Ahead of peak tourism season, Maine’s Republican governor is pursuing an unconventional strategy to help ease the state’s labor shortage: releasing nonviolent offenders from prison early to get them back to work.

The program by Gov. Paul LePage’s administration is starting small. The sentences of 17 male inmates who committed low-level offenses were commuted in recent days. The administration is now contemplating a similar move among the female prison population, and is also eyeing possible commutations in county jails.

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