Before he was charged, Steven W. Tompkins had spent more than a decade running the jails of Suffolk County and most of his career close to the center of Massachusetts Democratic politics.
He is on trial in federal court in Boston, has pleaded not guilty, and is presumed innocent.
How he got the job
Tompkins became sheriff in 2013 by appointment of Governor Deval Patrick, filling the vacancy left when Andrea Cabral departed to become Patrick’s Secretary of Public Safety. He won election in his own right in 2014 and has been re-elected since. His current six-year term runs to 2028.
He came to the office from inside it. Before becoming sheriff he was Cabral’s communications director and spokesman, which is an unusual path to running a jail system, and it shaped a tenure that leaned heavily on public messaging and programming.
His political footprint extended well past the department. He was a senior adviser to Elizabeth Warren’s 2012 Senate campaign and was active in Michelle Wu’s campaigns. He chaired the board of trustees of Roxbury Community College until resigning that seat on August 13, 2025, days after the indictment.
His reported salary was $172,783 in 2022 and about $191,000 by the time he went on leave.
What the office actually does
Massachusetts sheriffs are frequently misunderstood as county police. They are not.
The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department runs the Nashua Street Jail, holding people awaiting trial, and the South Bay House of Correction, holding people serving sentences of up to two and a half years. Those are the modern successors to the old Charles Street Jail and Deer Island. The department also serves civil process, handles court security and prisoner transport, and employs roughly a thousand people.
Under G.L. c. 37, § 1, sheriffs serve six-year terms, longer than nearly any other elected office in Massachusetts. Since 2009, seven sheriffs’ offices including Suffolk have been funded and operated by the Commonwealth rather than by county government, though the sheriff remains elected.
Two prior ethics findings
Tompkins has twice been fined by the State Ethics Commission.
In 2015, a $2,500 fine for misusing his badge in campaign activity. In 2023, a $12,300 fine for creating a staff position for his niece.
Neither is a criminal matter, and neither is part of the extortion charges. They matter to the trial for a narrower reason: in July 2026 his defense asked Judge Myong J. Joun to exclude evidence of those violations from the trial. That is a routine and sensible motion, since prior-bad-act evidence can invite a jury to reason from character rather than proof, but it tells you what prosecutors would use if allowed.
The department’s other problems
Coverage of the trial has revisited a set of departmental controversies that predate the charges: an in-custody death at South Bay that was ruled a homicide, a correction officer charged with methamphetamine trafficking, an employee fired for smuggling synthetic cannabinoids, and a former officer facing rape allegations involving an incarcerated person.
None of these is part of the federal case. They are the backdrop against which a sheriff’s judgment gets assessed publicly, which is a different standard than the one the jury is applying.
The last Massachusetts sheriff to face this
The closest precedent is John P. McGonigle, sheriff of Middlesex County, who was suspended by the Supreme Judicial Court in 1994 while removal proceedings ran and who was later convicted federally of tax fraud and racketeering. His removal case became moot when the conviction vacated the office by operation of law.
Those 1994 decisions are still the controlling authority on whether a governor can remove an elected sheriff. The answer was no then and remains no now, which is why Tompkins has been on voluntary unpaid leave rather than suspended. We walk through that machinery in what happens to the office if he is convicted.
Where things stand
Tompkins stepped away from his duties in August 2025 after Governor Healey and Attorney General Campbell asked him to, with his attorney citing a doctor’s recommendation and a serious medical issue. Special Sheriff Mark Lawhorne has run the department since. Tompkins has not resigned, and reports describing him as a former sheriff are wrong.
He has made no public statement about the charges himself. Everything said on his behalf has come through his attorney, Martin G. Weinberg, who has said it is his strong expectation that his client will be acquitted.
For the charges and the opening statements, see the case against Steven Tompkins, explained.
Common questions
Who is Steven Tompkins?
The elected sheriff of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, in office since 2013. He previously served as communications director for Sheriff Andrea Cabral and worked on campaigns for Elizabeth Warren and Michelle Wu.
How long has he been sheriff?
Since 2013, when Governor Deval Patrick appointed him. He was elected in 2014 and his current term runs to 2028.
Has he been disciplined before?
The State Ethics Commission fined him $2,500 in 2015 for misusing his badge in campaign activity and $12,300 in 2023 for creating a staff position for his niece. Neither was a criminal case.
What does the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department do?
It operates the Nashua Street Jail and the South Bay House of Correction, serves civil process, and handles court security and prisoner transport, with roughly a thousand employees.
Is he still being paid?
He went on unpaid leave in August 2025, with a stated plan to apply for medical leave.
Steven Tompkins is presumed innocent and has been convicted of nothing. Reported ages for him vary across outlets between 67 and 69.