LEGISLATIVE LEADERS issued a rebuke to county sheriffs Tuesday, casting doubt on how the elected law enforcement officers are managing their own spending and teeing up a new campaign-season talking point for the gubernatorial race. 

After simmering behind the scenes for weeks, the budgetary feud between lawmakers and county sheriffs erupted into public view Tuesday when House Democrats unveiled a spending bill to close the financial books on the fiscal year that ended June 30 that withholds more than $130 million Healey proposed for sheriffs’ departments. The bill, however, would provide sheriffs’ offices with $14 million for treatment services and $12.5 million for the free communication program. 

Instead of funding the full request, which sheriffs say is necessary to cover those two programs as well as salary increases, the legislation that will receive a House vote Wednesday would task the state inspector general with investigating the sheriffs’ books. 

It’s a dramatic step at a time of heightened scrutiny for sheriffs, who are elected to manage local correctional systems. Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins faces federal extortion charges, Norfolk County Sheriff Patrick McDermott settled with state campaign finance regulators after unlawfully using taxpayer funds to cover online business courses, and Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi was arrested last year for allegedly driving while intoxicated. 

“Over the past few months, serious questions and concerns have been raised about the financial and operational integrity of our sheriffs’ offices across the Commonwealth,” the Legislature’s budget chiefs, Rep. Aaron Michlewitz and Sen. Michael Rodrigues, said in a joint statement. “As we work to maintain fiscal stability, live within our means, and responsibly close the books on Fiscal Year 2025, it is clear that the Legislature must act to rein in questionable spending practices and restore public confidence in the sheriffs’ operations.” 

The $2.25 billion bill that emerged Tuesday covers a slew of spending and policy goals. After accounting for federal reimbursements, the measure would carry a net cost to the state of $750 million, according to the House Ways and Means Committee. 

Like the original closeout budget proposal Gov. Maura Healey filed in August, the House redraft seeks more than $2 billion for MassHealth (with a projected net cost to the state of nearly $540 million), $60.7 million for snow and ice removal expenses, $12 million to cover additional costs of free school meals for all students, and more. 

The sheriffs’ budget allocation for fiscal 2025 is roughly $738 million. 

The governor did not provide any explanation for the $163 million proposed additional funding injection in her letter to lawmakers, but sheriffs’ departments later told the State House News Service that they faced significant cost growth as a result of salary increases, substance use disorder care, and a mandatory “no-cost calls” program that allows incarcerated individuals to communicate with loved ones free of charge. 

But lawmakers now have pointed questions about whether the math adds up. The Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association said it expects the free communication program, for example, to cost all sheriffs a combined $12.4 million in fiscal year 2025.  

As of March 30, the 13 county correctional facilities that had people in custody averaged a combined population of 7,048, less than half their combined capacity of nearly 15,000, according to a report the Sheriffs’ Association filed with lawmakers. (The Nantucket sheriff’s office did not have anyone in custody during the reporting period). 

It’s common for state offices and departments, including sheriffs, to spend beyond their budgeted appropriations and seek more funds at the end of the cycle. While closing the books on fiscal year 2024, Healey and the Legislature directed an extra $46 million to sheriffs’ offices. 

“We will continue to explore further steps to ensure appropriate oversight, achieve cost containment, and keep sheriffs’ offices on a more sustainable fiscal path in the months and years ahead,” Michlewitz and Rodrigues said. 

The bill would task the inspector general’s office with examining how sheriffs account for expenses, comply with state finance laws, and manage their spending over time. The IG would need to submit a report to lawmakers by the end of February 2026. 

Sheriffs so far do not appear interested in digging in for a public fight. 

A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association said the group and the sheriffs it represents “understand and respect the Legislature’s responsibility to ensure fiscal transparency and accountability.” 

“For years, the Sheriffs have invested in evidence-based programs that make Massachusetts a national leader in corrections and rehabilitation — especially when it comes to saving lives and improving health outcomes,” the spokesperson said. “These are proven, responsible investments in public safety and community well-being. We welcome any review that strengthens public confidence and supports our continued focus on operating safe, efficient facilities that help people rebuild their lives.” 

While she was leaving an unrelated event Tuesday, Healey did not answer a question about the Legislature seeking to investigate sheriffs’ spending. A spokesperson for the governor later said only that she would review any legislation that reaches her desk. 

The Legislature’s action drew criticism from two of Healey’s Republican challengers. Both Mike Kennealy and Brian Shortsleeve issued statements Tuesday slamming the Legislature for declining to fulfill the sheriffs’ funding request. 

“Three Democratic sheriffs are accused of corruption, and now every sheriff in the state — including those who have served with integrity — must suffer the consequences,” Kennealy said, appearing to reference the different cases involving Tompkins, McDermott and Cocchi. “The problem in Massachusetts isn’t with our sheriffs offices. It’s with the elected Democrats who have controlled every lever of power for too long. When one party holds unchecked control, corruption festers.” 

“They are using the recent scandals in three Democrat sheriff offices as a pretense to strip funding from ALL sheriffs,” Shortsleeve added in his own statement. “And while they punish law enforcement and the public by cutting public safety dollars, they make an exception to keep funding for free phone calls for convicts. They have their priorities totally upside down. Maura Healey needs to denounce these cuts immediately.” 

As is often the case, Beacon Hill power-players are moving to pack a range of unrelated spending and policy goals into the so-called closeout budget. 

The bill the House plans to take up would appropriate $236 million in payments to owners of former Steward Health Care hospitals, part of the more than $480 million in aid the Healey administration pledged last year to incentivize transfer of the facilities away from the bankrupt system. 

It would also grant the state public health commissioner authority to determine routine childhood immunizations and vaccine schedules, decoupling Massachusetts from the recommendations of a Centers for Disease Control panel that has come under scrutiny after U.S Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. elevated vaccine skeptics. 

House Democrats also want to direct $8.1 million to an entity that does not often factor into midyear appropriations: the House itself, which is set to receive $49.9 million through the annual budget and in July implemented a hiring freeze. 

A spokesperson for House Speaker Ron Mariano said the additional money would cover expenses previously awarded to staff.  

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the date that Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi was arrested for allegedly driving while intoxicated. He was arrested in September 2024.