Increase in no cost calls running up sheriff budgets in Massachusetts, costing taxpayers millions

BY ELLA ADAMS

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, AUG. 28, 2025……Spending by county sheriffs, who run the state’s jails and houses of correction, exploded far beyond their allocations in last year’s state budget and Gov. Maura Healey has stepped in and asked the Legislature to bail them out with an additional $163 million.

It’s typical that funding for sheriffs departments is inadequate in the annual state budget, but a News Service analysis of the governor’s request shows that, if approved, it would raise projected spending of $720 million in the core sheriff department funding accounts by 22% for fiscal year 2025.

According to the Massachusetts Sheriffs Association, the above-budget spending was tied to costs associated with salary increases, programs that provides care for inmates with substance use disorder, and the statewide no-cost calls program.

“Sheriffs’ offices have seen a 175% increase in offender calls, a 188% increase in call duration, and a 574% increase in e-communications by offenders since the law was enacted,” said Jordan Noe, director of communications at the sheriffs association.

Sheriffs manage their own expenses, and the Legislature over the years has made allocations after the end of each fiscal year to finance underfunded accounts. For fiscal 2024, lawmakers and Healey agreed to appropriate $46 million for the sheriffs, about 6% of their annual projected $755.9 million spend across departments. 

According to an Executive Office of Administration and Finance breakdown, as of late August the highest deficiencies were in the offices of Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi ($33.4 million), Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins ($28.4 million) and Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph McDonald Jr. ($21.6 million). 

“There are some consistent financial challenges facing all sheriffs’ offices, and some that are unique to individual counties,” Noe said. 

The total deficiencies across departments per the administration’s breakdown totals about $145 million. The $163 million proposed in Healey’s spending bill includes estimated funding for additional unpaid fiscal 2025 accounts, according to Administration and Finance Deputy Chief of External Affairs Stephanie Knapp.  

Several sheriffs asked lawmakers in April at a budget hearing to consider making adjustments to the no-cost calls program due to exploding costs and demand associated with monitoring communications.

“It’s important that inmates keep in contact with friends and family to facilitate reentry. Nobody disputes that,” Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux said in April, calling unlimited calls “unreasonable.”

“But what’s happened is that a lot of times, inmates are now talking on the phone when they would have been doing programming. You also have a correlation with an increase in witness intimidation and increase in drug dealing coordination, as well,” Heroux said.

Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins, sitting next to Heroux, called the calls “cost-ineffective,” and Norfolk County Sheriff Patrick McDermott said at the time that his staff was seeing “a little bit more of an overwhelming commitment to the monitoring responsibilities.” 

The state initially allocated $20 million for the program when the law took effect in fiscal 2023. Projected spending was cut to $10 million in fiscal 2025. While Healey proposed $15 million for fiscal 2026, the final allocation in the budget she signed this summer sits at only $1 million.

“Those communications must also be reviewed by security staff, which adds to the expense, and there are fees charged by the vendors. While the reform provides positive steps for justice and equity, it also removed revenue streams that sheriffs’ offices had relied upon to offset programming costs,” Noe said. The association anticipates that the cost of no-cost communications in fiscal 2025 is $12.5 million.

Hampden County Sheriffs’ Department Communications Director Robert Rizzuto said sheriffs were “surprised” to see the annual budget for no-cost communications decrease year-over-year from $10 million to $1 million.

“Meanwhile, the demand for justice-involved communications continues to rise, especially with the addition of tablet-based communications on top of traditional phone calls, which has significantly increased costs,” Rizzuto said.

In Plymouth County, Sheriff McDonald is estimating no-cost calls will cost his department alone $2 million this fiscal year. “The legislature’s current appropriation to the Communication Access Trust Fund of $1M for reimbursement is woefully underfunded to cover the expenses incurred by the sheriffs who manage the 13 correctional facilities and all of the Department of Corrections,” McDonald said. “We will continue to work with the administration and Legislature on how to meet this mandate and budget shortfall.”

Noe said that cost-of-living salary adjustments for those working in correctional facilities “have significantly outpaced annual budget increases. In one recent fiscal year, for example, the staff at one office received a 4% COLA while their operating budget increased by 2%.”

There are also “continually increasing costs” associated with medication-assisted treatment programs that are used for inmates with substance use disorder. 

“Both no-cost communications and medication-assisted treatment are state-mandated programs that continue to grow in scope and cost each year. However, the funding allocated in the state budget for these programs has been decreasing,” Rizzuto added. Although the treatment program has increased since its initial pilot, the funding available is spread across more agencies and the Department of Correction, Rizzuto said, meaning the amount available for each individual department has decreased while program costs grow.

In Hampden County, the sheriff’s department also operates multi-region facilities including the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center and Western Mass Regional Wellness and Recovery Center.

“These facilities provide specialized services that are critical to public safety and rehabilitation across the Commonwealth, yet they lack adequate dedicated funding,” the department wrote in a funding breakdown provided to the News Service. The department receives $5 million from the state towards the women’s correctional center’s $25 million annual operational cost. The annual operational cost of the wellness and recovery center sits at $10 million, none of which is funded by the state. 

“The shortfall is driven by a mix of unfunded and partially funded regional responsibilities, statewide mandates, and rising operational costs,” the department added. It noted “significant financial pressure” in fiscal 2025 associated with $4 million for Medication-Assisted Treatment for more than 400 inmates; $750,000 for no-cost call costs; $750,000 for a shift of commissary costs; and other rising costs like the over $600,000 for pharmaceuticals.

The Norfolk County Sheriff’s Department, which experienced one of the smallest fiscal 2025 deficits — $876,000 — “has certainly seen trends over the last fiscal year that have led to significant increases in our approved operational expenditures,” Communications Director Pete Wilson told the News Service.

Along with no-cost calls and addiction treatment, Wilson said collective bargaining agreements and employee turnover and overtime are also playing a role. “Recruitment challenges across law enforcement have affected staffing, leading to increases in overtime expenses,” Wilson wrote.

The sheriffs’ association called the supplemental budget a reflection of “the real costs associated with the needs of our populations and the responsibilities of our public safety offices,” adding that offices are audited regularly by outside agencies.