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Sheriff says county will accept state-funded 287(g)-related transport grant, denies joining community arrest task force
Summary
At a public meeting the sheriff said the county applied for a state-funded program tied to '287(g)' activities to fund inmate transport and equipment, emphasized the county would not participate in community sweeps or hold federal inmates beyond a narrow transfer window, and cited 11 recent ICE pickups in the county.
At a public meeting the sheriff (name not provided) outlined the county's planned participation in a state-funded program tied to 287(g)-related activities and said the county would limit its role to jail-based notifications and inmate transportation, not community arrests.
The sheriff said the program includes three phases: notification at booking, training and transport to ICE holding facilities, and a task-force model for community arrests. "We are not in that task force model," he said, adding the county is seeking only the transport portion that would fund a dedicated vehicle and a transport position.
The sheriff described the award applied for as a local grant of about $102,000 that would cover a transport employee, insurance, fuel and maintenance and cited a van cost of $95,332. He said the county's rationale is operational: patrol cars currently make repeated trips to neighboring counties and ICE facilities and a transport van would consolidate those trips and spare patrol time.
To underscore public-safety rationales, the sheriff said the department and the city of Smithville transported 11 people to ICE custody from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025. He read several charges associated with those cases, including multiple DUIs, possession of controlled substances (small quantities), unlawful-possession-of-weapon charges, probation violations and a domestic-assault charge. He also described one case he said had been under investigation for human trafficking and another where the person reportedly threatened violence against officers.
The sheriff repeatedly distinguished the local program from an expanded enforcement role, saying the contract language does not authorize county officers to conduct community sweeps: "There's nothing that says that we, as a department, have a right to go out into the community and look for illegal immigrants outside of the department." He added that ICE-trained correctional officers serve detainer warrants in the jail and "they don't have arrest powers" to do street arrests under the county contract.
On contract terms, the sheriff said the grant contains a 90-day termination clause allowing either party to end the agreement within 90 days if the county finds terms unacceptable. He also warned that refusing to comply with certain federal requirements could jeopardize federal funding for county projects, saying federal grant recipients must follow federal regulations.
The sheriff cited a federal statute (noted in the transcript as "USC 1324") and summarized it as criminalizing bringing in, transporting or harboring unauthorized aliens and hiding them from detection. He stressed his view that enforcing state criminal laws and notifying ICE after arrests were compatible with his duty to uphold the law.
No formal vote or board action was announced during the remarks; the sheriff said the county could terminate participation under the 90-day clause if it later chose to do so.
