Sheriff quells rumors that county is losing inmates

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agreement with Freeborn County has brought in more than $10 million since its inception in 2009, according to Freeborn County Sheriff Bob Kindler.

And there’s no plans to stop it, he said.

Kindler talked about the challenges and benefits of the agreement, which brings people in the country illegally to stay temporarily at the Freeborn County jail as they await court hearings and eventually deportation.

“There is this perception that somehow we’re trying to get rid of this ICE agreement,” he said. “That’s absolutely not true.”

He noted there are some challenges that prevent the county from growing the program — many of which deal with the federal government and changing immigration reform.

Freeborn County is one of four similar sites in Minnesota, Kindler said. The county often receives detainees from Bloomington and sometimes from South Dakota.

The county entered into the agreement with ICE officials in 2009. It includes both housing at the jail and transportation to and from court hearings.

At that time, Kindler said, the county agreed the federal government would pay Freeborn County $77 per day per detainee housed at the jail. That figure covers costs including food and health care, to name a few.

That number has not been renegotiated.

Kindler said even though some of the costs have gone up, the county has chosen not to renegotiate a new price out of fear it may lose some detainees. This has happened in other counties, he noted.

He said he gave this information to the Freeborn County Board of Commissioners, and they are also on board with sticking to the agreement as it is written.

In the Freeborn County jail on Monday, there were 108 inmates, including 65 ICE detainees and 43 others. Women are not housed at the Freeborn County jail and are often sent to Fairbault or Steele counties, he said.

The Freeborn County jail is licensed to house 148 inmates, but its operating capacity is 133. One of the reasons the county pursued after the ICE agreement in the first place was to utilize some of the jail space.

Kindler said the jail can easily fluctuate 10 ICE detainees a day and sometimes as much as 20 to 25.

Steve Westland, Freeborn County jail administrator, said the pool of illegal immigrants that ICE agents have been instructed to go after keeps shrinking, with changes happening to immigration policy.

Westland said the detainees — as well as the other inmates — are housed based on classification.

Each person in the jail is assigned a risk level: high, medium-high, medium-low and low.

Westland said a person brought in on a more basic traffic stop cannot be assigned to the same cell as someone who has already been convicted of felonies or is accused of more serious crimes. He noted some counties have gotten into trouble for not housing the detainees based on classification.

Kindler said that classification is important for the safety of everyone in the jail, including the staff and inmates, and the county has had to turn down some ICE detainees because of the risk of mixing classifications.

Of the four ICE facilities in Minnesota, Kindler noted that all four have experienced a drop in their numbers of detainees.

Detainees have dropped by an average in Freeborn County of about 15 detainees per day in the last two years from the upper 60s in 2011 and 2012 to the lower 50s in 2013 and 2014. Some months are higher; some are lower. He said in May and June of this year, there has been an average of 70 detainees a day at any given time.

The county went from making as much as $2.37 million in 2010 to $1.68 million in 2013.

With the reduction in detainees — and ultimately revenue — Kindler said the county has not been quick to hire new employees when some leave.

“We’re trying to mitigate some of the loss of revenue by not hiring right away,” he said.

There are presently 35 employees in the jail, not counting kitchen or medical staff.

Westland said the ICE inspections have gone well, particularly in the last few years and county officials have been highly complimented on the cleanliness and management of the facility. Inspectors also talk with staff and detainees.

“We’ve had very, very good results in the last couple years, and we’re very proud of that,” Kindler added.

The only problem that keeps coming up, he said, is a lack of an outdoor recreation site. He had submitted plans for one previously that was turned down by the Minnesota Department of Corrections.

“The bottom line is we try to manage it the best we can,” Kindler said. “Keeping the amount of revenue as high as we could and limiting the expenses.”

The jail is on track in 2014 to have revenue at least equal to if not greater to what it had in 2013.

“It’s being managed very well,” Kindler said.

Though the initial five-year agreement is coming to a close, the sheriff said the agreement will renew on an annual basis unless either party decides to negotiate otherwise.

“I don’t see that happening in the near future,” he said.

 

Freeborn County monthly average ICE detainees

• 2009: 50.1

• 2010: 76.3

• 2011: 69.9

• 2012: 68.1

• 2013: 53.1

• 2014: 51.1 (through end of June)

 

Money raised in Freeborn County from the ICE agreement: 

2009: $958,000

2010: $2.37 million

2011: $2.20 million

2012: $2.16 million

2013: $1.68 million

2014: $810,000 (through the end of June)