Vera Institute of Justice

As a veteran public safety and public health official, Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian has overseen the one of the nation’s oldest law enforcement agencies - the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office - as it has become a premier public safety institution known for innovation and professional excellence.

During his nearly eight years in office, Sheriff Koutoujian has initiated several landmark programs at the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office that have garnered national attention. These include a medication assisted treatment program recognized as a Center of Excellence by the National Institute of Corrections (NIC); the Housing Unit for Military Veterans (HUMV) that has been touted by the Washington Examiner and Vice News Tonight; and a unique unit for young adult offenders that has been called “one of the most important criminal justice reform experiments in the country” by the Boston Globe.

Under Sheriff Koutoujian’s leadership, Middlesex County was chosen as one of three Data Driven Justice (DDJ) Project pilot sites by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. DDJ is a national initiative focused on linking police, jail, hospital and service provider data to identify individuals with behavioral health needs within in these systems with a goal of producing better outcomes that enhance public safety.

In February of 2019, Sheriff Koutoujian was elected by his peers to serve as Vice President of Major County Sheriffs of America, representing sheriffs from the most populous counties in the country. The Sheriff also sits on the Advisory Board for the Council on State Governments Justice Center, a national nonprofit organization whose findings and technical assistance are utilized by state officials across the U.S. Sheriff Koutoujian currently serves as President of the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association, and is a founding member of Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime & Incarceration, a group of over 150 police chiefs, attorneys general, sheriffs and agency leaders committed to reducing rates of incarceration. He has also been recognized as a “Champion of Justice Reform” by the Coalition for Public Safety - a national bipartisan collective advancing criminal justice reform.

As one of the nation’s highest elected Armenian-American officials, Sheriff Koutoujian was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO). He is a recipient of the Medal of Gratitude from the Republic of Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia’s Mkhitar Gosh Medal.

Sheriff Koutoujian is a graduate of Bridgewater State University, the New England School of Law and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.