Jail deaths order stays open as Culpepper plans a December hearing with the sheriff

The City Council's look at deaths in the Suffolk County House of Correction is not over. At Wednesday's meeting, the hearing order behind Monday's session stayed in the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee (docket 0870), and its sponsor says he wants the sheriff in the room next time.

The jail, at South Bay, is run by the elected county sheriff, not the mayor. But people arrested by Boston police are held there under a city agreement, and the council has spent much of this year pressing for answers about a December 2025 death there.

What's new since Monday's hearing

City Councilor Miniard Culpepper, who filed the order, plans a follow-up hearing in December and wants Sheriff Steve Tompkins and people held at the jail to testify, the Dorchester Reporter reported on Wednesday. He also asked the council to take another look at the central booking agreement between Boston police and the sheriff's department, according to the Reporter.

No one from the sheriff's department attended Monday's hearing. Tompkins did not give an interview but issued a statement saying his office takes allegations of abuse seriously and cautioning against judging the department before the facts are established, the Reporter reported. The statement said the office is awaiting the conclusion of independent investigations. The Reporter said the Attorney General, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office and the Boston Police Department are investigating the December death, which the state medical examiner ruled a homicide. A homicide ruling means another person caused the death; it is not a finding of criminal guilt. No one has been charged.

The two sides also disagree about why people held at the jail could not testify by video. Culpepper says he asked in April; a department attorney says the request came two weeks before the hearing, and the department's general counsel cited logistical problems in an Oct. 23 letter, according to the Reporter.

Advocates at the hearing asked the council to suspend the central booking agreement, use its subpoena power and seek a civil rights investigation of the county's jails, the Reporter reported. Those are their requests, not council actions.

Culpepper said people held at the jail "have the same constitutional rights that everyone else has," the Reporter reported.

What our records show

• Wednesday's action. The council clerk listed docket 0870 among matters recently heard, and it "remains in" committee (meeting page). The same thing happened to City Councilor Ed Flynn's crime lab hearing order (docket 0180), heard the same Monday without testimony from the Boston Police Department (our story). Keeping an order in committee lets the chair, City Councilor Henry Santana, call another hearing on it.
• The booking agreement. Culpepper's separate order for a hearing on that agreement (docket 1965) was referred to the same committee on Oct. 21, with Flynn and Santana added as original co-sponsors. No hearing date has been posted (our story).
• Earlier votes. On April 29 the council passed a resolution calling for an independent investigation, 11-0 (docket 0871), and rejected one calling for temporary suspension of the staff involved (docket 0872), with 6 yes, 3 no and 2 present. On Aug. 5 it passed a resolution on administrative leave standards after critical incidents, 11-0 (docket 1550). Our story on Monday's hearing has the full roll calls.
• A busy committee. By our count, the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee now holds 40 items, including 25 hearing orders. Wednesday added three more: a South Boston public safety order (docket 2049), a lithium-ion battery safety order (docket 2050) and a police residency resolution (docket 2052).

What's next

No date for the December hearing has been posted. The council has four regular meetings left this year, on Nov. 4, Nov. 18, Dec. 2 and Dec. 9, according to its 2026 schedule. Hearing notices appear on the city's public notices page. The video of Monday's hearing has not yet been posted to its meeting page.