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Council accepts federal stipends tied to 287(g) agreements; police chief says funding offsets general revenue
Summary
The council voted 6–1 to accept Department of Homeland Security stipends tied to the city's 287(g) immigration enforcement capacity; the police chief said the funding covers quarterly stipends for nine officers and that recent immigration-related arrests were linked to local massage-parlor enforcement.
The Fort Walton Beach City Council approved Resolution 2026-04, accepting stipend funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security tied to 287(g) officers. The stipend provides per-officer quarterly payments for local officers authorized to perform certain immigration-related functions.
Police Chief Beige said the department has nine officers under the 287(g) agreement and that the city is eligible for a $15,000 stipend per eligible officer per quarter. He reported that the department made four immigration-related arrests last year and three additional arrests recently tied to massage-parlor enforcement actions.
Council discussion focused on the department’s use of 287(g) authority and the fact that the funding offsets general-revenue costs for certain investigatory activities rather than enabling new enforcement priorities. Chief Beige emphasized that officers deploy immigration authority as part of criminal investigations and not as separate immigration sweeps.
The resolution passed 6–1. No member identified as the dissenting vote in the public-facing remarks during the meeting.
Next steps: The police department will accept the funds per the resolution and integrate the stipends into its payroll/finance processes; council asked for continued transparency about how the funding offsets general revenue expenditures.
