Sheriff Proposes Sending Inmates To Help With Harvey Damage

TAUNTON, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts sheriff who proposed sending county jail inmates to help President Donald Trump build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is offering to send inmates to Texas to help clean up damage from Hurricane Harvey.

WGBH-FM first reported Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson wants to send inmate "volunteers" to help rebuild Houston.

Hodgson says 10 inmates have expressed interest in the project. He says he hopes federal disaster relief funds can cover inmates' transportation and housing costs.

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The plan would need approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, local sheriffs involved and the National Sheriffs' Association.

Hodgson says he has been in contact with the sheriffs association. The association's executive director said Tuesday that the idea is innovative.

Hodgson and Trump are both Republicans.

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