Steven W. Tompkins, a member of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department since 2002, was appointed to serve as the Sheriff of Suffolk County on January 22nd, 2013 by Governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, and was elected in November of 2014.As the Sheriff of Suffolk County, Tompkins manages all operations at the Suffolk County House of Correction, the Nashua Street Jail and the Civil Process Division. In addition to providing care, custody and rehabilitative support for inmates and pre–trial detainees, Tompkins also oversees a management, security and administrative staff of over 1,000.
All of the efforts mentioned previously are part of a greater plan to reduce the number of people who complete their sentences and return to the community, re-offend and find themselves back in our custody. The sheriff’s office facilities average a yearly population of 1,150, and more than 95% of the population returns to neighborhoods within a five–mile radius of the House of Correction. Some of them have children to support, many of them have families that depend on them in some capacity and all of them have the need to reach some form of financial sustainability for survival. To this end, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department provides comprehensive programming and services designed to prepare these returning citizens to take advantage of the opportunity to begin leading positive, productive lives.