Overview of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department

This section describes the makeup and responsibilities of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department.

Overview

The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department (SCSD) was established as an independent state agency on August 6, 2009, when the Suffolk County government was abolished.¹ The Sheriff became an employee of the Commonwealth but remained an elected official and retained administrative and operational control over SCSD. In 2017, SCSD had 1,129 employees, 836 of whom were full-time correction officers, who supervised and cared for the inmates in SCSD’s custody.

SCSD operates the Suffolk County House of Correction, located at 20 Bradston Street in Boston. This facility, which was opened in 1991, is used for the care and custody of people who are sentenced or awaiting trial, as well as federal detainees who are undergoing deportation proceedings with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). SCSD reported that as of December 27, 2017, 800 inmates and 167 ICE detainees lived at the House of Correction. SCSD also operates the Suffolk County Jail, located at 200 Nashua Street in Boston, which housed 608 inmates who either had been sentenced or were awaiting trial as of December 27, 2017.

According to SCSD’s internal control plan,

The primary Mission of the Sheriff’s Department . . . shall be:

• To enforce the laws of the Commonwealth and to serve and protect the citizens of Suffolk County.
• To strengthen public safety through corrections and providing specialized support services to all criminal justice agencies.
• To maintain the safe and secure custody and control of inmates and detainees while offering extensive rehabilitation opportunities to effectively reduce offender recidivism.

SCSD’s state budget appropriation was $104,492,346 in fiscal year 2016, $103,447,423 in fiscal year 2017, and $105,516,371 in fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017). SCSD was also reimbursed by ICE, for the housing of federal detainees, $5,330,938 for fiscal year 2016, $6,188,940 for fiscal year 2017, and $3,274,380 for the first half of fiscal year 2018.

SCSD received additional revenue from the following federal programs.

Program	State Fiscal Year 2016	State Fiscal Year 2017	Total
Adult Education	$267,510	$277,682	$545,192
Federal Inmate Reimbursement*	585,122	1,697,930	2,283,052
Justice Assistance Grant	139,297	0	139,297
Suffolk County Sexual Assault Prevention Collaborative	2,475	0	2,475
Total	$994,404	$1,975,612	$2,970,016

*     Federal Inmate Reimbursement represents additional miscellaneous revenue for the care of federal detainees that is not calculated in the housing cost.

1.    Chapter 61 of the Acts of 2009, which was enacted on August 6, 2009, transfers, except where specified, all functions, duties, and responsibilities of certain sheriffs’ offices to the Commonwealth. The transition was completed on January 1, 2010.

Date published:	April 11, 2019