RICHLAND COUNTY — Richland County Sheriff Steve Sheldon said Thursday he is willing to meet with a group of residents concerned about potential federal immigration law enforcement activity.
“We support the Constitution of the United States and we enforce the laws of Ohio and local laws without any ambiguity,” Sheldon said.
Sheldon spoke with Richland Source after a group of about a dozen residents attended a Board of Commissioners’ meeting on Thursday to ask questions about work being done around the nation by officers with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
No such activity has been reported locally.
The residents said they have seen ICE enforcement work in other communities and wanted to “proactively” seek information before it happened in Richland County.
Commissioners, who only have budgetary approval over the RCSO, told the group they do not control the sheriff’s policies.
“We are the budgetary authority, but we do not set or control the policies of the sheriff’s office,” Commissioner Tony Vero said. “He is an elected official.”
The sheriff said he was contacted after the meeting by Vero, asking if he would meet with the group. He said he would welcome such a meeting and would answer questions about his department.
“The county commissioners control my budget. They do not control this office,” Sheldon said. “Any policy decisions are made by me, not the commissioners.
“We are supportive of law enforcement agencies,” he said.
One of the residents, Andrea Mauk, asked commissioners if local tax dollars were being used to support ICE activities and efforts.
“Our citizens deserve to know exactly how their money is being spent in this specific area of law enforcement and how it helps the community,” Mauk said.
(Below is a PDF with questions Andrea Mauk raised with the Richland County Board of Commissioners on Thursday morning.)
During the conversation with Vero and Commissioner Darrell Banks, the residents said they had not seen evidence of the type of ICE activity that has roiled the city of Minneapolis, Minn., recently.
Darrell Starr-Jude said the group came to commissioners to seek help.
“It’s not about (political) party. It’s about America. We’re in trouble here, folks. We are not here to cause a stink. We are not here to cause problems. We’re concerned about our community,” he said.
Ruth Baumberger said commissioners had “moral authority” to help their constituents.
Vero replied, “My moral authority is what my moral authority is. But I have a legal authority and if I act outside that authority, I can get myself into trouble.”
“I have a legal authority to represent the people of Richland County,” he said.
Banks told the group “prevention” should have started a decade ago by enforcing existing immigration laws.
“If we had followed the law in the last 10 years, this would have all been prevented,” Banks said.
When he meets with residents, Sheldon said he would give them a copy of his $20.9 million annual budget for 2026.
“I have no line items in my budget to assist immigration enforcement,” the sheriff said.
Several sheriff’s offices around Ohio have signed agreements with the federal government to help with immigration enforcement, known as 287(g) agreements.
In a 287(g), a part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, ICE can delegate state and local law enforcement officers the authority to perform specified immigration officer functions under ICE’s direction and oversight.
Sheldon said his office has not signed such an agreement.
“We do not house federal prisoners (in the county jail),” he said. “What would probably happen is we would hold them temporarily … but they would have to go to Cleveland.”
Maj. Jim Sweat said the RCSO would temporarily hold prisoners only arrested on federal warrants, pending extradition. “We would not accept a warrantless (prisoner),” he said.
Mauk and other residents asked commissioners what steps they should take if a “masked officer” came to their door and claimed to be an ICE agent.
Sheldon said he would not take part in “what if” scenarios involving hypothetical law enforcement scenarios.
“Residents can always call us and we will respond,” he said.