[5] The sheriff became a Commonwealth employee, but remains locally elected to perform duties within the county region and retains administrative and operational control over the Berkshire Sheriff's Office, an independent state agency created after the county government was abolished.

The Berkshire Sheriff's Office runs the county jail and house of correction.

Berkshire County comprises only part of one district for the Massachusetts Senate due to its low population.

The Council generally meets at noon on Wednesdays in its State House Chamber, next to the Governor's Office, to act on issues such as payments from the state treasury, criminal pardons and commutations, and approval of gubernatorial appointments such as judges, notaries and justices of the peace.

The highest natural point in Massachusetts, Mount Greylock at 3,492 feet (1,064 m), is in Berkshire County.

Due to their elevation, the Berkshires attract tourists and summer residents eager to escape the heat of the lowlands.

[23] The Mahican (Muh-he-ka-neew) Native American tribe lived in the area that now makes up Berkshire County until the early 18th century, when the first English settlers and frontiersmen appeared and began setting up farms and homesteads.

On April 25, 1724, "The English finally paid the Indians 460 pounds, 3 barrels of cider, and 30 quarts of rum" for what is today southern Berkshire County.

[25] This deal did not include modern Stockbridge, Richmond, and Lenox, or any northern towns.

In the 19th century, Berkshire County became popular with the American elite, which built what they called "cottages" throughout the countryside.

The Gilded Age ended in the early 20th century with the income tax, World War I, and the Great Depression.

In the 20th century, some of these cottages were torn or burned down, while others became prep schools, historic sites, or bed-and-breakfast inns.

Today Berkshire is known throughout the East Coast and the country as the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood.

It includes attractions such as the Clark Art Institute, Norman Rockwell Museum, Naumkeag, Mass MOCA, and Hancock Shaker Village.

County-wide bus service is provided by the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority.