Under the direction of Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins, the Department initiated a first-of-its-kind voter informational series designed to engage eligible in-custody voters with in-person forums featuring candidates for elected office. Beginning with a forum showcasing the six candidates running for Suffolk County District Attorney in 2018, he has since brought before audiences of men and women incarcerated at the House of Correction panels featuring the two candidates running for United States Senate in 2020, and the slate of candidates vying to become the Mayor of Boston in 2021. The Department has also presided over two additional “firsts,” inviting members of the Boston City Council to hold the first-ever city council hearings inside of acorrectional institution in 2015 and again in 2018.