County meeting probes state grant and MOA for transport van amid ICE and cost concerns

DeKalb County officials and commissioners questioned a state-funded plan to acquire a transport van under a memorandum of agreement (MOA), pressing for clearer terms on costs, timing and whether local participation would alter ICE presence.

An official who spoke at the meeting said he had already signed the MOA and applied for a state grant to buy a van that would allow multiple inmate transports at once, reduce vehicle wear, fuel and officer time, and help move inmates once a new jail is available. "You can't transport 15 and 20 inmates from the jail to the courthouse without something to transport them in," the official said, noting patrol cars are not suitable for larger transfers.

Why it matters: Commissioners and constituents want to know what the county will pay, how the MOA could bind the county over time, and whether using the county to transport people to federal authorities will increase ICE presence locally. One commissioner summarized constituent concerns: "We don't need them here," and sought confirmation on who covers costs if a van or its upkeep exceeds grant funds.

Key facts from the meeting - The grant supporting the van is described as state funding; the meeting included repeated clarifications that the specific van grant is through the state, not federal funding. "Mine is through the state funding. It is not federal funding," the official said. - The official and others said the program currently includes a 48-hour pickup requirement: the receiving agency generally must collect detainees within 48 hours, or the county releases them. "It's a 48 hour period," one speaker confirmed. - The van price discussed was about $94,000; a commissioner cited a $103,000 figure for the county's upfront outlay, leaving roughly $8,000 as the difference. Who will cover upkeep after grant reimbursement was asked repeatedly and left to future clarification. - The grant window described in the discussion runs through June 30; the county would reapply July 1. The official said the van is likely to arrive near the end of the grant period, so they requested a smaller initial amount to avoid unused funds. - Several speakers emphasized typical grant procedure: the county often purchases first and is reimbursed later, and in this case reimbursement was described as 100% for the purchase. - The official characterized the agreement presented as an MOA with no explicit expiration date; he said either party could seek to renegotiate the MOA later.

Concerns and trade-offs Commissioners and residents raised several concerns: potential ongoing costs to the county (medical care, housing or other care during any 48-hour hold), the financial risk if the county buys the van and later withdraws, and whether officers trained under the agreement could become effectively controlled by federal authorities. One commissioner asked whether neighboring counties that decline to participate could shift responsibility onto DeKalb; the official clarified the contract under discussion covers DeKalb County only.

On the question of ICE presence, one speaker said the arrangement could reduce ICE activity in the county because, under the MOA, the county would transport detainees to the receiving agency rather than having ICE travel to DeKalb. "If we do this, we've actually got less ICE in our community because they're not gonna come pick up an inmate," Speaker 3 said.

Next steps No final vote or formal action on adopting or rejecting the MOA or accepting the grant was recorded in the transcript. Commissioners continued to press the official for specifics about termination clauses, who pays upkeep after reimbursement and the timing of the vehicle delivery. The discussion closed with agreement that further clarification and likely renegotiation of MOA terms would be needed before the county commits to any long-term obligations.