Thomas M. Hodgson

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Thomas M. Hodgson
Sheriff Thomas Hodgson.jpg
Hodgson in 2019
Sheriff of Bristol County
Assumed office
June 2, 1997
Appointed byWilliam Weld
Preceded byDavid R. Nelson[1]
Personal details
Bornabout 1954
NationalityAmerican
Political partyRepublican Party (United States)
Spouse(s)Terry
Jo-Anne (c. 1999-present)
ResidenceDartmouth, Massachusetts
Alma materXavier University
OccupationSheriff of Bristol County, Massachusetts
Websitehttp://www.bcso-ma.us/meetthesheriff.htm

Thomas M. Hodgson is an American law enforcement agent who has served as Sheriff of Bristol County Massachusetts since 1997.

Early life[]

Hodgson was born about 1954 and grew up in a large Catholic family in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He graduated from a Catholic military high school in Washington and attended Xavier University in Ohio for one year studying accounting.[2][3][4] Hodgson worked as a police detective in Ocean City, Maryland, for six years until he resigned in the early-1980's to work for his brother's landscaping business. He moved to Massachusetts in 1985 and worked in an office supply company in Quincy, Massachusetts. He left to work in another brother's accounting firm.[5]

New Bedford city councilor[]

Hodgson was elected to the New Bedford City Council in 1988. He served until resigning to become Sheriff in 1997; at the time of his resignation, he was the council's only Republican.

Bristol County sheriff[]

Hodgson was appointed sheriff of Bristol County by then-Governor William F. Weld on May 21, 1997.[6] He won election to a full six-year term in 1998 and moved to Fall River the next year. He garnered press for charging inmates for room and board, medical services and hair cuts while in jail and for getting rid of television and the weight room. He instituted chain gangs.[2] In the 2016 election he ran unopposed.[7]

In 2017, Hodgson offered to send Bristol County inmates to help build President Donald J. Trump's proposed border wall.[8] When he was later invited to speak to a U.S. House of Representatives committee about sanctuary cities, he recommended that elected officials in such jurisdictions should be arrested.[9][10]

In November 2019, President Trump appointed Hodgson an honorary chair of his 2020 Massachusetts re-election campaign.[11][12]

On May 1, 2020, three Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees were hospitalized following a violent incident with correctional officers during testing for COVID-19.[13] Hodgson was on site during the incident and the Bristol County Sheriff's department reported more than $25,000 of damage to the facility.[14]

The next day, Congressman Joe Kennedy III called for an independent investigation of the violence;[15] then Sentators Warren and Markey and Representative Keating joined Kennedy in signing a joint letter calling for an investigation "by an external entity."[16] The ACLU of Massachusetts sued the Bristol county Sheriff's Office after being denied access to records related to the incident.[17]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ https://www.newspapers.com/image/441971676/
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Hart, Jordana (June 27, 1999). "Bristol Sheriff sees lessons in tough approach". The Boston Globe. p. B1.
  3. ^ Preer, Robert (June 27, 2004). "Bristol Sheriff candidates differ in style, outlook". The Boston Globe. p. Globe South page 1.
  4. ^ Doherty, John (March 25, 2001). "Legally, nothing amiss in Maryland". South Coast Today. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  5. ^ "Sheriff Hodgson to quit City Council seat". SouthCoast Today. March 28, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  6. ^ "Hodgson, Thomas M." Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  7. ^ "Thomas M. Hodgson". Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  8. ^ "Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson offers inmates to build Donald Trump's wall". Boston Herald. January 5, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  9. ^ "Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson says elected leaders of 'sanctuary cities' should be arrested". Masslive. March 28, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  10. ^ "Hodgson to speak before U.S. House subcommittee Tuesday on illegal immigration, sanctuary cities". SouthCoast Today. March 28, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  11. ^ Service, Matt Murphy Massachusetts State House News. "Trump Campaign taps Mass. Sheriff Tom Hodgson as honorary chair". providencejournal.com. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  12. ^ "State Committee". Massachusetts GOP. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  13. ^ "ICE Detainees Hospitalized, Sheriff Reports 'Extensive Damage' After Coronavirus-Based Incident in Bristol County Jail". www.wbur.org. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  14. ^ "$25K in damage after COVID-19 disturbance at Mass. ICE facility, sheriff says". WCVB. May 2, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  15. ^ "Calls For An Investigation Mount After ICE Detention Center Incident". CBS Boston. May 2, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  16. ^ "Warren, Markey, Keating, and Kennedy Call for an Independent Investigation of the May 1st Events at the Bristol County House of Correction | U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts". www.warren.senate.gov. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  17. ^ "ACLU Sues Bristol Sheriff For Access To Incident Recordings". www.wbur.org. Retrieved June 1, 2020.


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