Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins Pays Fine For Creating State Job For Niece, Having Employees Run His Errands

CBS Boston

March 6, 2023

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.

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