relevant to the demands of the local job market in accordance with 103 CMR 936.02(2)?
  7. Did SCSD ensure that all academic and vocational instructors employed by SCSD met or were working toward the certification requirements stipulated by the Commonwealth’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in accordance with 103 CMR 936.02(3)?
  8. Did SCSD ensure that its educational programs allowed sentenced inmates to start academic or vocational programs and proceed through these programs at their own pace and ensure that sentenced inmates were placed in academic and vocational courses based on counseling provided to them in accordance with 103 CMR 936.02(4) and (5)?
  9. Did SCSD provide counseling and substance use disorder treatment to sentenced inmates participating in the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Program, as outlined in SCSD’s “Medication Assisted Treatment Program Handbook,” SCSD’s Correctional Psychiatric Services Policy, and 103 CMR 936.03(3)?
  10. How and to what extent has SCSD established and implemented policies and procedures over the monitoring of its sick call process to ensure that its healthcare vendor complies with all the requirements of SCSD’s healthcare policies?
  11. Did sentenced inmates and pretrial detainees at SCSD receive medical care after submission of Health Service Request Forms in accordance with Section VII of SCSD’s Inmate Care and Treatment Policy S604 and 103 CMR 932.09?

Below is a summary of our findings, the results of those findings, and our recommendations, with hyperlinks to each page listed.

  
Finding 1
 		SCSD could not provide evidence that it conducted its annual reviews of the needs of its sentenced inmates as required by its policies and 103 CMR 936.03(2).
EffectIf SCSD does not annually review the needs of its sentenced inmates in relation to the social service programs it offers, SCSD has a higher risk that it may not provide its sentenced inmates with programs essential to their needs in order to set them up for successful reentry.
Recommendation
 		SCSD should ensure that it conducts annual reviews of the needs of its sentenced inmates to ensure that necessary programs and services are available and ensure that these annual reviews are documented.
Finding 2
 		SCSD did not ensure that it provided all sentenced inmates with an intake orientation or that all orientations were provided on time or at all, as required by its policy.
EffectBy not providing intake orientations to its sentenced inmates within the required timeframe, there is a higher risk that SCSD sentenced inmates are not aware of their rights and responsibilities or of the programs and services that may be available to them.
Recommendation
 		SCSD should establish monitoring controls to ensure that it provides all sentenced inmates with intake orientation within the required timeframes.
Finding 3
 		SCSD did not ensure that all vocational instructors met or were working toward required certifications, as required by 103 CMR 936.02(3).
EffectBy not ensuring that its vocational instructors have the required certifications to instruct their respective courses, SCSD may not be in compliance with state regulation. Additionally, this potentially impacts the ability of SCSD’s sentenced inmates enrolled in these courses seeking to gain employment and maintain jobs in these fields after their reentry. Additionally, inmates may face a higher risk of accidents or injuries if their instructors are not fully trained in the proper procedures for vocational education.
Recommendation
 		SCSD should establish policies and procedures, including monitoring controls, to ensure that all SCSD educational and vocational instructors have or are working toward certifications required by the Commonwealth’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for the respective courses that they teach.
Finding 4
 		SCSD did not provide educational assessments to all sentenced inmates and could not provide signed participation refusal forms for sentenced inmates who chose not to attend recommended programs.
EffectBy not following its policy of retaining refusal forms signed by sentenced inmates who declined to participate in academic programs, SCSD may be unable to demonstrate to the Parole Board that sentenced inmates who declined to enroll in required literacy programs were informed of their obligation to participate.
Recommendations
 
  1.  SCSD should establish policies and procedures, including monitoring controls, to ensure the retention of documentation of sentenced inmates’ refusal to take educational assessments to determine the academic and/or vocational programs most suited to their needs.
  2. SCSD should establish monitoring controls to ensure that its policies and procedures are followed so that all sentenced inmates who receive an educational assessment score below an eighth-grade reading level and refuse to enroll in the recommended programs sign participant refusal forms.
Finding 5
 		SCSD did not ensure that it received all consent to participate forms from sentenced inmates who were enrolled in the MAT Program, as required by its policy.
EffectBy not ensuring that all sentenced inmates signed a consent to participate form, there is a higher risk that sentenced inmates may not have been informed of the program requirements to stay within the MAT Program and/or the risks associated with treatment.
Recommendation
 		SCSD should ensure that it provides, and receives signatures for, all consent to participate forms from inmates enrolled in the MAT Program.
Finding 6
 		SCSD did not implement our prior recommendations to establish and implement policies and procedures over the monitoring of its healthcare vendor.
EffectBecause SCSD did not implement our prior recommendations to establish policies and procedures over the monitoring of its healthcare vendor’s administration of sick call visits, SCSD’s Inmate Care and Treatment Policy S604 was not properly followed. There is, therefore, a higher risk that sentenced inmates or pretrial detainees have not, and will not, have their healthcare issues properly resolved within the required timeframes or at all. Further, there is a higher risk that SCSD will not notice the failure of its vendor to comply with SCSD policies, and potentially the requirements of its contract with the Commonwealth, resulting in poor vendor performance going unnoticed and unaddressed.
Recommendation
 		SCSD should establish sufficient monitoring controls (i.e., policies and procedures) over its sick call process to ensure that its healthcare vendor complies with all the requirements of SCSD’s healthcare policies.

Finding 7

SCSD did not have documented procedures in place to ensure that its educational programs allowed sentenced inmates to start academic or vocational programs and proceed through these programs at their own pace.
EffectWithout  having policies to provide instructions to its employees on the structure of educational classes or how sentenced inmates are to be enrolled in SCSD’s educational programs, SCSD may not be able to ensure that sentenced inmates can start and proceed through these programs at their own pace.
Recommendation
 		SCSD  should design and implement procedures to document how sentenced inmates will be able to start academic or vocational programs and proceed through these programs at their own pace.

In addition to the conclusions we reached regarding our audit objectives, we also identified issues not specifically addressed by our objectives. See Other Matters for more information.

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