Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced Wednesday that his office has entered a Section 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, giving designated state investigators a formal route to perform limited federal immigration functions under ICE supervision. Rokita also urged all 92 county sheriffs to join, according to the attorney general’s Sept. 30 newsroom announcement and reporting by WNDU.
The agreement does not automatically turn every employee of the attorney general’s office into an immigration officer. Under ICE’s official program rules, participating agencies sign a memorandum of agreement, and selected personnel receive federal training before exercising delegated authority. ICE lists three models: a jail model for identifying people already in custody, a warrant-service model for executing administrative warrants inside detention facilities, and a task-force model that permits limited immigration enforcement during routine police work under ICE direction.
The public announcement did not identify which model the attorney general’s office selected or disclose how many investigators will be trained. Those details matter because the models confer different operational authority. The office said the partnership will allow investigators to work more closely with federal immigration officials and support implementation of Indiana’s FAIRNESS Act, a state enforcement law. Rokita said only six of Indiana’s 92 sheriffs currently have comparable agreements.
That figure refers specifically to sheriffs, not the total number of Indiana law-enforcement participants. An Indianapolis Star account published Sept. 30 said the attorney general’s office joins roughly 40 Indiana agencies participating in 287(g). The broader count includes police departments and other agencies, so the two figures are not necessarily contradictory.
Rokita argued that more sheriff participation could improve public safety and create access to federal funding. ICE’s own program page draws an important distinction: its 287(g) training is provided by ICE, while the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program—a possible source of incarceration-cost reimbursement—is a separate Justice Department program. Participation therefore does not itself guarantee a federal award or lower local property taxes.
Local approval and public documentation are another developing issue. The B Square reviewed several Indiana agreements and found inconsistent evidence that town councils or other governing bodies had formally approved them. The outlet reported that state interlocal-agreement law can require an ordinance or resolution, recording with the county recorder and filing with the State Board of Accounts. Its review did not determine that every questioned agreement was invalid, but it identified a transparency and procedure issue for local officials.
For residents, the immediate change is at the state level: the attorney general’s office has moved from supporting immigration-enforcement policy to participating directly in a federal delegation program. The practical reach will depend on the selected 287(g) model, the signed memorandum, which investigators are trained and how the office reports its activities. Sheriffs remain responsible for deciding whether and how their own agencies enter agreements, subject to federal program rules and Indiana law.
