DELAWARE — A new report from the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio has drawn a response from Delaware County Sheriff Jeff Balzer, who says the report on federal immigration partnerships may give a misleading impression about the county’s role.
The report, titled “ICE in Ohio,” was published Monday by the ACLU of Ohio and is based on dozens of public records requests examining agreements between local law enforcement and federal authorities, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS).
It analyzes a variety of contracts between various municipalities and ICE and/or the U.S. Marshals Service related to immigration enforcement, transportation and detention, jail bed space contracts, jail transport services, and other formal agreements.
Delaware County is included in the report as having a federal jail contract tied to the U.S. Marshals Service. The report groups those agreements within a broader look at immigration enforcement.
After the report published, the ACLU of Ohio stated they sent “cautionary letters” to all Ohio entities that have at least one type of immigration related contract urging them to rescind all current engagements.
As of Thursday evening, the ACLU of Ohio added a note to the report, stating “additional information, communication, and reporting has come to light.
“This is an evolving situation, and we will keep this page updated as new data is available in the coming weeks.”
Sheriff Balzer’s response
Delaware County Sheriff Jeff Balzer released a letter to residents on Thursday clarifying the county jail’s agreement on holding/transporting federal detainees.
ACLU’s report shows two maps that pertain to Delaware County: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) & U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Contracts in 2024 and 2025.
The 2024 map does not highlight Delaware County as having an ICE or U.S. Marshals Service contract, while the 2025 map does.
Balzer said this distinction is accurate, but incomplete. He said the Delaware County Jail has maintained a contract with the U.S. Marshals Service since 1988, the same year the jail opened.
“On that contract … it said they had the ability to house people for the immigration and naturalization service,” Balzer told Delaware Source. “During that time, all the way from 1988 until today, we have held prisoners for USMS in various numbers.
“We’ve never held any [prisoners] for immigration naturalization service, or ICE.”
Balzer said the report could give the impression that the sheriff’s office only recently began holding federal detainees, which he said is not the case.
“Every single contract [from 1988 to the most recent 2020] has on there that we could hold prisoners not only for USMS but also for immigration related offenses — we just never have done that,” he said.
ACLU Ohio’s response
The ACLU of Ohio said Delaware County appears in the report because of how its federal contract is structured.
Jocelyn Rosnick, chief policy and advocacy officer for the ACLU of Ohio, told Delaware Source on Thursday that while the county is not actively working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, its existing contract with the U.S. Marshals Service allows for the possibility of ICE using the facility.
“What’s clear in the aftermath of the report is that Delaware County is not actively engaging with ICE,” Rosnick said. “But they could, because their contract allows ICE to be an authorized user.”
She noted the arrangement is not unique, as these types of contracts are often structured hand-in-hand with the U.S. Marshals Service.
“We see these types of arrangements across the state, but not every county includes ICE as an authorized user,” she said.
Rosnick said she has been communicating with both the sheriff’s office and the Delaware County Commissioners — who are responsible for approving such agreements — to ask whether the county would consider removing ICE as an authorized user.
“From my vantage point, it would be a quick and easy fix if they wanted to update the contract,” she said, adding that she appreciates local officials being responsive to community members and taking time to engage.
Jane Hawes, director of communications for the Delaware County Commissioners, told Delaware Source that county commissioners sign contracts because they are the elected officials authorized to do so within a county government organization.
She said Commissioner Jeff Benton signed the 2020 agreement in his role as board president at the time, but commissioners are not involved in the day-to-day operations of the offices on whose behalf the contracts are signed.
“We will defer to Sheriff Balzer on this issue and have no further comment to make,” she said.
Civil vs. criminal clarification
The distinction between criminal and civil detention is central to how the county approaches federal detainees, Balzer said.
He explained there are different regulations for holding individuals with civil immigration issues versus those facing criminal charges.
“We focus on holding people who have criminal charges,” he said. “So, we’ve never gone down that path [of holding people with civil immigration issues].”
Balzer said the jail would only hold immigration-related detainees if they are facing criminal charges, not civil immigration cases.
He pointed to cases handled by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which are prosecuted in federal court.
“HSI may charge someone for illegal reentry into the country after being deported — that’s a criminal charge,” Balzer said. “That goes before a U.S. district court down in Columbus.”
Balzer said individuals facing those types of charges have been held at the Delaware County Jail in the past.
However, he said cases involving people detained for immigration proceedings alone — such as deportation — are civil matters not handled by the jail.
“Someone crossing into the country and going through immigration court for deportation, that’s different,” he said. “That’s not a criminal charge; that’s a civil administrative charge.”
The sheriff said immigration officials have approached him several times since 2016 about holding individuals on civil immigration matters, but he declined.
“Not because of some grand philosophical view or political view,” Balzer said. “It’s more the requirements [civil immigration cases] have. There are different requirements for holding those folks [compared to] everyone else.
“Our jail functions pretty well with our classification, and that would change our classification to have those folks in our jail.”
Upcoming contract renewal
Since the ACLU released its report, Balzer said his office has received more than 600 emails in a 24-hour span through an ACLU-linked campaign.
“They’re all the same thing. It’s a generic response,” he said.
“I just get the impression that folks don’t really understand. That’s why I wanted to clarify in my letter.”
Balzer said the agency reviews/updates its contract with the U.S. Marshals Service every four or five years to reassess the cost of holding/transporting federal prisoners. A new contract is expected to be signed next month.
The updated agreement would continue allowing the sheriff’s office to house prisoners for “the Department of Justice, USMS — and it has on there now, ICE, like it always has,” the sheriff said.
The per diem rate for holding such a prisoner would increase to $101 from $83. Additionally, the hourly transportation rate for moving such a prisoner would go up to $46-48 from $36, Balzer said.
The federal government reimburses these rates. The current contract went into effect May 1, 2020.
