Marion County Jail Bans ICE Detainees After 48-Hour Rule Amid Overcrowding

(INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA) — The Marion County Sheriff’s Office announced on or around January 13, 2026, that its Adult Detention Center will no longer hold ICE detainees beyond 48 hours on detainers, citing overcrowding and limits on what the jail can afford to operate.

Sheriff Kerry Forestal said the Marion County jail exceeded capacity on Sunday, January 11, 2026, and described a facility strained by crowding, rising medical needs, and the daily logistics of feeding everyone in custody.

The policy does not end cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, officials said, but it draws a line at keeping people past the 48-hour window when ICE asks the jail to continue holding them.

County officials framed the move as a response to day-to-day operations inside the Indianapolis jail, where space and staffing pressures have collided with the cost of holding people who should be moved elsewhere in Indiana’s correctional system.

At the center of the squeeze, Forestal and others pointed to people convicted of state crimes who remain in the county facility while awaiting transfer to the Indiana Department of Correction, a backlog officials described as a driver of crowding.

“The state just needs to move their prisoners out to begin with.”

The sheriff’s office has described a difference between the jail’s physical bed space and the population level the county budget can support, and officials tied the new ICE detainer approach to that financial reality.

Operating costs at the jail run $82-$85 per inmate per day, officials said, while the Indiana Department of Correction reimburses counties $42 per person per day for state prisoners held in local jails.

Forestal said the crowding has had visible effects inside the facility, including tensions among those incarcerated and the cost of providing meals and care. He cited the need to provide 2,400 meals daily while managing medical and security demands in tight quarters.

ICE detainers are a longstanding feature of how local jails interact with federal immigration enforcement, allowing ICE to ask local authorities to hold someone for a limited period after they would otherwise be released.

Under the Marion County change, the sheriff’s office will continue to share information and coordinate with ICE, but it will not keep people on detainers beyond 48 hours, officials said, shifting the burden to ICE to move detainees elsewhere.

Marion County also transmits data to ICE twice daily, officials said, a practice tied to how immigration holds are processed and how pickups are scheduled.

Forestal said he met with ICE, and officials described the federal agency as prepared for the shift. ICE agreed to transfer detainees after the 48-hour period to other state facilities, officials said, with pickups aimed to occur within two weeks.

The jail’s ICE population has fluctuated over time, officials said, and the sheriff’s office noted it previously reserved up to 149-150 beds for federal agencies under a 2007 agreement.

County leaders and law enforcement officials have emphasized that the jail’s relationship with federal partners extends beyond ICE, including partnerships tied to the U.S. Marshals Service and agencies such as the FBI, ATF, and DEA.

The decision in Indianapolis comes as detention systems around the country face pressures tied to staffing, capacity, and federal demand, themes reflected in broader reporting on how detention capacity pressures have pushed local facilities into difficult trade-offs.

Forestal has also tied the jail’s approach to state-level directives on immigration enforcement cooperation, pointing to Gov. Mike Braun’s executive order mandating cooperation with ICE and Attorney General Todd Rokita’s opinion.

“I think it’d be reckless for me to say we’re not going to cooperate… or we have federal troops, National Guard, coming to Indianapolis.”

The sheriff said he wants more help from the state to move people already sentenced on state cases, and he also called for support from the Indianapolis City-County Council as the jail tries to manage costs and staffing.

Leroy Robinson, Chair of the Indy City-County Council’s Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee, pointed to the county’s budget decisions and described the overcrowding issue as beyond what local funding alone can fix.

“On October 6, 2025, my colleagues and I… approved the City’s 2026 consolidated budget, which included $150.7 million for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the full amount requested… This is a longstanding structural problem that requires immediate action by the State of Indiana.”

Religious and community voices criticized the sheriff’s approach and argued the county should not be involved in federal immigration detention, even for short periods, as the county struggles to pay for its jail operations.

“Too little, too late! Forestal should have had the backbone to seek legal counsel… Marion County residents’ priority is not to fund President Donald Trump’s deportation program… Our tax money is for Marion County residents and not for helping ICE to detain our neighbors and tear families apart.”

Rick Snyder, president of the Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police, backed the push to reduce the state-transfer backlog while calling on federal officials to meet the new timetable for immigration pickups.

Snyder called for IDOC to accelerate transfers, ICE to meet the 48-hour timeline, and the sheriff’s office “to abide by the law regarding convicted felons and legally binding federal holds.”

The jail’s decision also sits alongside a separate stance from Indianapolis police leadership on immigration enforcement. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Chris Bailey has stated IMPD will not participate in federal immigration operations, officials said.

Local law enforcement agencies across the United States have taken different approaches to working with federal immigration enforcement, sometimes shaped by state mandates and political debates, and sometimes by operational needs inside crowded jails, a dynamic reflected in coverage of how police approach ICE roles varies across jurisdictions.

In Indiana, the Marion County move arrives amid broader friction over how local agencies respond to immigration enforcement requests, including state and national controversies involving detainers and cooperation mandates.

Officials said no immediate lawsuit threats were noted against Marion County over the new policy, contrasting with legal disputes involving South Bend police and the Monroe County Sheriff that were tied to Rokita.

Forestal has argued the jail is attempting to stay within the boundaries of state law while coping with population pressures it cannot quickly control, including people awaiting transfer out of the county facility.

County officials said restrictions could last for weeks, describing the limits as tied to overcrowding and system constraints that are not solved overnight.

The sheriff’s office also referenced Indiana’s bail system changes as not easing overcrowding, a factor officials cited in explaining why jail numbers remain difficult to manage.

The policy took effect immediately after it was announced, and the practical test will be whether ICE can consistently move detainees within the 48-hour period while the jail continues to contend with the flow of bookings, releases, and delayed state transfers.

For now, the jail’s approach leaves a clear message to state and federal partners: manage pickups and transfers faster, or the county will not hold people beyond the limited period allowed under detainer practice, even as it continues to share information and coordinate case-by-case.