With the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the news nationally as enforcement surges have swept through Minneapolis and other cities, scrutiny of a local jail that has long had a contract to hold ICE detainees has intensified.
But a recent inspection by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections in response to complaints found the jail meets its standards, despite an ODRC inspection last summer that found the jail over capacity.
Some opposition from residents and immigrant advocates to the Butler County Sheriff's contract with the Department of Homeland Security, which exists under the federal 287(g) program, has come on general moral grounds. Other critics, including some state lawmakers, have cited more specific reports about overcrowding, lack of heat, lack of medical attention and the fact ICE detainees aren't separated from other inmates, among other concerns.
The Butler County Sheriff's Office had a contract to hold ICE detainees from 2003 until 2021. It renewed the contract when President Donald Trump took office again last year. Currently, the county makes $105 a day per ICE detainee. That's up from $68 a day when Trump took office in 2025. Last year, the county took in about $4.4 million from the DHS contract.
Specific complaints
Groups who advocate for immigrants and attorneys representing those previously held in the jail have staged protests and filed lawsuits over the treatment of immigrants there. WVXU spoke to one inmate held by ICE, a man from Senegal, who claimed he hadn't received proper medical attention to an ongoing stomach ailment.
Democratic State Reps. Christine Cockley and Mark Sigrist, along with State Sen. William DeMora, sent a letter to ODRC Director Annette Chambers-Smith Jan. 6 asking the department to carry out unannounced inspections, review the jail's capacity, remedy any issues with heating, explain why ICE detainees aren't separated from other inmates and assess the state's legal liability for conditions at the jail.
"Ohioans expect humane and constitutional treatment for everyone held in custody, no matter their location, immigration status, or detention reason,” the letter reads.
In the letter, the lawmakers cited the jail's annual inspection by ODRC, which took place in July. That inspection found the jail housed 805 inmates, noting that was above its recommended capacity of 756. And, the letter said, the population had grown since then.
"The facility is holding 1,045 inmates, or 289 inmates over the state’s recommended capacity as of this writing," the lawmakers' letter reads. "This continued practice of exceeding safe capacity limits represents a fundamental failure to meet the state's duty of care to those held in its facilities."
What ODRC says
But another ODRC inspection conducted Dec. 22 in response to news reports about the treatment of Egyptian immigrant, faith leader and one-time ICE detainee Ayman Soliman, found the jail in compliance with standards — including its occupancy guidelines, despite the July inspection finding the opposite.
ODRC says a variance on occupancy rules it granted the Butler County Jail August 18 last year actually now puts the facility under capacity,
Documents show the Butler County Sheriff's Office applied for and received the variance, which related specifically to the required square footage of a two-inmate cell. Some of the jail's current cells can't be expanded, the sheriff's office explained.
"The current housing philosophy in the correctional environment is not to house inmates in a single cell for the prevention of suicide," the application says. "This was not the case when the facility was constructed in 2001. Single celling inmates in this space goes against the greater good of the mental health and safety for inmates."
ODRC replied to state lawmakers Jan. 12, pointing to the more recent inspection and saying the county correctional complex was in compliance with 174 out of 175 of ODRC's standards. The letter claimed inspection found no heating issues or issues with medical care.
It notes the jail's only violation of standards was the fact it serves something called "the Warden Burger" to inmates as a form of discipline. The vegetarian meal, also known as Nutraloaf, violates an ODRC rule that all inmates must be given the same meals.
ODRC wrote that there are no standards about housing ICE detainees with other inmates, and that jails should use considerations like security risk, health concerns and behavior instead of which agency is detaining them.
"Given the fact that the Bureau of Adult Detention was just at the facility on December 22, 2025, and that they passed their inspections, there is no need to return at this time or deviate from our current inspection schedule," the letter from ODRC to lawmakers reads.
Previous inspections this decade have found only minor noncompliance with ODRC standards, the department's records show.
Moral issues
Other opponents of the Butler County Sheriff's contract to hold immigration detainees say they don't want the county in a contract with ICE at all.
More than two dozen Butler County residents attended the county commission's weekly meeting Jan. 13 to ask the county to cancel the contract. Many have been lodging similar complaints for months. But attendees at the meeting said recent incidents like the shooting death of Renee Macklin Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis gave the issue more urgency.
"We do not want to be the next county or city that is in national news about the harm that has been done to people in our area," Oxford resident Terri Spahr Nelson told commissioners.
Many who spoke said they didn't want their county to be associated with the Trump administration's aggressive actions on immigration.
"I'm currently appalled by the fact that Butler County continues their contract with ICE," resident Julia Young said. "ICE has been abducting people off the streets. American citizens [have] been beaten, assaulted, shot in the face. There's a responsibility for Butler County to hold ICE, DHS, the DOJ and the Trump administration accountable."
Butler County Commissioner Cindy Carpenter defended the jail's contract with ICE and said while the commission oversees the county's contracts, it can't end one early over political concerns.
"Much of what has been raised regarding ICE reflects concerns that have occurred in other parts of the country. Those conditions are not reflective of Butler County," Carpenter said.
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