Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins pays fine for creating state job for niece, having employees run his errands
BOSTON - Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins has paid a $12,300 fine for violating Massachusetts' conflict of interest law, the State Ethics Commission announced Monday.
The commission said Tompkins created a $45,000-per-year job for his adult niece in the Sheriff's Department's External Affairs Division. He also admitted to "repeatedly asking his subordinates to do personal errands for him."
The job created in 2016 was never posted or requested by the chief of the division, who didn't interview Tompkins' niece or look at her resume, the commission said.
According to the announcement, Tompkins' niece moved into his Massachusetts home shortly after his wife died in October 2016 so she could help care for his two young children. The job was created a month later.
"Until resigning at the end of 2018, Tompkins' niece routinely left work during normal business hours one or two times per week with his approval to transport one of his children," the commission said.
Between 2014 and 2022, the commission said there were multiple instances of Tompkins asking his subordinate employees to care for and transport his children, along with doing his other personal errands while they were supposed to be working.
The sheriff acknowledged to The Boston Herald that he accepted some help from employees in running errands. He also said his niece "made a hell of a contribution" to the External Affairs Division.
"If there's a law against family members helping family members in a time of duress, I really think the legislature should look at that," Tompkins told the newspaper.
Tompkins waived his right to a hearing for the violations, the commission said. He previously paid a $2,500 fine in 2015 for asking store owners to remove campaign signs for an election opponent.
