WORTHINGTON — A judge in southern Minnesota says the Nobles County Sheriff’s Office can’t keep jail inmates in custody for immigration officials after those inmates are eligible for release in state cases.

Thursday’s ruling by Blue Earth District Court Judge Gregory Anderson comes in a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota. The ACLU argued that the sheriff’s office routinely violated the rights of jail inmates by transferring them from local to federal custody at the request of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Anderson said there’s no basis to detain any person, regardless of immigration status, after he or she is entitled to release. He referred to a September Minnesota Court of Appeals Decision that found the transfer of a person from state custody to ICE custody constitutes a new seizure, requiring probable cause.

Messages left with the Nobles County sheriff weren’t immediately returned.

ICE “detainers” request that local officials hold individuals in jail until federal officers pick them up. Some counties have stopped honoring such requests.

As part of his ruling, Anderson granted a permanent injunction that bars Nobles County from holding inmates in this way in the future. The plaintiffs can seek damages at trial for being deprived of their liberty.