UMass Boston

Corrections, Law and Criminal Justice

JD, Suffolk University

View Professor Horgan's Curriculum Vitae

Gerard Horgan served as the Superintendent of Jail Operations and Special Sheriff at the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office from 2013 to 2018. In this role, he supervised all Uniformed, Programs, Medical, Mental Health, HR, Fiscal, Legal, Classification and other Administrative staff. Horgan oversaw the daily operation of the facility and serves as a liaison to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and the courts. Previously, he spent over 25 years at the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department where he was Director of Human Resources, Deputy Superintendent, and Superintendent/Special Sheriff at both the Nashua Street Jail and the South Bay House of Correction. Currently, Horgan is a member of the Governor’s Special Commission on Correctional Funding in Massachusetts and he has worked with the Massachusetts Sheriff’s Association on the compliance efforts with the Criminal Justice Reform Act of 2018. He also provides consulting services to a number of Sheriff’s offices on legal and operational issues.

Horgan, a Certified Jail Manager, is a graduate of Northeastern University where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science with a concentration in Public Administration and of Suffolk University Law School. He was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1994. Since 2007, Horgan has been a Lecturer at UMass Boston, where he teaches courses in corrections and criminal justice. He has taught numerous classes to corrections staff at Suffolk County, Norfolk County, Hampden County, Worcester County and the Massachusetts Sheriff’s Association. He has presented at the American Jail Association Conference in the area of liability and risk management, the use of force, medical and mental health issues, and religious right. Horgan has conducted similar trainings for the Kentucky Jailers Association and for the AJA in Nebraska, Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, California, Colorado, and Virginia.