Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Announces Beginning of Warrant Service Officer Model Program in Detention Center

(Walhalla, SC)---------------------------------The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office is announcing today the beginning of the Warrant Service Officer Model program inside the Oconee County Detention Center, pursuant to Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act.

“Earlier this year, the Sheriff’s Office began conversations with officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement in regard to the 287(g) program,” says Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw.  “During our conversations, officials from ICE recommended the Warrant Service Officer Model based upon the size of our agency and numbers of arrests made per year.  In March of this year, an agreement was signed, and this week, the Warrant Service Officer Model program went into effect in our Detention Center after a meeting with Immigration officials.”

Currently, five Detention Deputies who work in the Detention Center have received official Warrant Service Office Model training.  Those Detention Deputies are the only ones who have been authorized by ICE to serve Federal Immigration Warrants.  According to Sheriff Crenshaw, Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Deputies will not be conducting traffic stops to check on someone’s immigration status nor going to any public venue such as churches or schools in relation to immigration status. 

Sheriff Crenshaw says that the Warrant Service Office Program Model works this way:

·         A person who is arrested on a violation of South Carolina law, and/or a Bench Warrant in Oconee County, is brought to the Oconee County Detention Center.

·         Regardless of someone’s immigration status, or being a United States citizen, every person arrested is fingerprinted. 

·         The fingerprints of anyone arrested in Oconee County, and booked into the Detention Center, is automatically sent to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials being able to access the fingerprints of anyone not born in the United States to determine if that individual is currently wanted on an administrative or a criminal warrant(s).

·         If the Detention Center receives notification from ICE that a person lawfully arrested has a Federal Immigration Warrant, then a Detention Deputy certified by ICE that has received training in the Warrant Service Officer Model will be able to serve the Federal Immigration Warrant.

·         The Federal Immigration Warrant will be served when that person, who has been charged by ICE, is either released on bond or has finished serving their sentence of incarceration.

·         After the warrant is served, Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement will have 48 hours to take custody of the person.  If ICE does not take them into custody within 48 hours, then the person the warrant was served on will be released from the Detention Center. 

·         Once again, only those Detention Deputies who have been sworn in by ICE and who have received the Warrant Service Officer Model training will be allowed to serve any Federal Immigration Warrants.  No other Certified law enforcement officers, or other Sheriff’s Office employees, can serve the Federal Immigration Warrants. 

“As I have stated previously, my responsibility as the Sheriff for Oconee County is for the safety and welfare of our citizens,” says Sheriff Crenshaw.  “We will continue checking those born in the United States after an arrest to make sure they are not wanted in other jurisdictions. We can now check those arrested that are not born in the United States as well. This program focuses on individuals with outstanding warrants.”