Who exactly can remove Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins or place him on suspension while he faces federal corruption charges?

A portion of state law that requires the suspension of county officers or employees under indictment for misconduct at first appears to apply to Tompkins’ situation. But a 1994 Supreme Judicial Court decision ruled that the statute does not cover elected county sheriffs.

Instead, the state’s highest court ruled that a majority of its justices could remove an elected county sheriff if they received a complaint, including from the governor or attorney general.

Ryan Quinn, a professor at Northeastern University who specializes in labor law, said a 1966 Supreme Judicial Court case also allows other parties to file a complaint.

In the decades-old case, the Massachusetts Bar Association filed a complaint to remove a court clerk in Newton, and justices decided that the petition was “properly” before them.

“The Supreme Judicial Court in that case said there’s no real standing requirement. It doesn’t have to be the attorney general,” Quinn told the Herald.

Authorities accused Tompkins this month of pressuring an executive at a Boston-based cannabis business for stock in the company before it was set to release an initial public offering, including by reminding the person that he helped the company in its licensing efforts.

The cannabis executive “believed and feared that Tompkins would use his official position as sheriff to jeopardize” the initial public offering and an agreement with the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department that was integral to the company’s cannabis license.

Top Democrats in Massachusetts have largely stayed silent on whether Tompkins should step aside after being charged with two counts of extortion under color of official right.

Gov. Maura Healey said this past week that she needed “more information before commenting.”

“They’re certainly serious, and no one in elected positions should ever use or abuse their power in an unlawful way,” Healey said of the charges. “I need to know more about this. I need to get more information.”

A complaint had not been filed against Tompkins as of Friday, according to court records.

But if one is levied against the sheriff, and justices do decide to suspend him, whether he receives pay is an open question, according to Quinn.

In their 1994 ruling, justices decided to suspend then-Middlesex County Sheriff John McGonigle, who was facing a federal indictment. But the Supreme Judicial Court “didn’t really decide the question,” Quinn said.

“It just assumed, because the parties didn’t disagree on that issue, that suspension would be without pay,” Quinn said. “But that is, I think, unresolved. So, for instance, if the governor brought a complaint, or someone brought a complaint to suspend Tompkins, that is potentially an open issue whether he would receive pay.”

Media contacts go silent

Meanwhile, the sheriff’s media contacts have gone dark.

Peter Van Delft, director of External Affairs & Communications, says on a voice message that he’ll be out of the office until early next week. His assistant, Natalie Johnson, whom he suggests journalists call, has a message saying she’s also out.

Multiple calls went unanswered on Friday afternoon. That includes the office of the General Counsel. You’d think the top lawyer would have the ability to pick up the phone.

The state Comptroller’s office lists the Suffolk Sheriff’s Office of having an “employee head count of 1,009.” That includes over 300 corrections officers who, I’m sure, are working this weekend.

The top pay, the Comptroller’s website states, was $305,437 last year. Nineteen others made more than $200,000, records show.

Tompkins took home $215,430 last year. The Comptroller’s office lists $22,626 as “leave buy back” and $1,804 as “other.”

Tompkins, who was arrested in Florida, did not pick up his phone on Friday either. The executive office also rang, and rang, and rang.

Who is running the Suffolk Sheriff’s Office?

Pols & Politics logo (Boston Herald)
The Suffolk County House of Correction is locked up tight in more ways than one. (Herald file photo)