Sheriff explains fingerprint sharing, NCIC and 48‑hour ICE detainer practice

At the April 18 Budget & Finance meeting, Sheriff Hall told council members how the booking fingerprint process interacts with federal databases and with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and he described the local practice for ICE detainers.

The sheriff said fingerprints taken at booking are sent to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and also to an immigration fingerprint database that was instituted under the Secure Communities program. “When you're fingerprinted, your prints go two places, and they're searching both of those systems,” he said, describing the automated checks. He explained that the NCIC check looks for criminal warrants and records, while the immigration check looks specifically for immigration histories.

On detainers and holds, Hall told the council there is a state law that requires cooperation with an ICE detainer once local charges are complete and that the office must hold a person for up to 48 hours. “What madam chair is talking about is the legal requirement is that we have to hold that person for 48 hours after the local charges are complete. And on the 48th hour in 1 second, we cut you loose,” he said.

The sheriff also described limits on the sheriff’s office’s ability to notify families about transfers to ICE custody. “We don't have information,” he said when asked what the sheriff’s office can tell families after federal officials take custody. He added that the office can confirm only that the person was turned over to federal officials and the time of transfer, but not a federal custody location or immigration status. He said the federal government often does not make full information public and that his office is working with lawyers and the mayor’s office to clarify policies for employees and contractors working in Metro facilities.

Council members asked follow‑up questions about exactly what families are told and about holds for courthouse and building security, and the sheriff said staff and counsel are reviewing how to communicate policies for contract security employees and how contract staff should respond when ICE or federal officials appear at Metro buildings.

Why it matters: the fingerprinting and detainer process determines whether an individual arrested on a local charge may be transferred to federal immigration custody once local proceedings finish. The sheriff emphasized that this fingerprint sharing practice is long‑standing and that changes in the number of transfers reflect federal action, not a change in local practice.