Buckley win sets new direction for Barnstable County Sheriff's Office

HYANNIS — At her victory speech at the Cape Codder Resort & Spa Tuesday night, Barnstable County Sheriff-elect Donna Buckley said she had never held her breath longer than while waiting for election results to come in.

Buckley is the first woman to be elected sheriff in Barnstable County and only the second woman elected sheriff in the commonwealth. She won 59,034 votes, passing state Rep. Timothy Whelan, who gained 55,515 votes.

“This was a campaign Barnstable County can be proud of,” she said a little after midnight. “We talked about the issues. We gave voters a choice, and we helped them set the direction of the sheriff’s office for the next six years.”

Buckley previously worked as general counsel in the sheriff's office and ran on pledges to provide more programs and counseling for inmates, including a more robust effort at helping women inmates.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Buckley said she will end the sheriff's department's relationship with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as an enforcer of immigration laws.

"I've consistently talked about ending the 287(g) agreement," she said. "That is priority number one."

Buckley will begin her term on the first Wednesday in January.

2022 midterm election:Full election results for Massachusetts

The 287(g) agreement is a contract between the sheriff's office and ICE that allows deputies to interrogate incarcerated people about their immigration status, arrest those in the jail for immigration violations, gather evidence used in processing people who could be eligible for deportation, and hold them for referral to ICE for 48 hours.

"My term of office is going to start by making sure the priorities at the sheriff’s office reflect the core mission of correction, rehabilitation and treatment," she said.

During her campaign she has called for more equitable programs for women inmates that give them the ability to earn "good time" and shorten their sentences. Male inmates have access to such opportunities, but females do not. Women inmates can't work in the kitchen, clean the jail, go out on community work crews like their male counterparts can.

"I have talked about inmate programs, making sure they are connected to rehabilitation and treatment and that they are robust and that they are there is equity," she said. "I’ve talked about having to bring our health and medical services back inside."

Buckley looks to eliminate current private vendor for mental health services

At an Oct. 12 debate, Buckley said the department should move away from using a private vendor for medical and mental health services. Such a vendor determined that two people who died by suicide were not at risk.

"We cannot rely on a private vendor," she said at the debate. "We need the level of accountability and expertise that can only come when we are the employer."

She also wants to make the sheriff's office part of the wider community, and promised to reach out to business owners, nonprofits, and local organizations to form stakeholder meetings.

Exclusive: Three people die in 8 weeks at Barnstable County jail. Here's what we know

The Barnstable County Sheriff's Department has 325 employees and operates a correctional facility and a communications center in Bourne. The correctional facility houses a maximum of 588 inmates who serve sentences of no more than 2½ years. In FY 2021, the sheriff's budget was $32,685,210, according to the state website.

The sheriff is in charge of prisoner transportation; provides inmate medical and addiction treatment, including access to vaccinations; designs re-entry programs; provides access to visitors and attorneys; is in charge of phone access and cost; regulates access to voting and is in control of the sheriff department budget.

Issues that rose to the top during the campaign included the state of rehabilitation and education programs for inmates, staffing shortages, the agreement with ICE, and the mission and budget of the department's marine boat division.

Buckley joined fellow Democratic candidates on Tuesday

Buckley joined Democratic candidates William Keating, the incumbent congressman from Bourne, state Sen. Julian Cyr of Truro, and Robert Galibois, candidate for district attorney on Tuesday at the Cape Codder Resort & Spa to wait for election returns. Keating and Cyr started off the evening with comfortable leads. Galibois’s victory was clear by 11 p.m. But as the night wore on it was Buckley and her supporters who stayed behind watching a screen showing town results trickle in.

She led early in the evening as unofficial vote tallies came in. At 8:30 p.m., the Democratic counters had her at 55% of the vote to Whelan’s 45%. Near 9 p.m. Whelan squeaked ahead with an estimated 52% of the vote to Buckley’s 47%.

At Tugboats, local Republicans began to recognize losses

At Tugboats at Hyannis Marina where Republican supporters were keeping track of unofficial vote returns for Whelan, Tracy Post, who was running for 1st Barnstable District state representative, and Daniel Higgins, running for district attorney, the mood started to lighten among Whelan supporters after Dennis, Sandwich, Bourne and Barnstable votes came in.

Whelan supporter Desmond Keogh called his candidate a hard worker who crossed party lines to get things done. But at 10:30 p.m., Keogh didn’t see a way for Whelan to win the race. Whelan had lost Brewster, his home town, and he lost Falmouth by about 1,637 votes. Outer Cape towns hadn’t reported counts at that time, but they were expected to go heavily Democratic.

After Harwich votes were written on the white board for the sheriff’s race, it looked like Whelan might have to concede, too. Buckley won 3,707 Harwich votes to Whelan’s 3,575. At that time, unofficial totals showed Buckley ahead by more than 800 votes.

“Mashpee doesn’t matter anymore,” another Whelan supporter said.

But while unofficial results were looking good for Buckley, she wouldn’t comment until a victory was clear. There was mounting excitement at the Cape Codder, but everyone waited. Eventually she came out of the war room with Galibois.

“I am truly speechless,” Buckley said. “This is historic for us in Barnstable County. This was a mountain to climb on so many levels – breaking through stereotypes, educating voters, and just doing the day-to-day work of talking to people, and connecting with their interests."

More election coverage:Do the results of the ballot questions show Massachusetts' conservative side

Buckley will replace Republican Sheriff James Cummings who has held the office for 24 years.

“Between the two of us we are going to make Barnstable County proud, fair, just and safe,” Buckley said, referring to Galibois, who also won his race.

Cyr called Buckley’s election a "seismic win" for Democrats on the Cape and Islands. “We are seeing a shift in our approach to criminal justice,” he said.

Orleans resident Robert Jones said he supported Buckley because he was impressed with her experience and the direction she wants to take in regards to mental health and corrections. A clinical social worker for 50 years on the Cape, Jones believes there's been a lack of services for inmates at the correctional facility.

Buckley was a relative latecomer to the sheriff's race. She announced her candidacy in March, had never run for office, and had even gone to Whelan’s kickoff event when he announced his candidacy.

“To do this well against a formidable and impressive opponent (Timothy Whelan) is remarkable,” Cyr said. “We are making history in Barnstable County.”

Contact Denise Coffey at dcoffey@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter: @DeniseCoffeyCCT.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Barnstable County Sheriff Office election result: Donna Buckley wins