Norfolk County Special Sheriff To Focus On Opioid Addiction

DEDHAM, MA — The opioid epidemic needs to be Norfolk County's number one priority, according to Robert Harnais, the county's special sheriff.

Harnais is an attorney who works in Quincy and lives in Braintree. He took over as acting sheriff when Sheriff Michael Bellotti stepped down to serve as the president of Quincy College. Harnais told the Patriot Ledger that while serving as the acting sheriff, he wants to focus on helping people who have been affected by the opioid crisis.

Harnais said his own family has been affected by the opioid epidemic, and that has influenced why he wants to make this a priority. According to data from the district attorney's office, 152 people in Norfolk County died because of opioid overdoes.

The jail already has programs to prepare inmates for life outside prison with counseling and job training. He said he'd like to take these support programs a step further by allowing inmates to call the jail for help or advice even after they finished serving their sentences.

For more on this story, check out the Patriot Ledger.

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