Former Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson denies his office exposed taxpayers to liability concerning a lawsuit filed by ICE detainees involved in an uprising more than five years ago.
“The suggestion that I exposed the taxpayers to liability is ridiculous,” Hodgson said in a statement to The Sun Chronicle. “The responsibility of the sheriff is to maximize the potential to keep our citizens from being victimized by criminal illegal aliens or other criminals in our communities.”
Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux, who ousted Hodgson from office, leveled the charges of liability exposure when he announced Monday he had settled a $10 million lawsuit lodged against Hodgson and correctional officers for $800,000.
The uprising inside the former Carreiro Immigration Detention Center in May 2020 led to property damage and charges by inmates their civil rights were violated.
The violent altercation stemmed from inmates refusing to take COVID tests during the peak of the pandemic.
Hodgson said the uprising by unruly inmates had to be suppressed and officers took appropriate action.
The lawsuit, filed more than three years ago on behalf of 16 formerly detained immigrants, accused Hodgson and correctional officers of using excessive force.
Hodgson has called the lawsuit frivolous and with no merit. He also contended the suit was politically motivated since he was running against Heroux for re-election.
The sheriff’s office had contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to carry out immigration enforcement and house detainees.
The contracts were terminated after an investigation by former Massachusetts attorney general and now governor Maura Healey found the inmates’ civil rights were violated by correctional officers using excessive force.
Heroux said the federal contracts didn’t protect the sheriff’s office from liability.
“My predecessor’s decision to involve the BCSO in immigration enforcement left the citizens of Bristol County and the taxpayers of Massachusetts exposed to legal liability,” Heroux said.
Taxpayer money
Heroux said the suit was settled without using taxpayer money but with fees paid through civil process work by deputies.
“The $800,000 settlement deprived the BCSO of funds that the BCSO was going to use for other campus improvement projects that taxpayers would not have had to pay for,” Heroux said.
The federal and state governments both said the other was responsible for paying off any settlement, Heroux said.
If the suit wasn’t settled and gone to trial, Heroux said the $200,000 in legal fees would have likely approached about $1 million to try the case with no guarantee of victory. A settlement awarded by a jury could have exceeded $10 million and exposed jail guards to liability, he added.
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