Residents urge Sauk County to end sheriff’s ICE contract as attorney defends county in lawsuit

Dozens of residents used a Nov. 11 public hearing to demand that Sauk County end a voluntary agreement that allows the sheriff’s office to house and transport Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees.

Speakers described recent raids and cited due-process concerns. Carol May of Prairie du Sac told the board, "Until that time, I ask that we we rescind the contract with ICE." Several others, including Roberta "Robbie" Boss of Merrimack and Joan Wheeler of Baraboo, recounted incidents they said showed ICE agents operating in ways that frightened children and failed to identify themselves.

Why it matters: The contract has become a flashpoint in Sauk County, intersecting criminal-justice operations, jail staffing and county revenue. Commenters warned the agreement undermines local policing norms and could impose moral and legal costs on the county; supporters of the sheriff argued local officers need authority to cooperate with federal law enforcement to protect public safety.

County counsel Andy Phillips, who represented the sheriff in a pending case, said the dispute is now before the Wisconsin Supreme Court in an original-action petition brought by Voces de la Frontera. "Voces de la Frontera is going to claim that Wisconsin sheriffs lack that statutory authority," Phillips said, summarizing the plaintiffs’ core legal theory and telling the board the parties disagree about the factual record and the proper forum for that dispute.

Phillips said the county’s position is that the issue should undergo full discovery in the trial courts rather than being resolved via an original-action filing and that the question is primarily about state statutory authority, not a direct constitutional crisis. He asked the board to reserve finer legal-strategy questions for a closed session so the county and the sheriff’s counsel could discuss litigation strategy.

What the board did: After public comment and Phillips’ presentation the board voted to convene in closed session under Wisconsin Statute 19.85(1)(g) to confer with legal counsel on the Voces de la Frontera original-action petition to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The chair announced the meeting would recess and then reconvene in closed session with limited staff and counsel present.

Context and details: Speakers on both sides cited numbers and examples. Kylan Bartel of Mazomania (nearby) told the board that "as of July, ISED issued over 700 detainers to counties throughout the state," and said that in the county 16 people taken into ICE custody included many with pending charges rather than convictions. Other commenters emphasized the human toll of high-profile arrests at daycares and the effect on families and children.

Next steps: The board recessed to closed session for attorney consultation; no formal reversal of the sheriff’s contract occurred in open session on Nov. 11. Any change to the sheriff’s voluntary agreement would require further action by the sheriff’s office and/or the board and, depending on the court process, could be affected by the Supreme Court’s handling of the original action.