County sheriffs oversee the incarceration of over half of all prisoners in Massachusetts. While they may not create the laws or prosecution policies that lead to mass incarceration, their practices have a direct effect on prisoners, their families and taxpayers. This fall, all Massachusetts sheriffs are up for election/re-election for six-year terms. This gives sheriffs the chance to greatly affect the lives of those under their control, for better or worse. This gives YOU the chance to decide who will hold this important office.

The Ad Hoc Coalition to Stop New Jails in Massachusetts, of which CJPC is a member, prepared materials for activists and voters in each county. We encourage you to use these materials to educate yourself and others, find out where the candidates stand, and to get involved. Click on your county to find a full set of materials which include an overview of sheriff races, county fact sheet, candidates’ general information, campaign contact information and a questionnaire for sheriff candidates.

This is the first-ever statewide project to focus on sheriffs races. We encourage you to use these materials to educate yourself, your community, other elected officials and the press. We hope that after the election is over, you will continue to use the responses of the sheriff and the fact sheets to create a dialog about the role of sheriffs and jails/houses of correction in your county.

For more information about this project, contact Lois Ahrens, [email protected]. For questions about the materials posted here, or any corrections, please contact Barb Dougan, [email protected].

If a candidate for Sheriff has returned his or her questionnaire, you can find their answers by clicking on their name.

2016 Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Races