Ohio AG: Butler County Jail can detain people in the country illegally

The Butler County Jail and other local jails can detain people who are in the country illegally but have not committed a crime, the Ohio attorney general said in a new opinion.

Attorney General Dave Yost issued the opinion in response to a request from Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Michael T. Gmoser to clarify whether a county sheriff or board of commissioners can legally collaborate with federal immigration authorities to detain people for civil violations of federal immigration law longer than a 48-hour hold.

“In summary, local officials may cooperate with the federal government and provide jail space for aliens subject to removal pursuant to a contract between the county commissioners and federal immigration authorities,” Yost wrote. “The terms of the contract would determine whether the sheriff or deputy sheriffs may transport such detainees for medical services, court appearances, or between detention facilities.”

However, Yost noted that a “board of county commissioners may enter into an agreement with federal immigration authorities, on behalf of the sheriff, to detain aliens subject to removal in the county jail.” However, the sheriff “does not have independent contracting authority for this purpose.”

Averting Lawsuits?

Gmoser told The Cincinnati Enquirer that he worried detaining people for civil offenses could make the county vulnerable to lawsuits, following direction from a previous attorney general.

“The attorney general, I believe, in this case recognized the need for immediate attention,” Gmoser told the publication. “There was the potential for lawsuits to pop up like daisies in the spring.”

ACLU Disagrees

Unsurprisingly, the ACLU disagreed, sending a letter to several lawmen, including Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones, demanding they “release every detainee who is currently in your custody without legal authority and cease all unlawful immigration enforcement actions.”

“State and local law enforcement agencies lack inherent authority to carry out federal immigration enforcement,” the left-leaning group wrote. “Such authority is vested solely in the federal government.

“…While it is true that the federal government may enter into an agreement with a State or political subdivision of a State to engage in immigration-related enforcement or detention, any such agreement at the county level may be authorized only by the county board of commissioners,” the group added in its letter. “Any agreement that you yourself signed as the supposed basis for your authority is therefore invalid.”