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BOSTON A nationally recognized expert in corrections and criminal justice is coming to Massachusetts to run the Massachusetts Sheriffs' Association as its new executive director.

Carrie Hill, who most recently worked as director of the National Sheriffs' Association's National Center for Jail Operations and has worked in the corrections field for more than three decades, has been hired to lead the MSA effective Jan. 16, Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian announced as president of the organization.

"I am thrilled and honored to be joining President Koutoujian and each of the Massachusetts sheriffs as we work collaboratively and cooperatively with our federal and national partners to elevate the office of sheriff as well as the jails and communities in which they serve," Hill said. "Massachusetts sheriffs have led innovative programming and initiatives that have become national models. It is our privilege to provide a voice for both those served by and those serving in our nation's jails."

A frequent speaker at corrections conferences and professional development summits around the country, Hill has worked at the state and county levels, and served as a consultant to organizations like the National Institute of Corrections. Before her work with the NSA, Hill "focused on providing training and consulting on national, regional, state and local levels for a variety of private and public entities," according to a conference biography.

Her previous roles include serving as general counsel to the Utah Department of Corrections, senior administrative manager for former Hennepin County, Minn., Sheriff Richard Stanek, and as editor of Corrections Managers' Report, a bi-monthly industry bulletin published by the Civic Research Institute.

"The Massachusetts Sheriffs' Association is extremely visionary to hire Carrie Hill as their next executive director," Newport News, Virginia, Sheriff Gabe Morgan, who chairs the NSA's Jail & Detention Committee, said.

Retired Associate Deputy Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice Steven Cook said, "The Massachusetts Sheriffs are fortunate to be bringing Carrie Hill on board. She is a widely recognized expert on jail and detention issues, and she has been a leader at a national level building relationships and coalitions to protect and pursue the interests of sheriffs and law enforcement."

Koutoujian, who has led the MSA as president since 2018, described the hiring of Hill as executive director as "a milestone moment" for the 15-plus-year-old MSA.

"To attract someone of Carrie's caliber to the ranks of the MSA is a testament to how respected Massachusetts sheriffs have become nationally. We have earned this position through the diligent work of each sheriff and the generous assistance of our longtime executive director, James Walsh," the former state representative said.

As executive director of the MSA, Hill is also expected to continue to work with national initiatives like the NSA-National Association of Counties Joint Task Force, which the MSA said is "studying the impacts of the national behavioral health crisis on county jails" and with partnerships and programs that the NSA is engaged in to benefit sheriffs across the country.

The hiring of Hill comes while the MSA has been active on Beacon Hill and among its peer organizations, and in rebuilding relationships with state policymakers.

In 2016, Auditor Suzanne Bump's office found that the MSA was not meeting its statutory transparency and reporting requirements, and she said the organization "did not have the tools or the policies and procedures in place to do" what it was established in 2004 to do, facilitate communication between the state's 14 sheriffs.

Since then, under new leadership at the sheriff level and now soon at the executive director level, the MSA has been active in Beacon Hill's debate of criminal justice reform. Koutoujian worked closely with lawmakers in 2018 to craft a bill that has allowed correctional facilities in Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Norfolk and Franklin counties to run a three-year pilot program using medication-assisted treatment to combat opioid addiction.

The state's 14 sheriffs run county jails and houses of correction, as well as inmate rehabilitation programs that seek to provide social services to people who are incarcerated. As an organization, the MSA has gotten involved in criminal justice reform and advocating for the sheriffs' positions during debates over other public policy issues, like marijuana legalization.

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