Bristol County Sheriff settles suit over treatment of ICE detainees

The Bristol County Sheriff has settled a lawsuit over the treatment of immigration detainees.

The $10 million civil rights suit was settled for $800,000.

Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux said the suit, filed in 2022 before he became sheriff, left him in limbo. Although Bristol County had a contract with the federal government to hold immigration detainees, the feds said the jail was a state office and responsible for defending itself in the suit. But the state also said the jail was on its own because it was acting on behalf of the federal government under what's called a 287(g) agreement that allows local jails to hold people in custody for federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Heroux said the jail is better off without the federal contract.

"Nobody helps you if things go sideways," Heroux said. "We also don't have enough staff to take care of the people in custody already."

Heroux said the settlement money came from revenue generated by civil process work. Most of that comes from sheriff deputies serving evictions. He said the jail takes in about $30,000 a month from such work and he was saving it to make improvements at the jail.

Sixteen detainees sued the Bristol County Sheriff's Office alleging mistreatment and excessive use of force during a violent incident in 2020. Gov. Maura Healey, who in 2020 was Massachusetts attorney general, issued a scathing report that found the jail violated the rights of ICE detainees. The federal government canceled its contract with the jail in 2021.

Heroux said the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.