Sheriff John Q. Williams (Athens-Clarke County Sheriff's Office)
CLARKE COUNTY, Ga. - Sheriff John Q. Williams and the Clarke County Sheriff's Office have released information about their procedures for processing undocumented arrestees/inmates in response to the "ongoing speculation" following the murder of Athens University nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus.
Multiple politicians and others have accused Athens and Clarke County of being a so-called "sanctuary" city or county based on past policies and its inclusion on a national website that lists sanctuary cities and counties in each state.
Athens Mayor Kelly Girtz has denied that the city is a sanctuary city, saying that the state makes them prove every year they are not breaking a Georgia law that prohibits sanctuary cities.
UGA campus murder: Are there sanctuary cities/counties in Georgia?
Regardless, some Georgia senators want to punish cities and counties they say are illegally harboring immigrants who are in the country without permission by cutting off most state aid and removing elected officials from office and are try to push through a new bill to do so.
Sheriff Williams sent the following explanation of their policy to FOX 5:
In 2018, the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office reviewed and updated its policy concerning foreign nationals booked into the jail. These updates to the policy were the result of public input, a review of best practices, relevant case law, and input from legal counsel. Based on the totality of circumstances at that time, the policy was changed to decline requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hold inmates, known as "detainers," that are not signed by a judge. The law requires us to notify ICE whenever we book someone either known or suspected to be a foreign national. Our policy reflects that. ICE detainers are requests, not a court order or warrant. Holding a person based solely on an ICE detainer constitutes a warrantless arrest. The policy does allow for detaining if a warrant or court order signed by a judge is issued. Whenever ICE is able to pick up an undocumented person before the time they would have been able to bond out or otherwise be lawfully released, the Sheriff’s Office does not prevent them from doing so. When Sheriff Williams took office in 2021, we maintained this policy.
Sheriff Williams also said that murder suspect Jose Ibarra has never been arrested in Athens-Clarke County or the state of Georgia and at no time was Jose Ibarra detained by CCSO before his arrest for the murder of Riley. The sheriff's first contact with him was when he was charged with Riley's murder. He is currently being held without bail.
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Williams also said that it's important to note that the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office is not a full-service law enforcement agency. They are primarily responsible for the operation of the jail and do not typically handle 9-1-1 calls and routine patrols.
Williams did admit that the incident did call attention to some record-keeping practices that could be improved to help identify and track responses to any interactions with subjects determined to be undocumented.
Additionally, Williams says that the sheriff's office is committed to its mission to serve the community and that it extends its sincerest condolences to the family of Laken Riley.