Arpaio wants inmates to become organ donors

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ABC15
Posted : 2007-06-13

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio will begin asking inmates this week to sign up as organ donors. It's believed to be the first inmate project of its kind in the nation.

According to the Donor Network of Arizona, about 96,000 people nationwide are waiting for a transplant. In Arizona, about 1,400 residents are waiting for the lifesaving call.

Arpaio believes inmates could be those lifesavers after leaving jail and he expects to face criticism over the move saying,

"People will probably say wait a minute, we don't want the heart or the organ of a inmate, a lot of them are high on drugs or alcohol, we don't want that," Arpaio said. Well that has nothing to do with it, that's for a doctor to decide."

Donor Network of Arizona Spokeswoman Stacy Underwood didn't want to comment specifically on Arpaio's plan, saying only that many Arizona businesses encourage employees to sign up and educating the community about the correct way to be a donor is something we really encourage.

Arpaio says inmates will see posters throughout Maricopa County jails asking for them to sign up for hour-long education sessions about donating their organs.

According to the Sheriff, inmates are not allowed to donate while in custody, but he hopes they will do something good for the community once leaving county custody.