Orange County accepts higher U.S. Marshals rate but moves ICE detentions to BOA after hours of public protest

The Orange County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously April 21 to accept revised U.S. Marshals Service reimbursement terms for its intergovernmental services agreement (IGSA) while removing the agreement's ICE detention component and transitioning ICE detainees to a Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA).

The board's action follows a multi-hour presentation by county staff and attorneys and a sustained public comment period in which roughly 65 people pressed commissioners to end the county's role in ICE detention. County negotiators said the U.S. Marshals Service offered a new per-diem reimbursement of $125 per inmate, up from the current $88; county corrections officials estimate the true local cost of incarcerating a federal inmate at about $180.09 per day.

Why the vote: Staff framed the approved measure as a middle path that preserves the county's ability to house federal criminal inmates for agencies such as the FBI and DEA under the IGSA at the improved $125 rate while moving the ICE-only housing to the BOA framework required by state law. County Director Danny Banks said the split would allow the county to continue supporting federal criminal caseloads and to limit the county's exposure for large numbers of ICE-only bookings.

Chief Quinones, who presented the corrections department's cost and occupancy figures, told commissioners the county had been reimbursed $4.12 million…