HAMILTON, Ohio — Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones is within his legal rights to house ICE detainees long-term in the county jail who have only been civilly charged, according to an opinion released by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
Jones entered into a new contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in February to house federal detainees. Prosecutor Mike Gmoser, troubled about potential liability issues for the county, asked Yost for an opinion.
His main query was whether Jones is permitted to hold detainees who are charged with civil not criminal offenses for longer than two days.
Yost issued that opinion this morning, it read in part:
“Federal law allows ICE to enter an agreement with a state or political subdivision, such as the county, to provide ‘housing, care, and security’ for aliens detained by ICE. Such detention is not limited to 48 hours,” Yost wrote. “Rather, when an alien is arrested for violations of immigration law, the alien may be detained for civil removal proceedings ‘pending a decision on whether the alien is to be removed from the United States.’ If the alien is ordered to be removed, detention could last until the person is deported.”
WATCH: Inside the Butler County jail, southwest Ohio's ICE holding facility
Gmoser told the Journal-News previously the mass effort on the part of the federal government to rid the country of people in this country illegally whether they have a criminal record, could have serious legal and liability ramifications.
“I am concerned there is potential liability that needs to be addressed to stay ahead of this,” Gmoser said. “It’s a very complex issue with jurisdictional issues that may apply to the federal government, that may not apply to state government. Therein lies the difference in these issues and it is a question that has to be resolved by the Attorney General because it has statewide application.”
Jones told the Journal-News he is grateful to Gmoser for seeking the opinion that will impact the entire state, “we got a good opinion, we’re very fortunate.”
“We’re the largest in the Ohio, probably one of the larger ones in the United States that house and help with deportation,” Jones said. “Give us the opinion we can do all those things, we can transport, we can house them, it’s a great day for the state of Ohio. Very fortunate our prosecutor set the opinion up.”
Every week, a group of concerned residents have come to the county commission meetings asking the county to exit the deportation business. They have questioned the county about reports by this news outlet and others that only about 8% of the jail inmates being held for deportation proceedings have criminal records.
Ann Jantzen has been at every commission meeting for weeks. She was dismayed to learn about Yost’s opinion, “it seems like they are denying people some basic rights,” whether they are citizens or not.
“I’m terribly disappointed because I feel like someone who has not committed a crime, that first they should not be held in a jail,” she said. “And then to hold them for it seems like an interminable time is just not just.”
There have only been two immigration issues addressed by the AG’s office since 1993 and both were requested by former Butler County prosecutor Robin Piper — who now sits on the 12th District Court of Appeals bench — with decisions issued in 2007.
Gmoser said based on the previous opinions, the sheriff can hold someone on a civil violation, but only for 48 hours; if ICE doesn’t collect them, they must be released. That’s not what is happening today.
Yost wrote he did not disagree with former Attorney General Marc Dann’s assessment, but it “did not, however, address other types of civil detention, such as detention of an alien subject to removal pursuant to a contract with ICE. The distinction in type of detention, and the legal basis of each, is significant.”
