Bill targets sheriffs offices

Would shift those in county system to state control
By Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff | March 19, 2009

Sheriffs offices operating in the last remaining county governments in Massachusetts could be merged into the state system, coming under the control of the Executive Office of Public Safety, under a proposal slated to go before the Legislature today.

The proposal, part of Governor Deval Patrick's budget plan, would merge the seven sheriffs in Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth, and Suffolk counties into the state system. The county governments would not be affected, and the sheriffs offices would still be elected positions.

But the sheriffs would join the seven others in Massachusetts who have been part of the state system since their county governments were abolished, beginning in the mid-1990s.

Cindy Roy, a spokeswoman for the state Executive Office for Administration and Finance, which helped draft the plan, said the merger into the state system would help streamline the sheriffs offices' finances, resulting in savings in future years. For example, employees would fall under the state insurance and retirement systems, saving an estimated $8 million to $11 million a year once the restructuring is complete, she said.

Also, the state could have a better monitoring system of sheriffs' budgets, providing for a universal system that could yield more in savings, Roy said.

"I think the core goal is providing greater fiscal stability for these sheriffs," Roy said. "It will provide a greater understanding of their fiscal situation, and accountability to the system's rules and regulation."

Roy said one problem sheriffs have faced is the way their offices are funded under the county system. Under that system, the sheriffs receive revenue from a deeds excise tax. But as the housing market has plunged, so have revenues and sheriffs have had to ask the Legislature for additional funding to plug deficits. That has been harder as the state faces its own fiscal troubles, she said.

Similar proposals in past years have been shot down by opponents of any hint of an abolition of county governments, particularly south of Boston.

Patrick proposed the bill last year, but scrapped it to work closely with the seven sheriffs who would be merged into the state system under the new plan. Roy said the administration now seems to have the sheriffs' support.

Bristol Sheriff Thomas Hodgson had opposed any attempt to abolish county government. A spokesman, Bernard Sullivan, said yesterday that though the sheriff still supports keeping the county system intact, he is open to hearing ways the plan could save taxpayer money.

Suffolk Sheriff Andrea Cabral, president of the Massachusetts Sheriffs' Association and a past supporter of abolishing the Suffolk County system, said yesterday that the association supports the proposal.

"We will be testifying in support of this bill . . . and we are hopeful that the Legislature will pass it," Cabral said in a statement.

A hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. today before the Legislature's Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.

Milton Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com.