Clark County has received more than $2.9 million since the sheriff's office entered an agreement last year to house people for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the county auditor's office.

It's not clear if the county has used any of that money, and officials say they're being cautious with spending from an uncertain revenue source.

Grassroots group Do Something Southern Indiana opposes Clark County's participation in the program. Board member Susan Pittman said they want to know what it costs to house detainees, and said the county is also facing serious threats of liability.

"We believe that it's a serious situation that was gotten into with no public discussion," she said.

The program

The sheriff's office signed on to house people detained by ICE early last year, as President Donald Trump ramped up detention and deportation efforts soon into his second term.

The jail took in its first detainees under the program, more than 40 women, in April 2025. As of Tuesday, the jail had held 783 people since the start of the agreement, according to Sheriff Scottie Maples.

The federal government pays reimbursements for housing, mileage and for staff to transport people in custody.

Records obtained by LPM News show the rate for housing is currently $90 per day per person. Mileage is close to 73 cents a mile and transport is $50 per hour.

Those rates have all gone up since the start of the agreement.

For April 2025 to May 2026, the county has received around $2.95 million, according to Lindsey Wilmuth, Clark County chief deputy auditor. That's billed by the sheriff's office to "DHS-ICE," invoices from the sheriff's office show.

What's the money being spent on? 

The money from the ICE agreement goes straight into the county's general fund, according to the auditor's office. That is used for annual budgeting and other expenditures.

Chris Fox, president of the county council, which oversees county spending, said the 2026 budget didn't factor in revenue from the ICE contract. He said council members don't want to count on something that could change and that they don't see it as a way to fund the budget.

"We don't have any particular line item at all in our county budget that any of that money goes towards at all because it's not something that's guaranteed," Fox said. "It could stop tomorrow."

He also believes that, so far, the revenue hasn't been spent. He said he doesn't know what the revenue will be used for, but the council doesn't plan to use it for normal operations.

In January, the council approved a request from Maples for just over $463,000 to give one-time retention bonuses of $5,000 apiece to 77 corrections officers.

Council Vice President Brian Lenfert said during that meeting that the extra work by the corrections officers is related to the additional revenue from the ICE agreement.

"So the cost of this retention bonus is to reward the employees for the extra work they're performing, and to keep them here," he said.

Lenfert said the county general fund has two main sources: the levy, or what's collected in property taxes, and miscellaneous revenue.

Lenfert told LPM News that, in 2025, the county received around $1.3 million more than estimated in miscellaneous revenue. He believes the majority of that came from housing people for ICE and the Indiana Department of Correction.

A financial document provided by the auditor's office shows the county projected bringing in $3 million last year from "refunds and reimbursements," but actually received $4.35 million by the end of the year.

But even though the corrections staff bonuses were related to the jail, Lenfert can't say they were directly paid from the revenue to hold people for ICE. That's because multiple sources feed the county general fund, and dollars that aren't earmarked for specific purposes can be spent on different things.

He said the county is expected to end the year in the black, with more cash on hand than the amount they'll receive from the ICE contract. So that means they wouldn't need to touch it.

"As long as we are spending less than our ongoing revenue, which I do not include that in our ongoing revenue, it is not being spent," he said.

The council implemented a hiring freeze this year as it looks at impacts from a tax overhaul measure Indiana lawmakers passed in 2025. Fox, the council president, said he's asked department heads to be tight with budgets.

"I've told every department head, 'Sharpen your pencils. This year is going to be tough,'" he said.

Maples previously said the ICE agreement would help with revenue as the county faces tight finances. But he said recently he has also cautioned the council not to count on funding from holding people for ICE or the federal government in general because that number fluctuates and the ICE agreement could end at any time.

Opposition grows 

Pittman, with Do Something Southern Indiana, said residents want and deserve to know more.

The group recently assessed records it obtained from the sheriff's and auditor's offices showing the approximately $3 million received so far from the ICE contract.

Pittman said the records fall short of telling the full story of the contract's impact to the county. While it may generate revenue, it's not clear what costs come with it.

"How much is it costing us to hold these people? What are the incremental costs that we are assuming? Because it's not just pure cash flow; it can't be," she said. "You have to feed them. You need more Band-Aids."

She also pointed to lawsuits in other areas related to ICE detention, including in Clay County, Indiana. She is concerned Clark County could be held liable if something happens to a person in custody or if they sue, is at a big risk.

"Tell us why financially this makes any sense for the county," she said. "It may be a short-term influx of cash, but the liability is far greater."

Maples said recently that it's hard to pin down what it costs to house someone — whether for ICE or not — due to variables such as utility usage.

"There's too much that goes into housing an inmate to even try to put your thumb on a number," he said.

He also said he's making his budget work without relying on money from the contract.

Pittman wants officials to explain the finances so residents can evaluate the information.

The group called out to local officials at the commissioners' meeting Thursday.

"We respectfully request that this Board call for a prudent, independent financial analysis: whether this arrangement is even profitable after all county costs, and a thorough assessment of the liability the county is assuming — before the 2027 budget is adopted," according to a script from the group, which it shared with LPM after the meeting.

Clark County Commissioners President Bryan Glover told LPM Friday he doesn't believe the agreement puts the county at any more risk than for any other people held in the jail. As far as revenue, he said, "I don't look at the jail in terms of profitability. I look at it as a correctional facility and a detention facility."

Glover said the commissioners have not discussed whether to call for more detailed analysis since the request Thursday night.

Pittman told LPM the group's overall stance on ICE detention is clear.

"The goal of our campaign is, and always has been, to end ICE detention in Clark County now," she said. "If we reduce the number of beds that are available, we can reduce the amount of trauma that is being inflicted on families."

She said local officials are complicit in that trauma and that while people can argue that the immigration system is broken, "the corresponding costs are just not worth the suffering."

The group regularly hosts protests in Jeffersonville against ICE detention, including after a recent sweep in Southern Indiana.

Coverage of Southern Indiana is funded, in part, by Samtec Inc., the Hazel & Walter T. Bales Foundation, and the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County.

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