Commissioners OK letter acknowledging petition asking county to address sheriff's ICE cooperation

The Teton County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously April 28 to mail a letter acknowledging receipt of a petition from more than 500 residents that raised concerns about the sheriff's office honoring ICE civil detention requests and holding people up to 48 hours beyond their scheduled release without a judge-signed warrant. Commissioner Carlman moved the motion and Commissioner Gardner seconded; Chair Newcomb called the vote and the motion carried.

County administrator Jodi Pond told the joint meeting that staff had drafted a short acknowledgement addressed generically to “petition signatories” because the petition did not list a single named contact or address. Pond said the board's immediate plan was to take brief public comment and then hand the correspondence to the town mayor to coordinate delivery.

"The Teton County Board of County Commissioners acknowledge receipt of the petition signed by more than 500 residents expressing concerns about the Teton County Sheriff's Office's cooperation with immigration and customs enforcement," Pond said in describing the draft letter and the next steps.

Mayor Jorgensen said he would help identify the appropriate recipient for the reply. "I'm more than happy to take it," he said, speaking as a private citizen and not in his mayoral role, and added he would try to find the right contact for delivery.

The boards did not take any enforcement action at the meeting; the approved wording is an acknowledgement of receipt rather than a statement of policy or an inquiry into sheriff operations. The joint session instead proceeded into the scheduled FY27 budget reviews for joint departments.

The motion to approve and mail the acknowledgement was recorded as carried without opposition; no amendments to the draft text were recorded in the minutes.