Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson is pushing lawmakers to stop the practice in state prisons that's costing Massachusetts taxpayers about $2.5 million a year.
It doesn't make sense financially or fundamentally, he said.
At county prisons, like the one Hodgson runs, prisoners aren't paid. They have to work to shave seven and a half days a month off their sentences.
Hodgson also is in favor of a bill that passed the Massachusetts House that would charge prisoners a $5 daily fee for services. The practice was implemented by Hodgson in Bristol County and raised about $780,000 until a court in 2004 found he needed state approval.
There was a protest at the Massachusetts Statehouse last week against the measure to charge prisoners.
Hodgson said the state secretary for public safety is against the idea.
The state Senate is currently debating the measure.
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