The Massachusetts General Court, early in the state's constitutional period, reaffirmed the sheriff's traditional role as keeper of the county jail (St 1783, c 44; MGLA c 126, s 16). He was mandated to keep a calendar of prisoners (St 1784, c 41; MGLA c 127, s 5) and to house debtors separately from those charged with crime (St 1784, c 41; MGLA c 127, c 22), presumably leading to the practice, at least in Suffolk County, of keeping separate calendars for the two groups until 1943. Series lists those in the criminal category.
