Suffolk County Sheriff's Office Fourth Quarter 2025 Population Report

194th Legislature (2025-2026)

Requires the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office to produce and publicly disclose a Fourth Quarter 2025 jail population report.

Placed on file

Summary of SD 3958 (Massachusetts, 194th Session) — Suffolk County Sheriff's Office Fourth Quarter 2025 Population Report

Purpose and intent

The bill appears to formalize the reporting requirement for the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office (SCSO) concerning the population data and status of individuals within the county jail system for the fourth quarter of 2025.

The measure is positioned as a procedural/reporting mandate to ensure transparency and public accessibility to quarterly population statistics maintained by the SCSO.

Key provisions and changes

Requirement to produce and submit a Fourth Quarter 2025 Population Report for Suffolk County under the supervision of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office.

The report likely encompasses data related to the inmate population, including counts as of the end of Q4 2025, and may include breakdowns (e.g., by custody type, offense type, gender, age, or custody status). While specific data categories are not detailed in the action history, such reports typically contain:

Total inmate population at quarter-end
Admissions, releases, and turnover within the quarter
Average daily population (ADP) for the quarter
Demographic and offense-type breakdowns

The bill may designate the authority for preparing the report, the timeline for submission, and the public dissemination requirements (e.g., posting on official county or sheriff’s office websites).

Who/what is affected

Primary entity: Suffolk County Sheriff's Office (SCSO) and its administrative and data-collection operations.

Indirectly affected: inmates in Suffolk County facilities, county residents, researchers, journalists, oversight bodies, and members of the public seeking transparency into jail population dynamics.

Potentially affected staff: data analysts, administrative personnel responsible for data collection, record-keeping, and report compilation.

Procedural and timeline aspects

Status: Placed on file as of 2026-06-04, indicating the bill completed its formal introduction or committee consideration stage and has been laid aside on the filing roster for potential future action.

Timeline specifics (not explicitly stated in the action history but typically associated with similar measures):

Generation of the Fourth Quarter 2025 Population Report for submission after the end of Q4 2025 (i.e., early 2026).
Public posting or dissemination within a defined period following quarter-end, often within 30–90 days, depending on statutory or local rules.

Since the bill’s action history marks it as “Placed on file,” there may be no immediate enactment steps required, though it could be revisited in future sessions or upon sponsor reintroduction.

Potential impact

Enhances transparency by ensuring quarterly population data is formally compiled and available.

Provides data to inform policy discussions about jail population management, safety, and resource allocation within Suffolk County.

Establishes a reproducible process for quarterly reporting that can be referenced by oversight bodies, researchers, and the public.

If you would like, I can adjust the summary to include hypothetical data formats (e.g., sample table structure) or compare this to similar reporting requirements in neighboring jurisdictions for context.