The Paid Jailer: How Sheriff Campaign Dollars Shape Mass Incarceration
In Bristol County, Massachusetts, more than 30 people have died behind bars in the last 10 years.1 Overwhelmingly, these are people awaiting trial. Some have died because of substance withdrawal and others by suicide. And the people who remain incarcerated say that they’re not receiving basic health care, including one man in Bristol County who has given us permission to share his story anonymously.
Yet Thomas M. Hodgson, the longtime sheriff of Bristol County and the sole leader of the jail facility, has made no changes to the health care provider, CPS Healthcare. CPS has spent more than $20,365 on sheriffs’ campaigns in Mas- sachusetts, and $12,040 has gone directly to Hodgson. The State of Massachusetts reports that state sheriffs paid a total of $9.82 million in contracts to CPS Healthcare from 2012 to 2021.
Hodgson appears to be the rule, rather than the exception, which we show in The Paid Jailer: How Sheriff Campaign Dollars Shape Mass Incarceration. In the United States, more than 3,000 sheriffs possess unchecked authority over arrests, incarceration, and civil enforcement. Common Cause and Sheriffs for Trusting Communities sought financial and related data from 105 sheriffs to investigate conflicts of interest and ethics issues. For this report, we define a conflict of interest when a public official (e.g., a sheriff) is in a position to receive a personal benefit (e.g., a campaign contribution) from actions or decisions made in their official capacity (e.g., awarding contracts). More specifically, we define conflicts of interest as contributions to sheriff candidates from incarceration-specific businesses, as well as other businesses and individuals that may stand to benefit by doing business with a sheriff’s office (including con- struction, food services, and weapons manufacturers). Unfortunately, many conflicts of interest are not prohibited by government ethics laws.
Our research, conducted in 11 states, in less than 3 percent of sheriffs offices, documents approximately 13,000 apparent conflicts of interest, primarily between 2010 and 2021. We have identified upward of $6 million, approximately 40% of all examined contributions, that create potential conflicts of interest.
Striking findings include:
Maryland sheriffs received up to $1,396,569 in ethically conflicted donations across 24 campaigns.
The Orange County (CA) Sheriff accounts for $715,000 in potential conflicts of interest.
Massachusetts sheriffs received up to $2,686,129 in potentially conflicted donations across just 13 sheriffs’ campaigns, with sheriffs in these five counties being the top recipients: Suffolk County, $319,002; Bristol County, $324,870; Hampden County, $396,604; Worcester County, $504,516; and Plymouth County, $738,008.
Sheriffs are politicians who make major decisions about health and safety for millions of Americans—and they shouldn’t be up for sale to the highest bidder. Alongside carceral reforms and community investment, small-dollar democracy programs can amplify the voices of those most impacted by overincarceration and can help to reenvision a justice system that works for everyone and not just a wealthy few.